Indians Lose Suit Over 1780s Land Sale to N.Y.

A federal judge said Friday that New York state legally purchased about 6 million acres from the Oneida Indian Nation before 1789, rejecting a claim by the Indians that the state had duped them into selling their homeland for $16,500.

The ruling, involving a roughly 60-mile-wide stretch of private and public land between Watertown in northern New York and Binghamton near the Pennsylvania line, was handed down by U.S. District Judge Neil McCurn.

An attorney for the Oneidas said the ruling would be appealed.