The Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma has held a general council meeting every year since 1973 but this year's meeting has been put on hold due to a legal dispute.

The general council, which consists of all voting tribal member who are 18 and over, is supposed to meet June 7. A tribal court judge, however, put the meeting on hold until a July 9 hearing in a lawsuit between Chief Paul Spicer and 11 tribal members.

The lawsuit accuses Spicer of trying to manipulate the tribal political system. The 11 tribal members say he pushed through a new tribal law that allows people to vote on general council matters even if they aren't there in person.

"You cannot legislate by mail," Dolly Pewitt told The Tulsa World. "It's like the U.S. Congress; you have to have warm bodies there to legislate."

Spicer said the law was passed after an altercation broke out at a 2006 general council meeting.

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Infighting may force cancellation of tribal council's meeting (The Tulsa World 5/17)