An appeal is planned to a judge's ruling affirming the Cayuga Nation's sovereign rights on its ancestral territory.

Last Friday, a federal judge ruled that the tribe's former reservation has not been terminated by Congress. So any land the tribe purchases within the 64,000-acre area is Indian Country, free from state and local laws.

The tribe plans to build a bingo hall on a small parcel of land in the village of Union Springs. The village will appeal to the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, which has upheld the rights of the Oneida Nation in a similar dispute. The U.S. Supreme Court is being asked to overturn that ruling.

Get the Story:
Cayugas restart work on bingo hall project (The Syracuse Post-Standard 4/29)

Get the Decision in Cayuga Indian Nation v. Village of Union Springs:
Decision | Order (April 23, 2004)

Related Decision in Oneida Indian Nation v. City of Sherrill:
Majority Opinion | Van Graafeiland Dissent

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