Like the Mohawks and the Onondagas, the Senecas were the victims of unlawful land deals with the State that robbed them of much of their historic territory in Western New York. Our work on the Tonawanda Seneca Nations land claim now focuses on efforts to reverse the deeply disappointing 2002 federal district court ruling that dismissed the claim on cross-motions for summary judgment. In 2004, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed that decision. In January of 2006 we asked the United States Supreme Court to review the case. We hope for a positive response from the Court in the spring of 2006. If the Court refuses or decides to hear the case but does not give the Tonawanda Seneca Nation the justice it deserves, we will work with the Nation to pursue other means of vindicating the Nation’s historic land rights.
Justice for Indigenous Peoples Since 1978
