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The Bureau of Indian Affairs, a branch of the U.S. Department of Interior, recognized Clint Halftown and his council as the nation's leaders in December 2016. The decision attempted to end a longstanding dispute between Halftown, his followers and a group of chiefs and clan mothers formerly known as the Unity Council.

Attorney Joseph Heath, who represents those opposing Halftown,  The district court this week rejected a request for an immediate injunction to block the decision, Halftown's Cayuga Nation Council said in a press release.

"The Court found that the group's legal challenges were 'based on speculation, assignations of nefarious intent and mere disagreements with the decisions reached by the agency,'" according to the release. "It stated that the group's motion 'was not an efficient use of the parties' or the Court's time and resources,' and that the group's claims were 'not supported by the record.' The Court held that the Interior Department did no more than provide 'technical assistance' on a process through which the Cayuga Nation's own citizens affirmed the leadership group led by Halftown as the rightful governing body of the Cayuga Nation."

That process included mailed ballots to choose Halftown as the nation's leader, with no other option. Unity Council members have said in the past that the process goes against Haudenosaunee traditions and customs and the ballots were not mailed to all nation citizens.

Heath did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

While the injunction was dismissed, court proceedings are continuing. 

"I am very encouraged that with this ruling the federal government continues to do the right thing: respect tribal sovereignty and recognize that the Cayuga Nation itself has resolved the leadership dispute," Halftown said in the release. "The Cayuga Nation Council is gratified by the decision, and we look forward to moving forward with important initiatives for Cayuga citizens, which the Unity group attempted to stop with their motion."