Tribe sues New Jersey for $1 trillion

TRENTON, N.J., March 23 (UPI) -- A New Jersey tribe has filed a federal lawsuit against the state to reclaim its ancestral land.

Filed by the Sand Hill Band of Lenape and Cherokee Indians, the lawsuit demands that the state recognize the tribe and pay $1 trillion in damages, to be paid in 1-ounce gold coins.

The newspaper noted that about 50,000 people in New Jersey claimed some form of American Indian ancestry on the 2000 census.

Although there are no federally recognized tribes based in the Garden State, the state legislature has passed resolutions acknowledging three groups -- the Nanti coke-Lenni Lenape, whose tribal office is in Cumberland County; the Powhatan-Renape of Burlington County; and the Ramapough Lenape, headquartered in Mahwah.

The resolutions, however, do not provide the groups with special services or tax breaks.

As for the $1 trillion the tribe is seeking, one tribal member said it is to show how serious the tribe is in resolving the matter.

"It's a financial move that says that we are serious," said Ronald Holloway, 45.

Although not a lawyer, Holloway said he plans to litigate the case himself.