History Repeats Itself

In 1997, the state of New York experienced similar financial difficulties to what it faces now. In an effort to shore up the state’s budget deficit, the state attempted to tax retail sales of petroleum and tobacco products by the sovereign Seneca Nation on our own land, in direct violation of the governing treaties in place for hundreds of years.

The Seneca Nation refused to give in to the government’s illegal tactics. In retaliation, the state impounded shipments of petroleum and tobacco products headed for Seneca Nation retail outlets. Following a frustrating effort to formally draw attention to the state’s unfair practices, some members of the Nation protested on the New York State Thruway passing through our lands.

Public support for the Seneca position was overwhelming. Eventually, then-Governor George Pataki recognized that the state was acting unethically and rescinded the sales tax.

In 2006, U.S. Senator Charles Schumer introduced a bill in Washington to ban the shipment of cigarettes and other tobacco products through the U.S. mail. The senator also worked with former New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer to engineer unconstitutional laws prohibiting our tobacco shipments. Adding insult to injury, the lawmakers referred to Seneca Nation tobacco retailers as a “massive criminal enterprise.”

Today, the Seneca Nation has been targeted once again to help clean up the state’s economic mismanagement. Thankfully, not all levels of the government are supporting the state’s position. Former Seneca Nation of Indians President Barry Snyder met with President Barack Obama on November 5, 2009 to discuss how better relations with native Americans can add value to the President’s initiatives for change.

In New York itself, three former governors have honored the Seneca Nation’s treaty rights and respected our economic development efforts by supporting our immunity to taxation of commerce. Tell the current leaders in Albany to follow their lead. Tell them to support a strong future for Senecas and non-Senecas alike by honoring the treaties of the past.