Earlier this year, FingerLakes1.com acquired all of the Cayuga Nation’s 93-638 Public Law contracts through a half-yearlong Freedom of Information Act request. Originally filed on February 26, the complex FOIA request wasn’t completed until July 29 by the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Eastern Regional Office at the U.S. Department of Interior.
In total, 67 documents were found between 2015 to 2021.
Pinpoint, a tool created by Google’s Journalist Studio, provided FingerLakes1.com an opportunity to investigate sets of records from each fiscal year, which led to allegations surfacing about the discriminatory misuse of federal funding by the Nation Council’s community services program against the minority Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫ’ faction.
Prior to filing this FOIA request, the BIA Eastern Regional Office revealed to FingerLakes1.com how the Nation does not possess any public law contracts to obtain federal funding for the Cayuga Nation Police Department or tribal justice services, better known as the Justice Center located at the Nation’s headquarters along State Route 89.
Now, nearly six months later, all of the records have been released to the public, exclusively by FingerLakes1.com.
2015 Public Law 93-638 Contract Docs.
2016-17 Public Law 93-638 Contract Docs.
2018 Public Law 93-638 Contract Docs.
2019 Public Law 93-638 Contract Docs.
2020 Public Law 93-638 Contract Docs.
2021 Public Law 93-638 Contract Docs.
Gabe covered health and indigenous affairs in the Finger Lakes between 2019 and 2022. His award winning coverage was cited by the federal government and provided residents with an invaluable service during the coronavirus pandemic.