DRAFT

12/10/2012


December __, 2012

The Honorable Kevin K. Washburn
Assistant Secretary Indian Affairs
U.S. Department of the Interior
MS 4606 Main Interior
1849 C Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20240

Subject: Cayuga Indian Nation Leadership

Dear Secretary Washburn:

Greetings from the Cayuga Nation of New York.

As you may be aware, the Cayuga Nation of New York (Cayuga Nation) is a
non-elective government that follows the traditional principles of the Great Law of Peace.
The purpose of this letter is to inform you that the Cayuga Nation has just completed a
comprehensive Statement of Support campaign, in a manner consistent with its traditional
principles, to confirm the will of the Cayuga people regarding the individuals serving on
the Cayuga Nations governing body, the Cayuga Nation Council.

This Statement of Support campaign included an extensive outreach program by
members of the Cayuga Nation Council. These members and other Council
representatives conducted more than 100 face-to-face meetings with Cayuga citizens
residing in New York, in order to solicit their views and determine whether these citizens
support their current leadership. Council members also contacted Cayugas residing
outside of New York through letters, emails, and telephone calls, as a part of the outreach
process.

The procedures used in this campaign by the Cayuga Nation were consistent with
procedures accepted by the Assistant Secretary Indian Affairs in 1994, with respect to
the neighboring Oneida Nation of New York, and as discussed more fully below.

The Nations Statement of Support campaign resulted in 60% of adult Cayuga
citizens affirmatively expressing support for the current, six-person Cayuga Nation
Council.
1
These same Cayuga citizens also rejected a recently formed Unity Council
of self-appointed Cayuga citizens as the governing body of the Cayuga Nation.

1
While the Cayuga Nation fully devoted its efforts to this campaign, there were logistical difficulties in
contacting, and encouraging participation by, Cayuga citizens living outside of New York. The Nation
believes that, given additional time, the percentage of citizens supporting the current Cayuga Nation
Council would have been higher than 60%.
The Honorable Kevin K. Washburn
December __, 2012
Page 2


A more detailed description of the Cayuga Nations Statement of Support
campaign and its results follow.

Cayuga Citizen Support for the Existing Cayuga Nation Council

During this four-month campaign, each adult Cayuga citizen
2
was asked to
consider and sign a written Statement expressing support for, and recognition of, the
following Representatives serving on the Cayuga Nation Council:

Clint Halftown, Heron Clan Representative and Federal Representative
Timothy Twoguns, Turtle Clan Representative and Alternate Federal
Representative
Gary Wheeler, Turtle Clan Representative
William Jacobs, Heron Clan Representative
Samuel George, Bear Clan Representative
Chester Isaac, Bear Clan Representative

This six-person Council has been serving together since 2006. Three of the
RepresentativesClint Halftown, Timothy Twoguns, and Gary Wheelerwere
appointed in 1990 and have been active members of the Council for more than twenty
(20) years.

Since 2003, Clint Halftown and Timothy Twoguns have served, respectively, as
the Federal Representative and the alternate Federal Representative of the Cayuga Nation
in its government-to-government relationship with the United States. The Cayuga Nation
Councils unanimous decision to authorize Clint Halftown and Timothy Twoguns to
serve in these roles was communicated through a Council letter sent to the Bureau of
Indian Affairs (BIA) on August 11, 2003.
3


In two decisions by the BIA dated March 15, 2005, and May 31, 2006, the agency
recognized that Clint Halftown and Timothy Twoguns serve in this capacity.
4
These BIA
decisions also acknowledged that the Cayuga Nation Council comprises the six

2
Cayuga citizens participating in this campaign had to be at least eighteen (18) years of age.
3
Letter from the Cayuga Nation Council, to Franklin Keel, Director, Eastern Area Office, Bureau of Indian
Affairs, August 11, 2003. This Cayuga Nation Council decision authorized Clint Halftown to negotiate and
execute contracts and agreements with all U.S. Departments and agencies, as the Representative of the
Cayuga Nation. Tim Twoguns was authorized to serve in this capacity if Clint Halftown was unavailable.
4
Letter from Franklin Keel, Regional Director, Bureau of Indian Affairs, to Joseph J. Heath, Attorney At
Law, March 15, 2005, at 3 (I therefore find the January 28 letter to be insufficient to change the Bureaus
recognition of Clint Halftown as having the authority to represent the Cayuga Nation in its dealings with
the Federal government.) (hereinafter BIA Letter of March 15, 2005); and Letter from Franklin Keel,
Director, Eastern Region, Bureau of Indian Affairs, to Members of the Cayuga Nation Council, May 31,
2006, at 8 (Based on the foregoing, the BIA continues to recognize Mr. Halftown as the Nations
designated representative.) (hereinafter BIA Letter of May 31, 2006).
The Honorable Kevin K. Washburn
December __, 2012
Page 3

