Aboriginal title in New York

Updated on Jan 08, 2024

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Aboriginal title in New York has been the source of many disputes regarding the status of aboriginal title in the United States. The European purchase of lands from indigenous populations dates back to the legendary Dutch purchase of Manhattan in 1626, "the most famous land transaction of all." More than any other state, New York disregarded the Confederation Congress Proclamation of 1783 and the Nonintercourse Acts of 1790, 1793, 1796, 1799, 1802, and 1834, purchasing the majority of the state directly from the Iroquois nations without federal involvement or ratification.

New York is the source of several landmark decisions concerning aboriginal title including Oneida I (1974), "first of the modern-day [Native American land] claim cases to be filed in federal court," and Oneida II (1985), "the first Indian land claim case won on the basis of the Nonintercourse Act." New York was the site of nearly all remaining Native American possessory land claims when the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held in Cayuga Indian Nation of N.Y. v. Pataki (2005) that the equitable doctrine of laches bars all tribal land claims sounding in ejectment or trespass, for both tribal plaintiffs and the federal government as plaintiff-intervenor. Since the ruling, no tribal plaintiff has overcome the laches defense in a land claim in the Second Circuit.

There are currently 10 Indian reservations in New York: Allegany Indian Reservation, Cattaraugus Reservation, Oil Springs Reservation, Oneida Reservation, Onondaga Reservation, Poospatuck Reservation, St. Regis Mohawk Reservation, Shinnecock Reservation, Tonawanda Reservation, and Tuscarora Reservation.

New Netherlands

The details of the early dealings with indigenous peoples by the Dutch New Netherland settlements are not known with certainty. The first recorded land transaction is reported by a letter from Peter Schagen, the deputy of the Dutch West India Company, on November 5, 1626, claiming: "They have purchased the Island Manhattes from the Indians for the value of 60 guilders; 'tis 11,000 morgens in size." Many secondary sources simply report this value as $24; of course: United States Dollars (and the United States) did not exist in 1626; 60 guilders likely represented the estimated value of trade goods; the historical exchange rate calculation used to reach this figure is not known (if in fact it is the source of any such calculation). By comparison, the value of the goods on the ship bearing the letter back to the Netherlands was 45,000 guilders. Sixty guilders in 1626, converted and adjusted for inflation, would be $888 in 2001 U.S. dollars. If invested at a 6% interest rate, the sum would have been enough to buy back Manhattan at current realty values (as of 1947).

Prof. Banner, noting that the transaction was the first "purchase" of land from the indigenous population of the continent, and the fact that the natives remained in Manhattan and traded with the Dutch, argues that they would have been extremely unlikely to understand the transaction as a "sale." Other sources date the transaction to May 6, 1626. Dutch land patents traced their title to such a purchase. The colony's "New Project of Freedoms and Exemptions" (1629) prohibited private purchases of land from the indigenous population; a privilege reserved only for the Patroons of New Netherland. An amendment in 1640 gave preference "in the selections of land" to those who notified the Company. The Patroons' reports to the States General refer to other land purchases in June 1634, October 25, 1634, and 1651.

Province of New York

The British concluded the Treaty of Fort Stanwix with the Iroquois in 1768, bringing the boundary line of the colony into conformity with the Royal Proclamation of 1763. The method of purchasing lands established in that treaty was codified in the 1777 Constitution of New York.

Articles of Confederation-era

During the Articles of Confederation-era, New York purchased a large amount of land from the Iroquois without complying with the requirements of the Confederation Congress Proclamation of 1783. Two-hundred years later, the Second Circuit held that the Confederation Congress had neither the intent nor the authority to restrict such purchased by states within their borders.

New York and Massachusetts had long-disputed the property and sovereign rights to modern-day western New York. They resolved their differences in 1786 with the Treaty of Hartford, granting the property rights to Massachusetts and the sovereign rights to New York. In 1788, Oliver Phelps and Nathaniel Gorham acquired the pre-emptive rights to western New York from the state of Massachusetts in what became known as the Phelps and Gorham Purchase.

