Members of the Cayuga Nation Indian tribe have requested Federal mediators to assist in resolving a leadership dispute in the tribal council, despite opposition from other council members who regard the intervention as unnecessary.

At issue is the newly formed Cayuga Tribal Council, created at the request of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Existing Cayuga Chiefs Samuel George, William “Chuck” Jacobs, and Chester Isaac do not recognize the authority of the new council and regard themselves as the tribe’s “traditional and rightful leaders.”

The new council’s membership is described as “temporary,” with the hope that the two sides would work together to come up with a final composition of the council. However, the chiefs do not believe the council is necessary or allowed under tribal law, and so oppose it on principle. From the point of view of the United States government, the new council is the recognized authority of the tribe.

The tribe, however, only recognizes the new council members as authorized representatives in terms of “federal grant moneys” and denies they have any authority over the interior governance of the tribe. The position of the tribe is that the duly appointed Chiefs are the governing figures of the tribe, and the U.S. government has no say in these matters.

The Chiefs have stated they will not participate in the mediation, as they regard the issue as settled by the laws of the tribe itself. There is no word on whether the Bureau of Indian Affairs will reconsider its position.