Representatives named above.
5
Both BIA decisions were affirmed by the Interior Board
of Indian Appeals (IBIA) on May 4, 2009.
6


The Cayuga Unity Council

In the summer of 2011, a small group of Cayuga citizens challenged the status
quo by informing the BIA that several Cayuga Clan Mothers, contrary to settled Cayuga
law and as previously recognized by Director Keel, had unilaterally replaced certain
members of the Cayuga Nation Council with other individuals of their own choosing,
including the son of one of the Clan Mothers.
7


Without an evaluation of the facts being alleged, or any consideration of the well-
established federal Indian policies and legal standards involved, this Unity Council was
recognized by the Director of the Eastern Regional Office in a decision issued on August
19, 2011.
8
In his decision, the Director accepted the argument that Cayuga Clan Mothers
are vested with unilateral authority, under Cayuga law and customs, to replace individual
Clan Representatives serving on the Cayuga Nation Council. This decision by Director
Keel was in direct conflict with the Directors earlier decisions in 2005 and 2006.
Director Keels 2011 decision is currently on appeal before the IBIA.
9


Cayuga Citizen Rejection of the Unity Council

The Cayuga Nations Statement of Support campaign addressed the issue of the
validity of the Unity Council under Cayuga Nation law. Each Statement contained the
following language, rejecting any recognition of the Unity Council as the governing body
of the Cayuga Nation:

I do not recognize the newly formed Unity Council as the governing
body of the Cayuga Nation. These individuals are also supported by

5
BIA Letter of March 15, 2005, at 2; and BIA Letter of May 31, 2006, at 2-3.
6
George v. Eastern Regional Director, 49 IBIA 164 (2009). This IBIA decision also acknowledged the six
individuals named above as the current members of the Cayuga Nation Council. This acknowledgement by
the IBIA resulted in part because no party directly challenged the Regional Directors earlier conclusions
regarding the composition of the Council. See Id. at 175 (In this appeal no party directly challenges the
six-person composition of the Council, or the structure of the Council as containing two [representatives]
per active clan.).
7
Letter from Joseph J. Heath, Attorney at Law, to Franklin Keel, Director, Eastern Region, Bureau of
Indian Affairs, June 9, 2011.
8
Letter from Franklin Keel, Director, Eastern Region, Bureau of Indian Affairs, to Messrs. Daniel J.
French, Lee Alcott, and Joseph J. Heath, Attorneys at Law, August 19, 2011.
9
Cayuga Indian Nation of New York v. Eastern Regional Director, Docket No. IBIA 12-005 (2011). In an
Order issued on August 28, 2012, the IBIA requested supplemental briefing by the parties to identity what
specific request for action or decision was pending before the Regional Director that required him to
address the issue of the composition of the Cayuga Nation Council. IBIA Order Denying Motion to Place
Decision into Effect and Order for Supplemental Briefing, at 2-3, August 28, 2012 (A BIA decision
concerning a tribal dispute must be premised on the need for some separate BIA action at the time the
decision is issued.) (emphasis in original).
The Honorable Kevin K. Washburn
December __, 2012
Page 4

the Onondaga Nation and I reject interference by any persons or
government outside of the Cayuga Nation of New York in our
internal affairs and business.
10


Summary of the Process and Results of the Statement of Support Campaign

Attached is a copy of the Statement of Support document used in this campaign
by the Cayuga Nation. Every executed Statement is dated and contains basic information
about each Cayuga citizen participating in this process, including his or her name and
address, and a signature by that individual. Each executed Statement was also signed by
a witness with personal knowledge of the identity of each Statement signatory. Cayuga
citizens who signed a Statement of Support formally acknowledged that they did so
freely, voluntarily, and without any form of duress.

The following is a summary of the final results of this campaign, as of December
10, 2012. These results confirm the will of the Cayuga people to: (1) support the current
six-person Cayuga Nation Council; and (2) reject the Unity Council:

Total Adult Cayuga Citizens 378
(over 18 years of age)

Cayuga Citizens Unable to Sign
11
9

Adult Members Available to Sign
Statements of Support 369

Cayuga Citizens Who Signed Support
Statements for Current Nation Leadership 222

Percentage of Adult Cayugas Supporting
Current Nation Leadership (222/369) 60.16%

Cayuga Citizens Who Refused to Sign a
Support Statement for Current Nation
Leadership 26

Percentage of Adult Cayugas Refusing to
Support Current Nation Leadership (26/369) 7.05%



