Governor Paterson Announces Land Claim Settlement Agreement

ALBANY, NY (11/22/2010)(readMedia)-- Governor David A. Paterson today signed a land claim settlement agreement between the Stockbridge-Munsee Community, Band of Mohican Indians and the State of New York and presided over the signing of a Local Government Agreement between the Stockbridge-Munsee Tribe, Madison County and the Town of Stockbridge. The Governor was joined by Stockbridge-Munsee President Kim Vele, Madison County Board of Supervisors Chairman John Becker, Town of Stockbridge Supervisor Alex Stepanski, and local stakeholders.

The land claim settlement agreement will end the Stockbridge-Munsee Tribe's claim to over 23,000 acres in Madison County by transferring to the Stockbridge-Munsee rights to 1.84 acres of land located in Madison County. The Tribe will also transfer 72 acres of land it owns to the Stockbridge Valley Central School District and 50 acres to Briggs & Stratton Power Products Group located in Munnsville. Part of this agreement provides that the Tribe will replace the 23,000 acres it claims in Madison County for 330 acres in Sullivan County that the Tribe will convey to the Federal government, thus allowing the Sullivan County land to be taken into trust on behalf of the Tribe. This agreement represents the willingness shared by all parties and the diligent effort and patience of the Stockbridge-Munsee Tribe to reach a resolution based on mutual respect and good faith.

"Today's land claim settlement agreement represents decades of diligent effort and heroic patience on the part of the Stockbridge-Munsee Tribe through the years," Governor Paterson said. "Today we are signing a land claim settlement agreement that is beneficial to all parties. Now that the State, the Stockbridge-Munsee Tribe and local governments have done their part, I urge the Secretary of the Interior to put his signature on this settlement agreement to finalize the terms of the agreement. I want to thank all of those involved in this effort, especially Stockbridge-Munsee President Kim Vele, Madison County Supervisor John Becker and Town of Stockbridge Supervisor Alex Stepanski. As Governor, allow me to be the first to extend a warm 'welcome home' to the Stockbridge-Munsee Tribe."

The Stockbridge-Munsee Community, Band of Mohican Indians, has a long history in the State of New York predating the British colonies. However, in the early 1700's, colonists expanding westward drove the Tribe from its ancestral lands. Several bands of Mohicans first re-settled at Stockbridge in western Massachusetts, where they resided until after the Revolutionary War, in which the Tribe fought on the side of the colonists.

In 1785, the Oneida Nation of New York invited the Stockbridge-Munsee to settle in its territory. This area became known as "New Stockbridge," with its title to those central New York lands confirmed under State and Federal law at the urging of the Oneida Nation. In the ensuing decades, settler expansion again forced the Stockbridge-Munsee from Central New York, and they were resettled on a reservation in Wisconsin, where they reside today.

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