Post-Constitution

President George Washington gave the following speech to the Seneca Nation of New York in 1790, after the passage of the Nonintercourse Act:

I am not uninformed that the six Nations have been led into some difficulties with respect to the sale of their lands since the peace. But I must inform you that these evils arose before the present government of the United States was established, when the separate States and individuals under their authority, undertook to treat with the Indian tribes respecting the sale of their lands. But the case is now entirely altered. The general Government only has the power, to treat with the Indian Nations, and any treaty formed and held without its authority will not be binding. Here then is the security for the remainder of your lands. No State nor person can purchase your lands, unless at some public treaty held under the authority of the United States. The general government will never consent to your being defrauded. But it will protect you in all your just rights.

Phelps and Gorham defaulted on their payments to Massachusetts in 1790 and the un-exercised western portion pre-emptive rights reverted to the state in 1791. Massachusetts resold the rights to Robert Morris that year. Morris retained the Morris Reserve for himself and sold the western portion of his rights to the Holland Land Company in 1792 and 1793 (the Holland Purchase).

The state of New York disregarded the requirements of the Nonintercourse Act (that a federal commissioner be present and that any sale of Indian lands be approved by Congress) and purchased lands directly from Indians within the state until 1846.

According to Prof. Hauptman: "American Indians, the state's first residents, ended up in a quasicolonial status, dependent on the very people—Albany policymakers—who were responsible for dispossessing them. It is little wonder that the legacy of this colonial relationship in modern times has been the Iroquois land claims movement and that the lead community pushing these claims is the Oneidas . . . ."

Treaties

with the British

with the United States

with the State of New York

Constitution

N.Y. Const. of 1777 art. XXXVII provided:

And whereas it is of great importance to the safety of this State that peace and amity with the Indians within the same be at all times supported and maintained; and whereas the frauds too often practiced towards the said Indians, in contracts made for their lands, have, in divers instances, been productive of dangerous discontents and animosities: Be it ordained, that no purchases or contracts for the sale of lands, made since the fourteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five, or which may hereafter be made with or of the said Indians, within the limits of this State, shall be binding on the said Indians, or deemed valid, unless made under the authority and with the consent of the legislature of this State.

N.Y. Const. of 1821 art. VII, § 12 provided:

[Indian lands.]—No purchase or contract for the sale of lands in this state, made since the fourteenth day of October, one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five, or which may hereafter be made, of or with the Indians in this state, shall be valid, unless made under the authority, and with the consent, of the legislature.

N.Y. Const. of 1846 art. I, § 16 provided:

[Indian lands.]—No purchase or contract for the sale of lands in this state, made since the fourteenth day of October, one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five, or which may hereafter be made, of or with the Indians, shall be valid unless made under the authority and with the consent of the legislature.

N.Y. Const. of 1894 art. 1, § 15 and N.Y. Const. of 1938 art I. § 13 provided:

[Purchase of lands of Indians.]—No purchase or contract for the sale of lands in this State, made since the fourteenth day of October, one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five; or which may hereafter be made, of, or with the indians, shall be valid, unless made under the authority, and with the consent of the Legislature.

§ 13 was repealed on November 6, 1962 by popular vote.

Statutes

The New York legislature passed two laws in 1784 and 1785 for the "settlement of the waste and unappropriated lands"; the laws created methods to advertise and distribute Indian lands to private citizens, even before the aboriginal title was extinguished.

Legislation enforcing the constitutional prohibition with sanctions was not passed until 1788.

In Feb. 1798, the legislature passed an act "Authorizing the Governor to Appoint Commissioners to treat with the Oneida Indians for the purchase of part of their lands."

The Act of March 31, 1821 provided:

[I]t shall be unlawful for any person or persons, other than Indians, to settle or reside upon any lands belonging to or occupied by any nation or tribe of Indians within this state; and that all leases, contracts and agreements made by any Indians, whereby any person or persons, other than Indians, shall be permitted to reside upon such lands, shall be absolutely void; and if any person or persons shall settle or reside on any such lands, contrary to this act, it shall be the duty of any judge of any court of Common Pleas of the county within which such lands shall be situated, on complaint made to him, and on due proof of the fact of such settlement or residence, to issue his warrant, under his hand and seal, directed to the sheriff of such county, commanding him, within ten days after the receipt thereof, to remove such person or persons so settling or residing, with his, her or their families, from such lands.

Case law

Jackson v. Wood, 7 Johns. 290 (1810) (Kent, C.J.)

Goodell v. Jackson, 20 Johns. 693 (1823) (Kent, Ch.)

