Tribes, leaders map out plans

Cayuga and Seneca county leaders want to coordinate their response to the July 31 deadline set by the Cayuga Indian Nation of New York for the counties to decide about the proposed settlement over the Cayugas' property possibly entering sovereign trust.

“We want the two counties to work together on this,” said David Dresser, Ovid Town Supervisor and Seneca County's Native American Affairs committee chair. “If possible, we don't want the counties to take different positions. We want to see if we can come up with a common position. Certainly that's what the Nation expects and our attorneys want.”

To meet that goal, leaders from both counties met in executive session last Monday to discuss the proposal. “It was lively,” said Ray Lockwood, the Cayuga County legislator of Aurelius who chaired the meeting. “Everybody had input. There was disagreements. It was a good discussion. All points of view were brought out.”