What are the central goals and purposes of the Onondaga land rights action?
The ultimate purpose of the Onondaga Nation in the assertion of its land rights is to enable the Nation to maintain its culture and way of life, and to protect the earth and its environment for all inhabitants of central New York. Collectively and individually, the Onondaga people have a right to decent and productive lives with adequate food, shelter, medical care, and other necessities, as well as to a clean and healthful environment. The Nation has suffered enormously from the loss of their lands and resources. Its people have suffered culturally, socially, emotionally, and economically, an historical condition exacerbated by the persistent unfavorable economic conditions in Central and Upstate New York. Legal recognition of the Onondaga Nation’s rights to its lands is essential to the preservation and strengthening of the Nation and the Haudenosaunee. The Onondaga Nation hopes that the land rights action can be resolved in a just and fair way through negotiation, but is prepared to
