How we cover deep issues in our communities
Dear D&C Subscribers --
New York State Team storytelling reporter Adria R. Walker and visual journalist Kate Collins recently delivered a well-told account of a complicated, heartbreaking leadership debacle going on at the Cayuga Nation in the Finger Lakes region.
Disputes between Nation leader Clint Halftown and a traditionalist faction have become so polarized that even accounts of whether a demolished home was in disrepair or not can’t be easily reconciled.
Writes Walker: On Facebook following the demolition, the Halftown Must Go account posted a video that appears to show the home before and after the demolition.
One clip reveals a furnished home with multiple magnets on the fridge and clean dishes drying on a dish rack, followed by a shot of items are scattered about with a large portion of the wall missing.
In turn, Halftown Council shared images it also said were from the house following the demolition, of tagged and bagged items labelled as weapons and drugs, and photos that suggest an empty, neglected or unfinished home.
Such stories help Democrat and Chronicle readers understand and appreciate deeper issues in communities locally or nearby. Students of history, and many D&C readers are, know well that the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, also known as the Iroquois Confederacy, has not only a rich history in Upstate New York but a significant modern-day presence in many places.
In the case of the Cayuga Nation, it has only been in the 21st century that Nation members have returned in significant numbers to live on ancestral lands along state Route 89 on the west side of Cayuga Lake. As with other members of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, the Cayuga have a rich, complex and sometimes tragic history. As European and then American settlers pushed into Upstate New York, lands were seized or lost to treaties (or the failure to adhere to treaties), resulting in a diaspora (scattering) of Native Americans that dates back a few hundred years.
Walker and Collins tell a multidimensional story of tensions between federally recognized leaders and traditionalist elements among the Cayugas. Telling the story clearly and fairly was made more difficult because Nation leader Halftown and the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs would not consent to be interviewed.
Still, such stories must be told, and that's what we accomplished. Look for more such stories seeking to present complex matters from Walker and other journalists writing and shooting video for D&C subscribers.
Each week, usually on Sunday evenings, we'll email you highlights of our reporting and videography created exclusively for our subscribers. And we'll share with you some "behind-the-scenes" tidbits on how such journalism comes to be.
Below are some other stories written only for our subscribers you may have missed this month.Thank you for your continuing support of local news in Rochester. We’re greatly appreciative.
Sincerely,
Michael KilianExecutive Editor
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: How we cover deep issues in our communities
