Sullivan, Peter B.

In the late 20th Century the Seneca Indians commenced two actions against the State of New York regarding land rights in New York, one challenging the State's claim of ownership to approximately 50 acres under and adjoining Cuba Lake and another which claimed tribal ownership of all islands in the Niagara River within U.S. waters, including Grand Island, the largest, and separately contested the State and New York Thruway Authority's 1954 right-of-way over the Cattaraugus Reservation. [Previously in 1955, the Nation filed, Seneca Nation of Indians v. Ek in the United States District Court in Buffalo, contesting the Cuba Lake properties, but allowed the case to lapse. A copy of the complaint in that action is ex. D to the April 18, 2001, declaration of Peter B. Sullivan filed in the 1985 Cuba Lake action (see Series IV). The Seneca Nation and the Tonawanda Band also filed claims with the Indian Claims Commission.]