Native Pride

The Seneca's Half a Billion Dollar Question

2012-02-01T22:19:00.003-05:00

There is no question that the State breached the Exclusivity Clause of the Gaming Compact with the Senecas. There MAY be some question as to whether the breach will (or should) cost the State all of the revenue it is hoping for, but only because of some very clever wordsmithing by the writers.

You see the "gaming devices" the State has installed in their own facilities DO breach the exclusivity agreement but the State is hoping that their "machines" fit into a "catagory" (not class) that allows them only to lose revenue from the Seneca's "machines" that fit into the same "category". Of course most of them won't.

Never mind that the entire spirit of the agreement has been breached by the State's proliferation of their own "casinos" and "racinos", clearly in the region carved out in the agreement. Everything from the scale to the financing of the Seneca gaming facilities relied on the premise that elimination of the threat of competition was purchased from the State with a percentage; kind of like buying protection from the mob. Only in this case the State has less honor.

So the State, as the regulators, with its unfettered access to the information on how many, what "category" of machines the Senecas operate and of course the revenue flow for each, makes the financial calculations and, ultimately, the decision that they can breach the agreement, pull significant customers and revenue away from the Seneca enterprises and STILL get paid their "protection" money.

The Senecas, for their part, finally stop paying. Under the advice of their "policy advisor", Rob Porter, the Senecas began to escrow the would-be payments. Now as that escrow account tops $500,000,000.00 and the "policy advisor" is the Seneca Nation President the question can only be: now what?

President Rob now suggests, having forced the issue of arbitration, that this money may indeed be lost in arbitration. Again, so now what?

The buzz is that half a billion dollars can buy a lot of favors, for someone. Who ever could be credited with getting this prize to the financially beleaguered State coffers sure would be owed a debt of gratitude (or something).

The half a billion dollar question is: who is getting played?

Do the Senecas really need to pay their "non-compete" protection money to their breaching competitors? Will this decision ever really make it to arbitration? Or will President Rob buy a partnership with Governor Andrew to secure his future beyond his gig with the Senecas? $500 million certainly will get someone something.

Is it possible that the very person who advised the hold back, convinced the Senecas they didn't owe it, already failed in an attempt to pay out some of it, is wearing out his welcome in his political party, community and nation and certainly is looking to advance himself past the Seneca Nation Presidency; was playing everyone all along? I guess maybe there is no half a billion dollar question but rather half a billion questions.

One Year Ends and A New One Begins, But Somethings Never Change

2012-01-07T23:56:00.008-05:00

January 2012 issue of Buffalo Spree Magazine

I want to start the New Year by apologizing for not writing and posting more. Those of you who follow me on Facebook, either on my personal page (John M. Kane) or my group page ('Let's Talk Native...with John Kane") know that I have been pumping some stuff out but not much here. On a personal note, I lost my son-in-law to cancer on December 18th. He meant a lot to me and as many of you know, I have written here of his 3 year battle.

On broader Native issues the year closed with a flurry of local activity. The arrest of Roger Jock for grand larceny for his role in reclaiming Mohawk land and the filing for bankruptcy protection by Sugar Montour, of Seneca Cigarettes fame, after the US courts ordered him to pay $53 million to the USDA to help tobacco farmers compete in the free market, were two big stories that no news media even attempts to get right. On the national level, Obama invited 565 "Indian leaders" to come to Washington to shake his hand, a few of which were allowed to come to the White House to see the Presidential Christmas tree while the the US Supreme Court was denying the Jicarilla Apaches access to documents to explain how the federal government in their "trust" capacity mismanaged their $300 million trust fund (Sotomayor's Lone Dissent). The court ruled that the US government doesn't need to follow normal trust law and could claim lawyer/client privilege when mismanaging the assets of Indians. The court acknowledges that the feds do not have the sole interest of Native people in mind when managing their affair; the competing National interest affords the feds the right to privacy in that conflict of interest.

The New Year starts with a bang as the feds issued bills to all the Native tobacco retailers and wholesalers in an attempt to assess a "floor tax" for any cigarettes sitting on shelves when the Federal Excise Tax was increased two years ago. The logic is that the increase must be paid for any product purchased in advance of the increase that had not yet been retailed. Stupid? Yes! Attempted before? Yes! Ever successfully? No! The feds have established their own precedent by failing to ever pursue this folly in the past. Of course it is impossible for anyone to accurately determine how much product was sitting on a shelf when the clock struck midnight that relatively long ago day. This is especially true when every smoker who purchases cigarettes from the US market was scrambling to "buy up" in advance of the overnight $6 per carton increase.