Land litigation by tribe

United States v. New York Indians, 173 U.S. 464 (1899) (Onondagas, Oneidas, Stockbridges, Munsees, and Brothertowns)

Cayuga

That Portion of the Cayuga Indians Residing in Can. v. State, 1 N.E. 770 (N.Y. 1885)

Cayuga Indian Nation of N.Y. v. Pataki, 413 F.3d 266 (2d Cir. 2005)

Mohawk

St. Regis Indians v. Drum, 19 Johns. 127 (N.Y. Sup. 1821) (denying cause of action for assumpsit).

Deere v. New York, 22 F.2d 851 (N.D.N.Y. 1927), aff'd sub nom., Deere v. St. Lawrence River Power Co., 32 F.2d 550 (2d Cir. 1929) (holding that there was no federal jurisdiction for such ejectment suits).

Canadian St. Regis Band of Mohawk Indians v. New York, 97 F.R.D. 453 (N.D.N.Y. 1983); 573 F. Supp. 1530 (N.D.N.Y. 1983); 640 F. Supp. 203 (N.D.N.Y. 1986); 146 F. Supp.2d 170 (N.D.N.Y. 2001); 205 F.R.D. 88 (N.D.N.Y. 2002); 278 F. Supp.2d 313 (N.D.N.Y. 2003); 388 F. Supp.2d 25 (N.D.N.Y. 2005); 2005 WL 2573468 (N.D.N.Y. 2005)

The Mohawk land claim was settled in 2005 for $100,000,000, the right to purchase up to 14,000 acres (57 km²) to be designated as Indian country, and a casino development proposal. The Interior Department rejected the casino proposal in 2008.

Montauk

Montauk Tribe of Indians v. Long Island R. Co., 51 N.Y.S. 142 (App. Div. 1898).

Johnson v. Long Island R. Co., 61 N.Y.S. 1139 (App. Div. 1899) (per curiam), rev'd, 56 N.E. 992 (N.Y. 1900)

Pharaoh v. Benson, 126 N.Y.S. 1035 (Sup. Ct. 1910), aff’d, 149 N.Y.S. 438 (App. Div. 1914), aff’d 119 N.E. 1072 (N.Y. 1918) (per curiam).

Oneida

United States v. Boylan, 265 F. 165 (2d Cir. 1920)

Oneida Indian Nation of N.Y. State v. Oneida Cnty., 414 U.S. 661 (1974)

Oneida Cnty. v. Oneida Indian Nation of N.Y. State, 470 U.S. 226 (1985)

Oneida Indian Nation of N.Y. v. New York, 649 F. Supp. 420 (N.D.N.Y. 1986), aff'd, 860 F.2d 1145 (2d Cir. 1988), cert. denied, 493 U.S. 871 (1989)

Oneida Indian Nation of N.Y. v. Cnty. of Oneida, 1999 WL 1281502 (N.D.N.Y. 1999); 2000 WL 33682810 (N.D.N.Y. 2000); 199 F.R.D. 61 (N.D.N.Y. 2000); 132 F. Supp. 2d 71 (N.D.N.Y. 2000); 201 F.R.D. 64 (N.D.N.Y. 2001); 194 F.Supp. 2d 104 (N.D.N.Y. 2002); 500 F. Supp. 2d 128 (N.D.N.Y. 2007), aff'd in part, rev'd in part and remanded, 617 F.3d 114 (2d Cir. 2010)

According to Professor Hauptman: "No other Indian community in New York State was affected more by the transportation revolution than the Oneidas. The Oneida lands, totaling more than five million acres in 1784, were the necessary ingredient for the rise of the Empire State. With its center in Oneida and Madison Counties, these lands were situated at a vital transportation crossroads that was essential for New York's economic growth after the Revolution."

Onondaga

Hennessy v. Dimmler, 394 N.Y.S.2d 786 (Co. Ct. 1977)

Onondaga Nation v. New York, 2010 WL 3806492 (N.D.N.Y. 2010)

Seneca

Tonawanda Band

Fellows v. Blacksmith, 60 U.S. (19 How.) 366 (1857)

New York ex rel. Cutler v. Dibble, 62 U.S. (21 How.) 366 (1858)

Seneca Nation of Indians

Strong v. Waterman, 5 Sarat. Ch. Sent. 13 (Sup. Ct. 1845), rev'd, 11 Paige Ch. 607 (Ch. Ct. 1845)

Seneca Nation of Indians v. Tyler, 14 How. Pr. 109 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 1857)

Seneca Nation of Indians v. Knight, 23 N.Y. 498 (1861)

