If you drove down Route 89 in the town of Seneca Falls on Saturday, you likely noticed almost a dozen demolished buildings. They belong to the Cayuga Nation and were taken down overnight.
“Nobody knew this was going to happen,” said Lizzy Miller, Cayuga Nation family member.
Early Saturday morning, bulldozers began tearing down buildings on Cayuga Nation property.
“It's really heartbreaking to see the devastation that has happened to our people for no reason,” said Leanna Young, Cayuga Nation member.
Eleven buildings, including a daycare, gas station, and longhouse are now gone.
“My husband just can’t go to work Monday morning. The building is demolished, the building is ruined. Everything is down to the ground. I mean our family is going to struggle, that's how we get by,” said Miller.
The Cayuga Nation Council says the properties had been occupied by some people claiming to be leaders of the Cayuga Nation, and others who had no connection to the nation.
“Those who had seized Cayuga Nation properties in 2014 refused to leave. They continued to operate Cayuga Nation businesses keeping the money for themselves, and refusing to provide any accounting for how the money was spent,” said Cayuga Nation in a statement.
“We have a neighbor that’s packing up their belongings in a UHaul and leaving the area because nobody knows what’s going to happen at this point,” said Miller.
The Cayuga Nation Council, led by Clint Halftown, says the Nation was demolishing the buildings to take back control of their land.
“It did so to eliminate certain public safety issues, and it does not want these buildings to become a target for any further friction in the community going forward,” said Cayuga Nation.
“There’s no sense for it. This is not how you resolve things, this is not how you try to communicate with your people, I don’t know what point he was trying to make,” said Young.
The Cayuga Nation Council says their power to enforce its own laws inside the reservation boundaries has been confirmed by the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Cayuga Nation police found meth, marijuana, and guns while searching the properties. Seven people were detained, one has been charged with possession of a drug believed to be meth.
Below is a statement from the Cayuga Nation: