By Scott Rapp 

Oneida Indian Nation leader Ray Halbritter has offered to bankroll the Cayuga Indians' land claim if it winds up in court, according to an official with a group fighting the land claim.

 Connie Tallcot, co-chair of the Cayuga-Seneca chapter of Upstate Citizens for Equality, said Wednesday night that state Sen. Michael F. Nozzolio told her about Halbritter's offer.

 Tallcot said she spoke to Nozzolio earlier in the day and he gave her permission to make public Halbritter's offer at her group's public meeting Wednesday at the Canoga firehouse. About 150 people attended. Nozzolio, R-Fayette, was not available for comment.

 "(Halbritter) feels they will win if they take it to court,"Tallcot said.

 The Cayugas are seeking to regain ownership of 64,027 acres of land in Cayuga and Seneca counties that they say the state illegally took from them through treaties in 1795 and 1807 that violated a 1790 federal law. The long-standing dispute is scheduled to go to court Sept. 8.

 The Oneidas are trying to reclaim 250,000 acres in Madison and Oneida counties. Halbritter, who led the Oneidas to wealth with the 1993 opening of Turning Stone Casino in Verona, could not be reached for comment.

 Carole Trimble, an Oneida Nation spokeswoman, said the "Oneidas stand ready to help their Cayuga brothers any way they can. All land claim cases are important to all Native Americans." She declined to say whether Halbritter has offered to pay the Cayugas' court fees.

 - David L. Shaw contributed

 to this story.
 
 

Thursday, July 1, 1999