New York's Governor, Andrew Cuomo also made "Native News" in his State of the State address. There he proclaimed the State's intention to pursue casino gaming as one of his solutions for state deficit reduction. He failed to mention the exclusivity the state sold to the Senecas for 25% of the gross from slot machines at Seneca casinos, that the state is in clear violation of. And so much so that over $400 million sits in escrow that the state will never legitimately see as a result of their breach.

Look for follow ups from the news of last year that are still very much in play this year as well as those issue already on the rise and, of course the many issues that will always continue in our battle to defend Native autonomy. 2012 will undoubtedly be an eventful year. As more Native people become invested in their futures through education and just simple interest and international scrutiny is turned up, these issues will come to a head at an ever more tumultuous time. Continue to tune into WWKB 1520AM on Sunday nights from 9 till 10 for "Let's Talk Native ...with John Kane" for a weekly conversation on news and views. Also check out the January issue of Buffalo Spree Magazine for a profile on my show and my mission.

St. Regis Tribal Police Arrest Mohawk Longhouse Representative for Grand Larceny Over Land Reclamation

2011-12-12T01:59:00.005-05:00

In a bazaar scene last week, Roger Jock, Bear Clan Representative for the Kanienkehaka Kaianerehkowa Kanonhsesne Men's council was grabbed up by the St. Regis Tribal Police, lied to about why they stopped him and where they were bringing him and ultimately faced an indictment by a Franklin County grand jury for grand larceny over Mohawk land in the center of the Mohawk community of Akwesasne that he is accused of stealing from a white man who claims to have a county deed to it.

In January of 2009, the Kanienkehaka Kannonhsesne (Mohawk Longhouse) released a statement regarding the reclamation of a parcel of land on what has been referred to as the "Hogansburg Triangle". See http://letstalknativepride.blogspot.com/2009/02/land-claims-mohawk-style.html and the Potsdam/Massena newspaper coverage http://www.mpcourier.com/article/20111210/DCO01/312109977.

This past week's arrest of Roger Kaneratiio Jock suggests that the St.Regis Tribal Council is stepping up its efforts to assert control over the Mohawk people and in particular the Kanienkehaka Kaianerehkowa Kanonhsesne or Mohawk Longhouse.

Kaneratiio was released from custody on Friday with no bail after spending the night in jail. He joined me on "Let's Talk Native..." last night, 12/11/11. Check out the show and offer comments here or on Facebook.

This story will continue to be addressed here on Native Pride and on my radio show, Sunday nights. The over zealousness of this local yokel district attorney may only be surpassed by the treacherous involvement of the St. Regis council.

Stay tuned!

ARTVOICE 11/23/11

2011-11-28T22:56:00.003-05:00

5 Questions with…

John Kane: Radio Host, Native Activist

The son of an ironworker from the Mohawk community of Kahnawake, John Kane grew up off reservation in a small town in Eastern New York, near the Vermont state line. After college, he married an Oneida woman and they raised their children in Seneca territory in Western New York. He became a member of the First Nations Dialogue Team in the mid to late 1990s, which is where he began speaking in public, writing letters to editors, and doing interviews on the battle with New York State over taxation. He currently hosts Let’s Talk Native…with John Kane on WWKB 1520AM, Sundays, 9-10pm.

Describe your show, in a nutshell.

“Let’s Talk Native…with John Kane” is a free-form show intended to be a conversation on a given Native issue or issues each week. Whether or not guests or callers join me, what a listener will hear is a full conversation on a subject—no sound bites or sensational one-liners, just an honest and thoughtful conversation. It is not the intent for the on-air conversation to be the last word on a subject but rather a thought-provoking start to a conversation that, hopefully, continues after each one-hour show.

Why do you suppose so little effort is made by local media to cover local Native affairs?

The media has become too much a part of the entertainment business. Unless Native issues can be sensational—tire fires, police confrontations, or political unrest that can compare to state or national scandals—our issues simply won’t buy ratings.

Overwhelmingly non-Natives think of the Native role in the regional economy to comprise cigarettes, gas, and gambling. What do you make of that?

