# Are there any Indian reservations within New York's Sullivan, Delaware, Greene, and Ulster counties?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-indian-reservations-within-new-yorks-sullivan-delaware-greene-and-ulster-counties/967547
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [July 7, 2022, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-indian-reservations-within-new-yorks-sullivan-delaware-greene-and-ulster-counties/967547 "2022-07-07T10:48:32Z")
**Posts on this page:** 11
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Octagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octagon)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2022, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-indian-reservations-within-new-yorks-sullivan-delaware-greene-and-ulster-counties/967547/1 "2022-07-07T10:48:32Z")
Are there any Indian reservations within New York’s Sullivan, Delaware, Greene, and Ulster counties ie. Catskill Mountain region? If not which are the nearest counties to the Catskills you would have to travel to find Natve Indian reservations ?
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### Author:  [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2022, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-indian-reservations-within-new-yorks-sullivan-delaware-greene-and-ulster-counties/967547/2 "2022-07-07T11:59:49Z")
I am not familiar enough with New York state and its counties to say but there are 10 native American reservations in New York State. The link below might help you determine what is where:
> **[Aboriginal title in New York](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aboriginal_title_in_New_York)**
>
> Pages for logged out editors learn more
>
> Aboriginal title in New York refers to treaties, purchases, laws and litigation associated with land titles of aboriginal peoples of New York, in particular, to dispossession of those lands by actions of European Americans. The European purchase of lands from indigenous populations dates back to the legendary Dutch purchase of Manhattan in 1626, "the most famous land transaction of all." More than any other state, New York disregarded the Confede...
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### Author:  [@Octagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octagon)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2022, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-indian-reservations-within-new-yorks-sullivan-delaware-greene-and-ulster-counties/967547/3 "2022-07-07T10:26:19Z")
I couldn’t find any information confirming whether the Seneca Nation owns land in the Catskills? Did they ever win approval to build a casino in the town of Bridgeville in the Catkills, New York?
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### Author:  [@Octagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octagon)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2022, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-indian-reservations-within-new-yorks-sullivan-delaware-greene-and-ulster-counties/967547/4 "2022-07-07T10:31:49Z")
According to this article it seems they do have a claim to the land.
[https://www.indianz.com/News/archive.asp?ID=mm/1112000-1&day=11/1/00](https://www.indianz.com/News/archive.asp?ID=mm/1112000-1&day=11/1/00)
The Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma is just one of the latest parties considering a casino in the Catskills region of New York.
The tribe is exploring a casino deal with a county there. Along with the Seneca Nation of New York, both tribes have won their land claim against the state and might open a casino on land purchased or transferred to the them.
The St. Regis Mohawk of New York, the Mohican Tribe of Wisconson, and the Mohegan Tribe of Connecticut have all been considering a casino in the Catskills. The St. Regis Mohawk won approval for one but with a former partner.
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2022, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-indian-reservations-within-new-yorks-sullivan-delaware-greene-and-ulster-counties/967547/5 "2022-07-07T13:14:15Z")
[Moderating]
Since you appear to have started basically the same thread twice in an hour, I’ve merged them.
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### Author:  [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2022, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-indian-reservations-within-new-yorks-sullivan-delaware-greene-and-ulster-counties/967547/6 "2022-07-07T17:26:50Z")
No, there are no reservations in those four counties.
Since they are all just north of New York City, the closest one would be the [Poospatuck Reservation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poospatuck_Reservation) on Long Island, just west of the [Shinnecock Reservation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinnecock_Reservation).
Indian claims in New York are incredibly complicated and contentious. I couldn’t begin to understand the basis for any of these claims.
I do know that they are wildly outdated, though. Your linked article is from 2000. All the Indian casino plans fell through. The Resorts World Catskills casino opened in 2018 in Sullivan County.
The state has a moratorium on new casinos until next year. I don’t know of any formal plans to announce one after the break.
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### Author:  [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2022, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-indian-reservations-within-new-yorks-sullivan-delaware-greene-and-ulster-counties/967547/7 "2022-07-07T17:45:34Z")
From what I know of the area, the Catskills were not really much inhabited by native tribes, but visited for hunting and trapping while settling around them instead of in them.
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### Author:  [@Octagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octagon)
#### Post date: [July 8, 2022, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-indian-reservations-within-new-yorks-sullivan-delaware-greene-and-ulster-counties/967547/8 "2022-07-08T01:03:44Z")
Thanks kanicbird. I see references like this online:
> **[Esopus tribe](https://www.spectroom.com/1025566555-esopus-tribe)**
>
> The Esopus tribe was a tribe of Lenape (Delaware) Native Americans who were native to Upstate New York, specifically the region of the Catskill Mountains. Their lands included modern-day Ulster and Sullivan counties.
The **Esopus tribe** was a **tribe** of Lenape (Delaware) Native Americans who were native to Upstate New York, specifically the region of the Catskill Mountains.
Were the Esopus not living in the mountains, but in the surroundings ?
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### Author:  [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)
#### Post date: [July 8, 2022, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-indian-reservations-within-new-yorks-sullivan-delaware-greene-and-ulster-counties/967547/9 "2022-07-08T11:10:52Z")
> [@Octagon](#):
>
> Were the Esopus not living in the mountains, but in the surroundings ?
As I understand it this is correct, they lived just outside the mountains, and IIRC farmed in that flat lands (and why they chose not to settle in the Catskills themselves). Though again visited the mountains for hunting and trapping (and thus may have had hunting camps for that purpose).
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [July 8, 2022, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-indian-reservations-within-new-yorks-sullivan-delaware-greene-and-ulster-counties/967547/10 "2022-07-08T23:25:16Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#):
>
> No, there are no reservations in those four counties.
>
> Since they are all just north of New York City, the closest one would be the [Poospatuck Reservation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poospatuck_Reservation) on Long Island, just west of the [Shinnecock Reservation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinnecock_Reservation).
I feel the Oneida Nation Indian Territory, in Madison County, is closer to the Catskill region. They have a few casinos there, including Turning Store, which is one of the larger casinos in the state.
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### Author:  [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)
#### Post date: [July 8, 2022, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-indian-reservations-within-new-yorks-sullivan-delaware-greene-and-ulster-counties/967547/11 "2022-07-08T23:51:36Z")
Yeah, the northern counties Delaware and Greene may have areas closer.
But Bridgeville is in Sullivan county, the heart of the Catskills and the resort area that has drawn New Yorkers for a century. That’s where Resorts built its casino.
The two questions the OP asked have somewhat different answers, so I’ll let him say which suits him better.