Seneca Nation of Indians v. New York
| Decision Date | 09 September 2004 |
| Docket Number | Docket No. 02-6185(L).,Docket No. 02-6195(XAP).,Docket No. 02-6213(C).,Docket No. 02-6197(C). |
| Citation | 382 F.3d 245 |
| Parties | SENECA NATION OF INDIANS, Plaintiff-Appellant, Tonawanda Band of Seneca Indians, United States of America, Plaintiffs-Intervenors-Appellants, v. The State of NEW YORK, New York Thruway Authority, John R. Platt, Executive Director, New York Thruway Authority, Defendants-Appellees, Moore Business Forms Corp., individually and as a representative of a class of landowners similarly situated, Defendant-Appellee-Cross-Appellant, George E. Pataki, Governor, State of New York, Bernadette Castro, Commissioner, Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, Ronald W. Coan, Director, Erie County Industrial Development Agency, John Cahill, Commissioner, New York Department of Environmental Conservation, Joseph Boardman, Commissioner, New York Department of Transportation, Erie County, Individually and as a representative of class of landowners and similarly situated, Moore Business Forms, Individually and as a representative of a class of landowners similarly situated, Indicom, Inc., Individually and as a representative of a class of landowners similarly situated, Rado-Mart Holdings, U.S., Inc., Individually and as a representative of a class of landowners similarly situated, Ilona H. Lang, Individually and as a representative of a class of landowners similarly situated, Robert W. Weaver, Individually and as a representative of a class of landowners similarly situated, Francis B. Pritchard, Individually and as a representative of class of landowners similarly situated, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit |
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of New York, Richard J. Arcara, Chief Judge.
Jeanne S. Whiteing, Whiteing & Smith, Boulder, CO, and Arlinda F. Locklear, Jefferson, MD (Steven M. Tullberg, Alexandra C. Page, Indian Law Resource Center, Washington, DC, on the brief), for Plaintiff-Appellant Seneca Nation of Indians and Plaintiff-Intervenor-Appellant Tonawanda Band of Seneca Indians.
Samuel C. Alexander (William Lazarus, Ellen Durkee, on the brief), Environment & Natural Resources Division (Thomas L. Sansonetti, Assistant Attorney General, on the brief), United States Department of Justice (Mary Anne Kenworthy, Office of the Solicitor, Department of the Interior, on the brief), Washington, DC, for Plaintiff-Intervenor-Appellant United States.
Peter B. Sullivan, Assistant Attorney General (Eliot Spitzer, Attorney General, Caitlin J. Halligan, Solicitor General, Peter H. Schiff, Senior Counsel, Andrew D. Bing, Assistant Solicitor General, on the brief), State of New York (Frederick A. Wolf, Erie County Attorney, Frederick G. Attea, Assistant County Attorney, Buffalo, NY; Michael B. Powers, Phillips, Lytle, Hitchock, Blaine & Huber, on the brief), Buffalo, NY, for Defendants-Appellees.
Gus P. Coldebella (Anthony M. Feeherry, P.C., Andrea L. Studley, Mark S. Puzella, Brett C. Gerry, on the brief), Goodwin Proctor LLP, Boston, MA, for Defendant-Appellee-Cross-Appellant.
Before: OAKES, MESKILL, and B.D. PARKER, Circuit Judges.
I. Introduction
This case concerns the legality of the acquisition by the State of New York of Niagara River islands (the "Islands") in 1815 from the Seneca Nation of Indians1 for $1,000 and "an annuity of $500.00 to be paid ... each year forever hereafter."2 The Senecas and Intervenor-Appellant the United States, as trustee for the Senecas, sued to invalidate the transaction on the ground that it violated the Non-Intercourse Act, which bars conveyances by Indians to non-Indians unless made or ratified by Congress. See 25 U.S.C. § 177 (2001).3 It is undisputed that the sale did not receive Congressional approval. What is disputed is whether New York already had title to the Islands when it ostensibly purchased them from the Senecas. If it did, the transaction did not violate the Non-Intercourse Act.
The District Court for the Western District of New York (Arcara, J.), on cross-motions for summary judgment and largely on stipulated facts, concluded that, for two reasons, New York had acquired fee title to the Islands long before the 1815 Transaction. See Seneca II, 206 F.Supp.2d at 453. First, the Court held that the Senecas' aboriginal title4 had been extinguished either by the 1764 Treaties of Peace between Great Britain and the Senecas, which transferred title from the Senecas to the British Crown, or by the 1784 Treaty of Fort Stanwix, which extinguished the Senecas' title and passed it to New York. Second, it held that the 1794 Treaty of Canandaigua between the United States and the Senecas did not transfer the Islands back to the Senecas. See id. at 542. For many of the reasons expressed in the District Court's thoughtful and comprehensive opinion, we affirm.
