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.

Bearquiver’s letter said Congress justified the exemption from nondiscrimination laws because the federal government has a “policy of encouraging Indian employment.”

“It’s interesting that they not only said it was permissible, they encouraged it,” said IDA Chairman Henry M. Sloma, who at the Aug. 13 meeting called the preference policy “socially repugnant.”

The IDA tries to encourage recipients of its aid to hire from within Niagara County, although it has formal local hiring policy.

The Senecas’ ordinance says that in regard to jobs created by tribal entities, first preference will go to qualified Senecas. Second choice is qualified members of any other Indian tribe, with non-Indians being considered only after the pool of qualified Indians is exhausted.

Robert Connolly, business manager of Laborers Local 91 and an IDA board member, had complained that contractors on the golf course were being required to hire Senecas.

He said of the federal policy, “It’s not fair. [The Senecas] could buy any property anywhere and do whatever they want.”

Cathy Walker, chief operating officer of Seneca Gaming, said in a statement, “Seneca Gaming Corporation is proud of our track record of providing job opportunities for Native Americans and all Western New Yorkers. Hickory Stick Golf Course will be another step to build on the significant impact we have had on the local economy over the past seven years.”

According to corporation figures, Seneca Gaming employs more than 3,500 people, but only about 200 are Native Americans. Approximately 60 percent of the employees at the Senecas’ Niagara Falls operations live in Niagara County.

A Seneca spokesman said the golf course is expected to open for play next summer. Delays in its completion, originally targeted for the spring of 2009, were blamed on wet weather.

Hickory Stick is expected to employ 35 to 40 people during the peak golfing months, but only about four people year-round. Besides work on the turf itself, a maintenance building is under construction, with a February target date for completion.

Final design decisions on the clubhouse are to be made shortly, with the expectation that it will be ready when the course is ready for play, corporation officials said.