A Solution to the Cayuga Land Status Issue

If the Seneca Nation still wants to claim to be "The Keepers of the Western Door" then they should step up to help their younger brothers. The Seneca Nation could use their unique ability to avoid the Fee to Trust process and set up a permanent land trust for the Cayugas. The Senecas could take the title to the Cayuga sites for a minimum fee, remove it from the State control and place it in a permanent land trust on a Seneca title to the Cayugas. Otherwise the fee to trust process would be placing the title into the hands of the federal government for "use and enjoyment" of the Cayugas.

The problem with this scenario is that the land acquistion process that the Senecas have has been compromised by their Gaming Compact. The Act of Congress that created the process should not have been altered or encumbered by a State agreement. It had no business being added to the negotiations and any reference to land use or acquisition in the Gaming Compact should be struck from the agreement. The State had no right to request such restrictions and the Interior Department should never have let it go through. More evidence on why they shouldn't be trusted. Not to mention the fact that the State has failed to live up to several elements of their end of the bargain and continue to work against Native interests.