I Can't Believe It's Over

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For my final project, I wanted to find out what exactly the Onondaga Nation wants to achieve with its land rights action case. Commonly called "land claim rights", I learned that the Onondaga Nation calls it land rights action because for them it is not just about claiming land. I was able to talk to two son's of one of the Nation's fourteen chiefs, Chief Irving Powless. One of Powless's sons, Neal Powless, works for SU's Career Services Department and also works closely with the Native Students Department. Neal Powless says for the Onondaga Nation it is not about getting casinos or money.

The Onondaga Nation is suing the state of New York for illegally taking 4,000 square miles of land from them. This includes up to 40 miles of land running north to south from the St. Lawrence River to the Pennsylvania Line. New York wants the case to be dismissed because it says the Nation waiting too long to sue. I also interviewed Regina Jones, an assistant director of Multicultural Affairs at SU. Jones also works closely with the university's Native Studies Program and currently lives on the Nation's land. Jones says this is the courts and governments way of trying to stop the land rights action. "In reality we weren't allowed to go into the court system as sovereign nations much before this time," says Jones.

On October 11, 2007, there was a hearing in federal court in Albany. The case was argued in front of Senior U.S. District Judge Lawrence Kahn. Kahn reserved decision and no updates have been made since. Kahn will have to decide to dismiss the case or continue it.

From my sources, I learned that the Onondaga Nation does not want to take away people's land. The Nation wants to claim the land that they say was illegally taken away. The Nation also wants to clean up the land, which includes cleaning Onondaga Lake.

I really enjoyed doing this project. It was challenging but fun. But mostly, I really enjoyed this class. These last few months have been amazing. I feel as if you all are a part of my family. Thank you to my classmates for being supportive. Thank you to Richard for answering my annoying questions and always offering a helpful hand. And, thank you to Professor Nicholson for never letting me settle and pushing me to be better. I will miss this class.