Indian Time - A Voice from the Eastern Door

In what is being described as a puzzling ruling on whether to hear a lawsuit seeking to establish the Hogansburg Triangle as inside the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe’s territory, US District Judge Lawrence Kahn has dismissed the suit. Judge Kahn has concluded that his court “cannot interpret a federal law that defines the extent of the State’s jurisdiction,” according to a press release from the St. Regis Mohawk Tribal Council. Continuing on, the release states: The Tribe did not ask him to interpret that law and the Tribe was not relying on that law to establish the Court’s jurisdiction.”

The question the suit hoped to establish is whether the Hogansburg Triangle, a 1380 acre parcel of land that divides the territory in half, is part of the reservation, as established in a treaty dating back to 1796, which the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe is asserting.

Chief Ron Lafrance Jr. said, “He didn’t reach the merits of our arguments, he got halfway and it seemed; because it was a federal law, he didn’t feel he had jurisdiction, but by not hearing the merits of our case, we’re kind of puzzled. We feel he is wrong. How can you decide a case regarding a treaty boundary, and not present the question of the law.”

The dismissal does not prohibit the Tribe from appealing the decision, which they intend to do, so the fight is far from over. No one in the Hogansburg Triangle Area, which is estimated to have a Mohawk population as high as 90%, is affected by this ruling as the process is still on going.

“This is not something we dreamed up,” said Chief Lafrance, “This is from the referendum that was passed in 2005, with overwhelming community support. You had the Mohawk Nation Council of Chiefs who had their process that was approved, the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne had a referendum that was approved, and the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe had a referendum that overwhelmingly passed. Our community passed this, and in settlement talks with the state, we keep reminding them that our community wants to stick to the terms of the 2005 settlement agreement. What was very important to us is the return of the land, especially the Hogansburg Triangle.”

Chief Beverly Cook said, “Our land base is shrinking and our population is growing. People have to go outside the boundaries of the reservation into what is historically our territory. I resent them saying this is disruptive to the outside community. I don’t want to come off as hostile, but how disruptive do you think this has been to our community?” Chief Cook added, “Culturally our connection to the land runs deep. There has always been a custodial relationship, an intimate relationship, with the land. This has gone on for a lot of years, and it’s a fight that will go on forever. For us this does not just rise out of opportunity.”

Below is the SRMT press release in its entirety:

Judge Kahn has ruled that the court lacked jurisdiction to hear the Tribe’s claim that the Hogansburg Triangle continued to be part of the Tribe’s reservation on the legally erroneous ground that the Tribe was seeking to have him interpret a federal law that defines the extent of the State’s jurisdiction.  The Tribe did not ask him to interpret that law and the Tribe was not relying on that law to establish the Court’s jurisdiction.  In a wholly muddled ruling, the Court has answered a question that was not asked and failed to answer the federal question that was asked—is the Triangle within the boundaries of the reservation?  That question having been left unresolved, the Tribe and its members will continue to refuse to comply with any state or local laws since in the Tribe’s view the land is reservation land and not within the jurisdiction of the State of local authorities except as defined by Congress.  

 That being said, the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe continues to believe that the only true, long term resolution of our land and jurisdictional issues comes from a negotiated settlement with the State and Local governments, and we remain committed to pursuing that result with the assistance of New York State Governor, Andrew Cuomo and his staff.