1932

Don Allen, gives us further details of the Cayuga Indians uprising in his home town of Seneca Falls, N.Y. The state had been paying the Indians off and on from 1789 to 1972 at least $200,000 for die Indian reservation land on which Don and his neighbors lived. In the late 1970s the state discovered that the treaties, because of which they had been paying the Indians, were invalid. In 1980 the Indians began to sue the landowners, saying they are proceeding to reclaim the land, not the houses, and are willing to lease it back to the present occupants. "Ordinarily a statute of limitations would prevent such an outrage, but in 1980 Congress extended this statute so the Indians could sue," Don writes. He continues, "Indian sovereignty immunity allows Indians to sue us in federal courts, but because they are 'wards of the state,' we cannot sue them. We believe this should be changed." The suit goes to trial September 1999. Don keeps busy mowing his two acres on the shore of Cayuga Lake and trying to outwit squirrels who chew holes in his birdfeeders. He sees Don Simpson when the latter visits a daughter in nearby Geneva and keeps in touch with former roomie Ben Cowden. Dick Olmsted announces there will be a mini in Hanover on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 22 and 23, with dinner at the Hanover Inn on Friday, and on Saturday after the Cornell game—but where? (Editor's Note: Having lost Dick's letter we have forgotten where, but it will be in your mail.)

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