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Cayuga Nation Files Lawsuit Against U.S. Over Leadership Dispute

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Cayuga Nation Files Lawsuit Against U.S. Over Leadership Dispute
Cayuga Nation rally protesters were pepper sprayed by Cayuga Nation Police during an altercation following A February 2020 press conference. Photo by Greg Cotterill, Finger Lakes Daily News.

The Cayuga Nation has filed a lawsuit in federal court against the U.S. and the Department of Justice that prohibits them from recognizing any leadership dispute within the nation.

 

The Auburn Citizen, was first to report the lawsuit seeks  “redress DOJ’s wrongful refusal to recognize, to meet with, and to aid and protect as statutorily required the sovereign government of the Cayuga Nation — as chosen by the people of the Cayuga Nation and as formally recognized by the United States Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Indian Affairs.”

 

The complaint was filed by the leadership of Clint Halftown, who has been recognized by the bureau as the nation’s representative since 2016. He is opposed by the Cayuga Council of Chiefs.

Halftown’s council has demolished several buildings associated with his opponents, who in response held a press conference in Seneca Falls in 2020 that led to fighting with the nation’s police force.

Today the tensions have settled down.  Earlier this month, the Seneca Falls Town Board proclaimed November as Native American Heritage Month in Seneca Falls, honoring both the Cayuga and Seneca Nations.

Lakeside Trading Facebook

Cayuga Nation Website

Photos by Greg Cotterill, Finger Lakes Daily News.

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