Onondagas say history proves lawsuit should go forward

SYRACUSE - The Onondaga Indian Nation has persistently protested that New York state stole its historic territory and the tribe was blocked from its day in court for nearly two centuries by the American legal system, tribal officials said Monday.

The Onondaga leaders were responding to a bid by the state to get the tribe's land claim thrown out of federal court.

“We are trying to do this in a civil way, even though we have a lot of anger, a lot of frustration,” said Sid Hill, an Onondaga chief and the Tadodaho, or spiritual leader, of the six-nation Iroquois Confederacy.