Bravo, Cayuga County Legislature. The members have rejected that nutty offer from the Cayuga Nation whereby the Indians would get to build a casino in the Catskills and in exchange agree to only put 10,000 local acres into a federal trust, which means they won't have to pay taxes on it.
A problem with the deal is the Indians don't even own the land in the first place. Now they're saying they'll put 64,000 acres into a trust. This is land they claim is their ancestral homeland. Of course they don't own that land either. And they can't put anything into a federal trust. That privilege is reserved for the federal government. The Indians can only apply for it.
The bottom line is that if we don't sell them our land, then the whole runaway train comes to a screeching halt.
It will be interesting to see if landowners in Cayuga and Seneca counties will put their money where their mouth is.
It's easy to put up a roadside sign saying “No sovereign nation” and attend meetings; it's something else to turn down money that's on the table. The Indians can't apply to the feds to put land into a trust that they don't own. So the solution is; don't sell them your land. It's time for people to get organized and hold the line on land sales.
No sales means no sovereign nations. which raises a good question; if somebody has land for sale would they be breaking any laws by refusing to sell to Indians?
It's something that needs to be explored because that's where we are headed. If the Cayugas are successful in purchasing 64,000 acres and convincing the feds to grant them trust status, it would prove disastrous for many reasons. First of all, we would trade in taxpaying owners for non-taxpaying ones. And where would we pick up the slack for all the lost revenue? You guessed it - from the rest of us. So even if your land isn't directly involved, that doesn't mean that you'll be unaffected.
Also our community businesses who pay taxes will be expected to compete with the Indian businesses, which would be tax free. This kind of unfair advantage should be unacceptable to all New Yorkers. So far the courts have ruled in our favor, as well they should. But all New Yorkers must become increasingly aware of this threat to our state. Nobody, including the federal government, should have the right to place any New York land into a trust.
The treaty with the Indians was settled more than 200 years ago; that should be enough.
There should be no sovereign land, under any circumstances, in this state. All citizens should be treated equally under the law without mandating any unfair advantages to any particular group. What would happen if any other ethnic/racial group announced that they wanted their own tax-free nation in New York? Exactly!
Ducayne's column appears Tuesdays in The Citizen, and she can be contacted at sacredheart6005@hotmail.com
The bottom line is that if we don't sell them our land, then the whole runaway train comes to a screeching halt.
It will be interesting to see if landowners in Cayuga and Seneca counties will put their money where their mouth is.
It's easy to put up a roadside sign saying “No sovereign nation” and attend meetings; it's something else to turn down money that's on the table. The Indians can't apply to the feds to put land into a trust that they don't own. So the solution is; don't sell them your land. It's time for people to get organized and hold the line on land sales.
No sales means no sovereign nations. which raises a good question; if somebody has land for sale would they be breaking any laws by refusing to sell to Indians?
It's something that needs to be explored because that's where we are headed. If the Cayugas are successful in purchasing 64,000 acres and convincing the feds to grant them trust status, it would prove disastrous for many reasons. First of all, we would trade in taxpaying owners for non-taxpaying ones. And where would we pick up the slack for all the lost revenue? You guessed it - from the rest of us. So even if your land isn't directly involved, that doesn't mean that you'll be unaffected.
Also our community businesses who pay taxes will be expected to compete with the Indian businesses, which would be tax free. This kind of unfair advantage should be unacceptable to all New Yorkers. So far the courts have ruled in our favor, as well they should. But all New Yorkers must become increasingly aware of this threat to our state. Nobody, including the federal government, should have the right to place any New York land into a trust.
The treaty with the Indians was settled more than 200 years ago; that should be enough.
There should be no sovereign land, under any circumstances, in this state. All citizens should be treated equally under the law without mandating any unfair advantages to any particular group. What would happen if any other ethnic/racial group announced that they wanted their own tax-free nation in New York? Exactly!
Ducayne's column appears Tuesdays in The Citizen, and she can be contacted at sacredheart6005@hotmail.com
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