United States Second Circuit

Plaintiff-Tribe's suit, seeking to invalidate defendant's 1815 acquisition of its lands, is dismissed where defendant already had title to the land in dispute when it purchased it from plaintiff, and, consequently, did not violate the Non-Intercourse Act.

Appellate Information

• Decided 09/09/2004
• Published 09/09/2004

Judges

• B.D. PARKER, JR., Circuit Judge:, Before:  OAKES, MESKILL, and B.D. PARKER, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Second Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Jeanne S. Whiteing, Whiteing & Smith, Boulder, CO, and Arlinda F. Locklear, Jefferson, MD (Steven M. Tullberg, Alexandra C. Page, Indian Law Resource Center, Washington, DC, on the brief), for Plaintiff-Appellant Seneca Nation of Indians and Plaintiff-Intervenor-Appellant Tonawanda Band of Seneca Indians., Samuel C. Alexander (William Lazarus, Ellen Durkee, on the brief), Environment & Natural Resources Division (Thomas L. Sansonetti, Assistant Attorney General, on the brief), United States Department of Justice (Mary Anne Kenworthy, Office of the Solicitor, Department of the Interior, on the brief), Washington, DC, for Plaintiff-Intervenor-Appellant United States.


• For Appellees:
  
• Peter B. Sullivan, Assistant Attorney General (Eliot Spitzer, Attorney General, Caitlin J. Halligan, Solicitor General, Peter H. Schiff, Senior Counsel, Andrew D. Bing, Assistant Solicitor General, on the brief), State of New York (Frederick A. Wolf, Erie County Attorney, Frederick G. Attea, Assistant County Attorney, Buffalo, NY;  Michael B. Powers, Phillips, Lytle, Hitchock, Blaine & Huber, on the brief), Buffalo, NY, for Defendants-Appellees., Gus P. Coldebella (Anthony M. Feeherry, P.C., Andrea L. Studley, Mark S. Puzella, Brett C. Gerry, on the brief), Goodwin Proctor LLP, Boston, MA, for Defendant-Appellee-Cross-Appellant.