New York state has nothing to worry about with Gov. George Pataki representing us and looking out for our best interests, right? We had better take a closer look.

Right now, I'm wondering if Georgie has smoked a few too many peace pipes in his day.

Otherwise, what could possibly motivate him to give our land away to the Indians? Hasn't he given in much too easily? I, for one, smell a rat. And I don't think that his "Canal Days" fiasco is the only corrupt deal coming out of Albany.

Why would the governor fork over hundreds of millions of dollars unless he's playing "Let's Make A Deal" again? Pataki needs to decide just who he is representing.

The Indian nations only have a land claim. Georgie needs to put his big Uncle Sam pants on and say, "No!" Does he take us all for fools? We've already settled this and they keep coming back for more money. The courts need to put an end to this.

Now Pataki wants to include approval for five off-reservation gambling casinos. The secretary of the interior, Gale Norton, has said that she frowns on this, saying,"The Department would have great difficulty approving off-reservation casinos through the administrative process." Maybe she understands the absurdity of the whole land claim idea.

Let's right some of the other wrongs from our nation's past. Don't you think it's terrible the way we swiped those 13 colonies from Great Britain? They belonged to King George and we stole them by the violent shedding of blood and it's time for us to atone.

Tony Blair should be contacted and told that we expect legal action concerning a colony claim. And if he wants to build sovereign English casinos in other states, no problem. By the way, if a citizen of Great Britain opens a gas station next to yours, you pay taxes, they don't. Got a problem with that? And will someone 'pleeze' inform Canada they need to give Quebec back to France? They've had it long enough, ne's pas?

On a personal note: my family has decided that we want Pittsburgh back(formerly Fort Duquesne). Our ancestors cut the logs that built that fort and ... well, you get the idea.

Ridiculous, you say? Exactly.

Indian nations fought against each other for many reasons, including the occupation of territory. But they know it's too late to make land claims against each other. They also know that we're not smart enough to figure that out, too. And the money won't get to the Indians who really need it, just the elite leadership. The same way Pataki does it. At least state Sen. Nozzolio and Assemblyman Finch know what's going on and are sticking up for their own people. Just because an Indian nation is laying claim to our country doesn't mean our governor has to go along with it.

Judy Ducayne's column appears Tuesdays in The Citizen. She can be reached at sacredheart6005@hotmail.com