II. Procedural History
The proceedings in this case span a decade.5 The claim itself is much older, dating back to an Indian Claims Commission (ICC) proceeding brought by the Senecas against the United States in the 1950s. See Seneca Nation of Indians v. United States, 20 Ind. Cl. Comm. 177 (1968); see also Seneca II, 206 F.Supp.2d at 454, 498-501 ().
III. Background
The Niagara River, which forms part of the present-day boundary between the United States and Canada, is a non-tidal, freshwater river, connecting Lakes Erie and Ontario. It runs in a northerly direction approximately 35 miles from Buffalo, over Niagara Falls, and into Lake Ontario. Because of the River's historical importance as a communications route, a portage to bypass the Falls and the adjacent rapids has for centuries run from about one-half mile above the Falls to present-day Lewiston, New York, approximately seven miles below (or North of) the Falls. Id. at 456; see also id. at 544 (Map Appendix A).
The lands at issue are 40-odd islands in the River between Lake Erie and Niagara Falls. Grand Island, by far the largest and most important, encompasses approximately 19,000 acres and effectively splits the River into two channels about five miles north of Lake Erie. Although originally it was thought that the boundary between the United States and Canada (then governed by Great Britain) bisected Grand Island, it was finally determined in 1822 that because the western channel was the main channel, it formed the boundary between the two countries, leaving Grand Island within the United States. Id. at 456-57; see id. at 544 (Map Appendix A).
The Senecas were the westernmost tribe of the Six Nations, or Iroquois Confederacy, which also included the Cayugas, Onondagas, Oneidas, Mohawks, and (by the early Eighteenth century) the Tuscarooras. Joint Stip. ¶ 10. Although permanently located to the east of the Niagara region, the Senecas defeated tribes inhabiting Grand Island and the area around present-day Buffalo in the Seventeenth century, scattering them to the north and south of the Niagara region. Id. ¶¶ 18-20. The Senecas did not permanently occupy the Niagara region, but instead used it as a seasonal hunting and fishing grounds maintaining temporary villages at permanent locations adjacent to the Lakes and the Niagara River. Other Indians also used the region as an avenue of communication and transportation. Seneca II, 206 F.Supp.2d at 458.
IV. History of the Region
Ownership of the islands is embedded in the history of the area and requires analysis of a series of Colonial era documents. They include treaties and royal proclamations as well as contemporaneous correspondence involving Indian nations, various colonies, Great Britain and France. The relevant documents also include the Articles of Confederation, the Constitution, and treaties and legislation enacted under both.6
Disputes over the ownership of the region and the Islands date from the Seventeenth century. The French were the first Europeans to establish a presence in the Niagara region. In 1678, La Salle built a small settlement above the Falls near present-day Lewiston, New York, in the area of an unoccupied seasonal Seneca fishing village at the mouth of the Niagara River. At that time the French also constructed two fortifications — Fort Conty in 1680, and Fort Denonville around 1687 — at the mouth of the River, but both were short-lived.
During this period friction persisted between the French and English over control of the Great Lakes region and, in particular, the Niagara River. In 1689, King William's War broke out and the Iroquois sided with the British. The war took a heavy toll on the Iroquois and the Treaty of Peace of 1701 (the "1701 Treaty") provided that they would remain neutral in any future wars between the French and the British. Around the time of the treaty, the Iroquois (including the Senecas) "surrendered[,] delivered up and forever quit claimed" a vast tract of land, including the Niagara region, to the British. See Deed from the Five Nations to the King of their Beaver Hunting Ground ("1701 Deed"), reprinted in 4 Documents Relative to the Colonial History of the State of New York 908, 909 (E.B. O'Callahan ed., 1854) [hereinafter NY Colonial Documents].7
The 1701 Treaty had little lasting effect on Anglo-French relations and hostilities broke out again in 1702 in Queen Anne's War. The French were able to persuade the Iroquois to remain neutral, and, over British objection, the French asserted their presence in the Niagara region. By 1720, the French had established a permanent settlement at Lewiston and by 1727 had constructed Fort Niagara at the mouth of the Niagara River. The Fort served as a base for military expeditions and as a gateway to the upper Great Lakes region. It also prevented the westward penetration of British trade and permitted the French to interrupt...
To continue reading
Request your trial
- Pueblo of Jemez v. United States
- Pueblo of Jemez v. United States
- Citizens Against Casino Gambling in Erie Cnty. v. Chaudhuri
- Citizens Against Casino Gambling in Erie Cnty. v. Chaudhuri