NEW YORK – The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled July 21 that members of the Oneida Nation of New York do not have to pay taxes on their ancestral land in the city of Sherrill. According to an Associated Press report, in a 2-1 vote, the court ruled in the case that highlights the issue of Indians being forced to pay taxes on ancestral properties that are in an area that includes non-Native properties. The recent ruling upholds a previous judge’s ruling that supported Indian country sovereignty.
The 1794 Treaty of Canandaigua recognized that land in the city of Sherrill and Madison County was part of the Oneida Reservation. However, throughout the years, much of the tribal land was sold to non-members of the tribe. In February 2000, a suit was brought against the city by the tribe, when city eviction proceedings began because of unpaid property taxes. According to AP, the lawsuit was looking for a decision from the courts that the tribe did not have to pay the taxes because the land was part of Indian country. In June 2001, a lower court ruled in favor of the tribe and stated that the city of Sherrill could not tax or evict the Oneidas from their land.
In their appeal, the city, joined by two other area counties, tried to show that the original reservation was reduced and somehow diminished. Judge B.D. Parker, wrote in the multi-page decision, that “the reservation has never been disestablished, and the trust relationship between the federal government and the Oneidas has never been terminated.”
