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The federal Bureau of Indian Affairs has cut ties with Halftown, releasing a statement to мÓƶà¶à¿ª½±¼Ç¼ Thursday that said, "Mr. Halftown was previously identified as a federal representative for the Nation, but this was separate from being a leader within the Nation."

It also said that "When there was an existing contract with the BIA and the Cayuga Nation, the BIA worked with Mr. Halftown as a point of contact for the Nation's contract matters. Now, however, the contract has expired, and the Nation has been unable to make formal leadership decisions due to an internal leadership dispute. There is no BIA contractual business for Mr. Halftown to attend to at this time."

Halftown recently began petitioning the support of Cayuga Nation members through mail-in ballots that request support of his slate of tribal leaders without providing an alternative.

Halftown and Tim Twoguns, the Cayugas' former alternative federal representative, have added Donald Jimerson of the Bear Clan and Michael Barringer of the Wolf Clan to a five-member council that also includes Gary Wheeler, of the Turtle Clan. The group sought the guidance of the BIA for "solicit[ing] the views of our citizens," in a letter to the bureau dated June 14.

Cayuga Nation members representing a separate group, but part of the original six-member council, are against Halftown's petition, stating that the voting process Halftown is trying to implement goes against traditional Haudenosaunee law, among many other issues.

The leadership dispute has been in play for more than a decade, and the BIA ruled in 2015 that a council formed in 2006 of both sides would be recognized, with Halftown as the federal representative. But the BIA is no longer recognizing Halftown as a representative for the Nation, and is instead waiting for the Nation to sort out its dispute.

Halftown declined мÓƶà¶à¿ª½±¼Ç¼'s request to comment Thursday, but in his council's letter to the BIA, he outlines several reasons why they've chosen to act on the leadership dispute now. Those reasons include a suspension on the nation's trust land applications by the BIA until the leadership dispute is resolved, difficulties in appealing legal challenges against the n in Union Springs, and the inability to apply for BIA grant funding and suspension of member benefits until the dispute is resolved.

"The dire and urgent nature of the situation at Cayuga more than justifies the limited agency involvement we are seeking — a level of assistance, it is worth noting, that the BIA has provided to other tribes under similar circumstances," the letter to the BIA reads.

The BIA told мÓƶà¶à¿ª½±¼Ç¼ that it "is providing technical assistance to the Cayuga Nation as they attempt to work through their internal leadership issues. The hope is that the BIA will eventually hear from the Nation as to who they consider their leaders to be."

Syracuse attorney Joseph Heath, who represents the anti-Halftown group, which in the past had called itself the Unity Council, said he was not aware of any assistance, but said he is not going to argue with the BIA's statement. 

"That's exactly the position they should take," Heath said. "It (the leadership dispute) doesn't belong back in front of them (the BIA)."

Halftown's letter to the BIA on June 14 was followed by a letter to the separate Cayuga nation group on June 16. It outlined his intentions to petition the nation and requesting assistance from the BIA. Heath said Halftown's petitions were sent to members of the nation by mid-July.

"Generally, this is an attempt to throw aside the traditional form of government," Heath said. "Rather than wait for the traditional system to work itself out, they're making another attempt because there's a new (BIA) director of the Eastern area office, one that from the limited interchange we've had with him, is not as familiar with traditional governments as (the predecessor) was by the time he left."

Heath said Halftown's attempt to form a new council not only goes against the traditional customs of Haudensaunee law, but the petitions do not spell out another option besides voting in favor of the newly formed council.

"We said (to the BIA) you can't accept this process because you've rejected it in the past, repeatedly," Heath said. "It violates Nation law, and you're entertaining the idea of changing the government. This isn't even a fair process."

Two members of Halftown's council — Jimerson and Barringer — were not appointed by their respective clan mothers to a council, Heath said, which is one of the fundamental processes for being a leader that even Halftown spells out in his letter to Nation members.

"The Bear Clan mother is one of my clients," Heath said. "She didn't put that man on any council. There are two Bear Clan people on the traditional council that I represent. The Wolf Clan doesn't even have a clan mother. On the one hand, they're saying, 'This is our system.' And yet, they're asking people to vote on people who clearly don't identify under their system."