From the Buffalo News via Pechanga:
LEWISTON — It’s perfectly legal for the Seneca Nation of Indians to give preferential treatment to Senecas and other Native Americans in filling jobs at the Hickory Stick Golf Course, a federal official has written.
The 1964 Civil Rights Act contains an exception to nondiscrimination laws, allowing Indian hiring preferences for “any business or enterprise on or near an Indian reservation,” according to Kevin Bearquiver, deputy director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
He wrote the opinion in response to a request from the Niagara County Industrial Development Agency.
A 1977 executive order defined “near” as anyplace within a reasonable daily commute from a reservation.
The IDA board voted Aug. 13 to ask its attorney to seek an opinion on whether the Seneca Nation’s employment preference ordinance applies to the golf course, which is owned by the Seneca Gaming Corp., but is not built on Seneca-owned land. The IDA has an interest in the issue because it granted a property tax break to the Lewiston golf course in 2007.
Turtle Talk 