Saint Regis Mohawks, NYS, St. Lawrence County settle land dispute, casino-revenue sharing

AKWESASNE, N.Y. — The St. Regis Mohawk Tribe, the state of New York, and St. Lawrence County on Wednesday ratified an agreement that resolves “decades-old” tribal-land disputes.

It also finalizes distribution of casino revenue to communities in the region.

The office of Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe announced the agreement in separate news releases on Wednesday.

Cuomo, tribal representatives, local-government officials, and the New York Power Authority (NYPA) signed the agreement, according to the governor’s office.

New York state and the Mohawks were at a “stalemate” for decades, according to Cuomo.

“We can now look forward to years of mutual respect and cooperation,” Cuomo said.  “I congratulate and thank the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe and our partners in county and local government for working together to make [the] agreement a reality.”

The memorandum of understanding settles decades of litigation and provides “significant” economic benefits for St. Lawrence County and local governments, according to Cuomo’s office.

Under the agreement, the Mohawks are permitted to acquire, only from willing sellers, identified lands in St. Lawrence County and return them to the Tribe’s territory, his office added.

The identified lands in St. Lawrence County, which the Mohawks can attempt to acquire, include more than 3,400 acres in the town of Brasher and more than 1,300 acres in the town of Massena, according to the Tribe’s news release.

In exchange for the right to acquire and return identified lands to its recognized reservation, NYPA will provide the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe annual payments of $2 million for 35 years; up to nine megawatts of power and energy at NYPA’s lowest rate to meet the needs of the reservation; and free tuition and fees for enrolled Mohawk members who qualify for admission to any SUNY school, the Tribe said.

“The terms to which we agree today not only repair our past by allowing our Tribe to recover our lands, but they also provide opportunities for our future generations through education,” Paul O. Thompson, Saint Regis Mohawk Tribal Council Chief, said in the news release.

At the same time, New York and the St. Regis Mohawks will provide local governments a one-time payment of $2 million and $1.5 million, respectively, the office added.

In addition, the economic benefits will include an increase of $4 million in annual payments from the state share of casino revenues, along with the existing local annual share of about $2.9 million, Cuomo’s office said.

The St. Regis Mohawks will also release to New York the remaining balance of gaming revenues withheld in prior years.

The agreement also calls for state payments to St. Lawrence County and respective towns that are considered “sufficient to hold them harmless” from the loss of future property and school taxes for parcels that become part of the tribal territory, the governor’s office said.

The settlement of the land matters will benefit the entire region, just as the benefits of the Mohawks’ economic expansion have reached far into neighboring communities, Chief Ron LaFrance of the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribal Council contended.

“Shared economic success and friendship know no boundaries. We have invested more than $100 million in local planning, infrastructure and construction projects over the past three years. We have worked together to build our business and improve the quality of life across our communities,” LaFrance said.

Congress is required to extinguish all Mohawk land claims against St. Lawrence County, the state of New York, NYPA and all other land-claim defendants prior to the full agreement taking effect, according to Cuomo’s office.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com