That Portion of the Cayuga Indians Residing in Canada v. State

• Decision Date: 02 June 1885
• Citation: 1 N.E. 770,99 N.Y. 235
• Parties: THAT PORTION OF THE CAYUGA INDIANS RESIDING IN CANADA v. STATE.
• Court: New York Court of Appeals Court of Appeals

99 N.Y. 235

1 N.E. 770

THAT PORTION OF THE CAYUGA INDIANS RESIDING IN CANADA

v.STATE.

Court of Appeals of New York.

Filed June 2, 1885.

Mr. Strong, for appellants, Cayuga Indians.

Mr. O'Brien, Atty. Gen., for the State.

DANFORTH, J.

This proceeding was instituted before the board of audit in February, 1883, and afterwards by statute transferred to the board of claims. The facts stated were substantially the same as those in People ex rel. ‘That Portion of the Cayuga Nation of Indians residing in Canada’ v. Board of Commissioners of the Land-office, ante, 764, just decided by this court. The appellants claimed to recover (1) $448,000 as their share of the annuities promised by the state to ‘The Cayuga Nation of Indians' by the treaties of 1789 and 1795, falling due since 1810; or (2) for a share of those accruing since June 1, 1849; or, failing in that, (3) for a share of the annuities accruing since June 1, 1877; or, that being denied, then (4) for a share of the annuity becoming due June 1, 1883, and thereafter forever, according to the stipulations of those treaties.

The board of claims had no choice. They rejected the whole and each part of the claim; and, among many serious obstacles in the way of a recovery, they pointed out one so obvious and insurmountable as to be justified without argument. The title to the proceeding indicates that, whoever the claimants are, they have no personal, nor even associate, character; they assume to represent no one, and it is not pretended that they are authorized by statute to sue. If we look below the title we find the cause of action is a treaty stipulation between ‘The State of New York’ and ‘The Cayuga Nation of Indians.’ Its purpose was the acquisition of the Indian title to lands within this state by the payment of money annually to that nation. It concerned on one side the general interestsof the state, and on the other the whole body of the Cayuga nation. Within any meaning of the words, therefore, the transaction was public, and in no sense private. The treaties were made by competent authority, and are obligatory upon both parties. But, if violated by either, the other contracting party can alone demand satisfaction; and neither a citizen of the state nor a member of the ‘Indian Nation,’ nor any portion of these members, unless recognized by the state as such, can complain. That Portion of the Cayuga Nation, etc., v. Commissioners, supra. If, as the learned counsel for the appellants...