Letter to the Editor

Letter to the Editor

When I was a Tribal Chief in 2004-2005, the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe along with MCA and the Nation were on the brink of a settlement of our Land Claim with New York State. It was a good settlement giving us more land, NYPA power and free tuition. The people overwhelmingly approved that settlement by referendum and it was signed by the 3 Chiefs, MCA Council and the Nation.

However because of a terrible decision in the US Supreme Court (the Sherrill case) that settlement was taken away from us in 2005.

Without a settlement we have lost all our court claims except the Hogansburg Triangle.

In 2010, through a lot of hard work by the Chiefs we brought what is basically the 2005 settlement back to the table. Almost every month I go to Tribal Meetings and have listened as the Chiefs report that a final settlement is getting closer and closer.

Yet, I sat in the Monthly Tribal Meeting last Saturday (February 3) and couldn’t believe my ears.

Apparently, the settlement may be in trouble and this time it’s not because of the State or Counties or a court decision. This time it’s because the Nation or at least some people in Nation leadership don’t like the settlement and think it’s a bad deal. I sat and listened to people, who I assume were with the Nation, talk about this—how we are not getting enough land or power.

I couldn’t believe it. Do they know the history of our land claim? Do they know that all that is left in Court is the Hogansburg Triangle? Do they know how many Mohawk members are counting a on settlement to return their lands to the reservation? Many tribal members have bought land in the different settlement areas in Hogansburg, Fort Covington “Area B” and in the St. Lawrence County areas on North Road and Rooseveltown. If there is no settlement, these lands won’t be automatically converted to reservation lands. Instead, we will have to go through the long and expensive trust land process. We will also lose out on the other settlement benefits of NYPA monies, free tuition and cheap NYPA power.

Just to be absolutely clear. We stand to lose everything if we do not agree to this settlement and have to go back to Court!

In short, people need to understand how important this settlement is. Over 40 years Chiefs, MCA Council members and Nation leaders have worked hard to get where we are today. Does it give us back all the lands that were stolen? No. But right now it’s the best we can get to reclaim our 1796 reservation lands. This is the only valid claim that the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe has. If the other two parties feel they have a larger claim then maybe they should withdraw from this Claim and pursue that claim.

We will not get another chance like this again.

Barbara Lazore

Former Tribal Chief