Disgruntled Mohawks Take Over N.Y. School

By Lynn Schnaiberg

The Salmon River school district, surrounded by dairy farms in the northernmost reaches of New York state, has had a decidedly atypical back-to-school season.

The day before school began on Sept. 5, about 40 Mohawk Indians from a nearby reservation walked into a district elementary school and declared a peaceful takeover. They announced that they were creating their own school district in an effort to gain more control over the education of children from the reservation.

Since then, officials in the 1,600-student district have been caught in the middle of an age-old battle over tribal sovereignty and unity. Mohawk supporters held around-the-clock vigils last week at the elementary school. By week's end, a settlement had been reached and the school was set...