10
Cayuga Nation Statement of Support, 2012. A sample Statement is included as an attachment to this
letter.
11
The Cayuga enrollment list indicates 378 citizens who are 18 years or older. However, 9 Cayugas are
unavailable to vote because of a physical or mental disability, incarceration, no known address, or other
reason.
The Honorable Kevin K. Washburn
December __, 2012
Page 5


Statement of Support Campaigns by the Oneida Nation of New York

As noted earlier, the Cayuga Nations Statement of Support campaign followed a
process similar to the previous use of support statements by the Oneida Nation of New
York (Oneida Nation). Like the Cayuga Nation, the Oneida Nation is a non-elective
government that follows the traditional principles of the Great Law of Peace.

In 1986 and 1993, the Oneida Nation solicited Statements of Support from its
adult members to ascertain their views regarding the continuation of a traditional form of
government and a confirmation of their political leadership. Statements of Support
solicited by the Oneida Nation were accepted by the Interior Department as expressing
the will of a majority of Oneida members on these issues, in decisions issued in 1987 and
1994.
12
As the 1994 decision by the Department is more relevant to the process followed
by the Cayuga Nation in its Statement of Support campaign, a copy of that decision,
issued by the Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs on February 4, 1994, is attached for your
review.

Despite several legal challenges, these Interior Department decisions have been
acknowledged and accepted by Federal trial courts in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
Second Circuit, which includes New York within its jurisdiction.
13


Conclusion

The Cayuga Nation is a sovereign government, with an undiminishable right to
choose its own form of governance and its leaders.
14
The Cayuga Nation has now
resolved its internal dispute regarding the formation of a Unity Council and the unilateral
selection of individuals to serve on this Council by Cayuga Clan Mothers.

The substantial majority of Cayuga citizens support and recognize the six-person
Cayuga Nation Council that has been serving for more than seven (7) years now. The
membership of this Council was recognized by the BIA in 2005 and 2006, and by the
IBIA in 2009.

The super-majority support of the Cayuga Nation Council by the Cayuga people
should end any questions about the political leadership of the Cayuga Nation.


12
See Letter from Ross O. Swimmer, Assistant Secretary Indian Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior,
to Messrs. Robert W. Burr, Jr. and Ray Halbritter, July 29, 1987; and Letter from Ada E. Deer, Assistant
Secretary Indian Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior, to Raymond Halbritter, February 4, 1994.
13
See Shenandoah v. Halbritter, 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5138 (N.D. N.Y. 1997), affd, 159 F.3d 708 (2
nd

Cir. 1998); and Shenandoah v. Halbritter, 275 F. Supp. 2d 279 (N.D. N.Y. 2003), affd, 366 F.3d 89 (2
nd

Cir. 2004).
14
See, e.g., Santa Clara Pueblo v. Martinez, 436 U.S. 49, 55 (1978), quoting, Worcester v. Georgia, 31 U.S.
(6 Pet.) 515, 559 (1832) (Indian tribes are distinct, independent political communities, retaining their
original natural rights in matter of local self-government.).
The Honorable Kevin K. Washburn
December __, 2012
Page 6

We recognize that the Interior Department has a responsibility, as a part of its
government-to-government relationship with the Cayuga Nation, to determine, as
necessary and appropriate, who speaks on behalf of the Cayuga Nation. As a
consequence, the Nation will permit Department representatives to: (1) examine the 222
Statements of Support received in this campaign; and (2) examine the Cayuga Nations
enrollment list to verify that each Statement of Support was signed by an adult Cayuga
citizen on the enrollment list. Cayuga Nation attorneys are also prepared to obtain
notarized affidavits from the key individuals involved in the Statement of Support
campaign, describing in greater detail the internal procedures used to solicit and receive
these Statements.

The Cayuga people have now spoken in a clear voice regarding the leadership of
the Cayuga Nation. It is time to move on from this political dispute, and return to our
efforts to re-build the Nation and improve the quality of life for all our citizens.

Oneh,



_________________________
Clint Halftown
Heron Clan Representative and
Federal Representative
Cayuga Nation of New York



_________________________
Timothy Twoguns
Turtle Clan Representative and
Alternate Federal Representative
Cayuga Nation of New York



________________________
Gary Wheeler
Turtle Clan Representative
Cayuga Nation of New York



Attachments


The Honorable Kevin K. Washburn
December __, 2012
Page 7

cc: Franklin Keel, Director, Eastern Regional Office
Dan French, French-Alcott, PLLC, Counsel to the Cayuga Nation
Keith Harper, Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP, Counsel to the Cayuga Nation