ALBANY, N.Y. — A federal judge has dismissed a Wisconsin-based Indian tribe's claim to land on the reservation of another tribe in central New York.
The Stockbridge-Munsee Community initially sued the state and several communities in 1986 to win control over 36 acres in Madison County, a suit later joined by the Oneida Indian Nation because the tract is on its reservation.
The judge ruled the Stockbridge-Munsee band could not sue the Oneidas in the U.S. court and had waited too long to sue the governments.
The Stockbridge-Munsee claim goes back to the late 18th century and a treaty that marked their alliance with the colonists in the Revolutionary War.
The tribe says Wednesday it's disappointed by the ruling, will consider an appeal and wants Congress to establish a mechanism for resolving tribes' land disputes with each other.
