The Peacemakers: Inside New York and Oneida's Historic Agreement

In less than a month of intense negotiations, decades of animosity and contentious lawsuits between the Oneida Indian Nation and the state of New York were brought to a close in a historic agreement that, if approved by the state legislature, will resolve all disputes between the two sovereigns over land rights, tax issues, gaming exclusivity and profits.

Ray Halbritter, Oneida Indian Nation Representative, and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the monumental agreement that will recognize the Oneida Nation’s reservation, settle all outstanding litigation and resolve all disputes over property and sales taxes, including cigarette and fuel sales, at a press conference in Albany, the state capital, on May 16. The agreement also entails payments of tens of millions of dollars from the Oneida Nation, and concession of a gaming exclusivity zone by the state.

“This is indeed a defining moment in the history of the Oneida Nation and New York state,” Halbritter said. “Together today we begin a partnership in our shared prosperity in our upstate region. It’s not unlike the historical relationship the Oneida Nation had in the historical time of the Revolutionary War, when we were all under the Treaty of Canandaigua. We recognize together with the United States that peace and friendship shall be perpetual between our Nations and we’re here in that spirit today,” he said at the press conference.