Seneca Nation of Indians v. Philonus Pattison [also: "Philemus Patterson"], 487 N.Y.S.L. Case No. 1 (N.Y. 1861)

Seneca Nation of Indians v. Lehley, 8 N.Y.S. 245 (Sup. Ct. 1889)

Seneca Nation of Indians v. Hugaboom, 9 N.Y.S. 699 (Sup. Ct. 1890), aff'd, 30 N.E. 983 (N.Y. 1892)

Seneca Nation of Indians v. John, 16 N.Y.S. 40 (Sup. Ct. 1891)

Seneca Nation of Indians v. Christy, 162 U.S. 283 (1896)

Seneca Nation of Indians v. Appleby, 112 N.Y.S. 177 (App. Div. 1908), rev'd, 89 N.E. 835 (N.Y. 1909)

City of Salamanca v. Seneca Nation of Indians, 47 F. Supp. 939 (W.D.N.Y. 1942)

Seneca Nation of Indians v. United States, 122 Ct. Cl. 163 (1952)

United States v. 21,250 Acres of Land, More or Less, Situate in Cattaraugus Cnty., 161 F. Supp. 376 (W.D.N.Y. 1957)

Seneca Nation of Indians v. Brucker, 162 F. Supp. 580 (D.D.C. 1958), aff'd, 262 F.2d 27 (D.C. Cir. 1958), cert. denied, 360 U.S. 909 (1959)

Seneca Nation of Indians v. United States, 338 F.2d 55 (2d Cir. 1964), cert. denied 380 U.S. 952 (1965)

Seneca Nation of Indians v. United States, 173 Ct. Cl. 912 (1965)

Seneca Nation of Indians v. United States, 173 Ct. Cl. 917 (1965)

United States v. Certain Parcels of Land in Cattaraugus Cnty., 327 F.Supp. 181 (W.D.N.Y. 1970), aff'd, 443 F.2d 375 (2d Cir. 1970)

Seneca Nation of Indians v. New York, 397 F. Supp. 685 (W.D.N.Y. 1975)

Fluent v. Salamanca Indian Lease Auth., 928 F.2d 542 (2d Cir. 1991), cert. denied, 502 U.S. 818 (1991)

Seneca Nation of Indians v. New York, 1994 WL 688262 (W.D.N.Y. 1994)

Valvo v. Seneca Nation of Indians, 650 N.Y.S.2d 937 (N.Y. Sup. 1996)

Seneca Nation of Indians v. New York, 26 F. Supp. 2d 555 (W.D.N.Y. 1998), aff'd, 178 F.3d 95 (2nd Cir. 1999), cert. denied, 528 U.S. 1073 (2000) (holding that state eminent domain usage violated Nonintercourse Act)

Seneca Nation of Indians v. New York, 206 F. Supp. 2d 448 (W.D.N.Y. 2002), aff'd, 382 F.3d 245 (2d Cir. 2004), cert. denied, 547 U.S. 1178 (2006); 213 F.R.D. 131 (W.D.N.Y. 2003); 383 F.3d 45 (2d Cir. 2004), cert. denied, 547 U.S. 1178 (2006)

Shinnecock

District Attorney of Suffolk Cnty. v. Great Cove Realty Co., 137 N.Y.S.2d 570 (Co. Ct. 1955), aff'd sub nom Brenner v. Great Cove Realty Co., 65 N.Y.S.2d 143 (App. Div.) (mem.), reargument denied, 166 N.Y.S.2d 1014 (App. Div. 1957), appeal denied, 148 N.E.2d 915 (N.Y.), and appeal denied, 149 N.E.2d 521 (N.Y. 1958), rev'd, 160 N.E.2d 826 (N.Y.), reargument denied, 163 N.E.2d 677 (N.Y.), on remand, 195 N.Y.S.2d 935 (App. Div. 1959) (mem.), reargument denied, 199 N.Y.S.2d 441 (App. Div.), appeal denied, 168 N.E.2d 490 (N.Y. 1960), appeal dismissed and cert. denied, 365 U.S. 769 (1961) (per curiam).

Shinnecock Indian Nation v. New York, 2006 WL 3501099 (E.D.N.Y. 2006)

Tuscarora

Federal Power Commission v. Tuscarora Indian Nation, 362 U.S. 99 (1960)

References

Aboriginal title in New York Wikipedia

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