The leadership dispute at the Cayuga Indian Nation of New York has had many noteworthy twists over the past several years, and last week certainly qualified as another.
A couple of Cayuga Nation members could be seen sitting under a tent near the entrance to the Finger Lakes Drive-In with signs promoting the sale of cigarettes. They stored the tobacco products on some land behind the drive-in, accessible by a newly created access road to the west of the drive-in ticket booth. And the men behind the operation executed a real estate transaction using the Cayuga Nation's name to obtain the section of land from the drive-in's owner for free.
The two rival factions that make up the federally recognized leadership council for the Cayugas both renounced the move, saying no one gave authorization to Cayuga citizens Dustin "Dusty" Parker, of the Heron Clan, and Jason Silversmith, of the Snipe Clan.
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But those two men both believe they've behaved well within their rights, and their goal is to have the tribe's chiefs resolve the bigger leadership problem.
And make no mistake, it's a huge problem.
While we don't condone the manner in which Parker and Silversmith are going about things, we support their mission to come up with a peaceful resolution to the long-running question of who is running the nation's affairs.
The Cayuga Nation owns considerable property and has many residents and employees in Cayuga and Seneca counties. Although there's a long history of passionate disagreements between the tribe and local residents over what the Cayugas can and can't do with respect to their sovereign status, there's no question that the nation is a part of the community.
Unfortunately, the leadership dispute has spilled out into the community in a negative way far too many times. That's included violence at times, which is most troubling. But it's also had a way of snagging up people in legal messes when they attempt to do business with what they believe to be the Cayuga Nation, only to learn that they may not be dealing with the authorized nation party.
The Cayugas and local governments have struggled to resolve land-claim issues for more than three decades, and it's been almost impossible to deal with that situation when there's serious leadership questions.
For years, and resolve the Cayuga Nation's internal dispute. The BIA, though, has been unwilling to do so, despite plenty of tangible examples of how the problem is hurting the tribe and the communities where they operate.
At this point, we urge everyone within the Cayuga Nation to give Parker and Silversmith's call to action serious consideration. Do it in a way that's transparent to everyone, and come to the table committed to finding compromise.
"We're promoting that the circle of 10 chiefs sort out the issues of the Cayuga Nation so that all parties within the nation can achieve peace and prosperity," Parker told one of our reporters on Thursday.
If that can happen, it won't fix every issue, but it would be a huge step forward for everyone who has a stake in this long-running saga.