It’s true but not necessarily by our choosing. While we have chosen certain businesses where our regulatory advantages have helped us to overcome or relatively remote locations, it was never our intent to get pigeon-holed into those businesses. On the Native Nations level, gaming has been shoved down our throats. If states had their way there would be no private sector development in “Indian Country,” only Nation-run gaming enterprises that have the state and federal regulators firmly embedded in those operations. On the private sector side, most businesses have become so consumed with fighting off the state that there is little money or will left for diversification. The question must be asked that if we can’t defend our place in legal trades like gas and tobacco, in what businesses would we be safe?

What opportunities do you see for economic development between Native and non-Native peoples? For cooperative growth?

I believe the answer to the current economic crises that are sweeping the globe is to turn away from the global economies controlled by the few where one region of the planet is exploited for their labor, resources, or lack of environmental concern to market to consumer-driven societies in another region. An emphasis on local economies where a dollar circulates several more times before it leaves the region makes sense on almost every level. Native sovereignty creates clean slates for economic development free from much of the bureaucracy that stifles business development. Native lands could be incubators for everything from the retailing of certain products to the manufacturing and tech transfers from the solid research institutions of the region. As businesses gain a sure footing within the safe havens of the economic development zones that Native lands could represent, they could expand throughout the rest of the region with a track record and business model already in play. Too much of the regional brain trust leaves the region for development elsewhere only to have the products of brain trust marketed back to the region. The same could be said for the resources of the region.

What’s the best show you’ve ever had?

If I had to recommend a listener to check out one show to convince them to check out more, I’d have to say listen to the October 16, 2011 show with Robert Batson or the October 23, 2011 show with Pam Palmater. Bob was the “Indian expert” for the Carey, [Mario] Cuomo, and Pataki administrations. The level of agreement we shared on the issues relating to our never-ending battles with the state is amazing. Pam is a Mi’kmaq and an author (Beyond Blood: Rethinking Indigenous Identity), university professor, and lawyer from the North. She was a great guest as we discussed the parallels with our battles with the US and Canada.

The Tale of Two Tribal Conflicts

2011-11-14T20:30:00.002-05:00

Two controversies involving tribal government have made the non-native or mainstream media recently. As the host of the only Native radio show in Western New York I made a decision to cover only one of them. While the Seneca Nation with 7000 strong and billion dollar businesses dominated TV, radio and the newspapers I chose to shine a light on the 700 people on the Tuscarora territory.

Here is why:

It is plenty sensational to scrutinize the Seneca situation. After all, what could be more intriguing than the first Harvard educated president of the Seneca Nation getting fired from controlling one of the largest economic engines of the area. The problem for me is that it is an internal issue that needs no outside interference. The Senecas are quite capable of handling these kinds of internal disputes and when we live in an era where news is no longer reported but rather forcefully opined on. I question the value or relevance of those opinions.

The story surrounding the controversies on Tuscarora, on the other hand, is all about outside influence. The people have no say on who their "leaders" are. The "federally recognized leadership" is borne out of a combination of the "boy's club" claiming to be the "Confederacy" and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The BIA says if you are going to keep your heathen ways and stick to a "traditional" form of government, then we are putting our blinders on and don't want to know nothing about how it is supposed to work; just tell us who the "leaders" are. Of course, that cannot be determined by Tuscaroras, only the Grand Council of the Haudenosaunee can confirm such a distinction. So ask Oren Lyons, from Onondaga to get Audrey Shenandoah, the secretary of the Haudenosaunee from Onondaga, to write a letter and get Sid Hill, the Tadodaho from Onondaga, to sign it; and there you have it, Tuscarora "leadership". Now give these guys and their lawyer $100 million from the New York Power Authority and the power to dictate every aspect of Tuscarora life from who can have electricity, or can use the health clinic, or can get an ID card and you see the reason why this corruption needs to be exposed to everyone. Most of the problems in Tuscarora are not internal but stem from outside influence, outside authority and outside money.

Catch this week's "Let's Talk Native... with John Kane" as I welcome Mike Hudson from the Niagara Falls Reporter into the studio. There is no TV, no major news broadcaster and no major newspaper covering this story; only this small newspaper from Niagara Falls. Don't get me wrong, Hudson and the Niagara Falls Reporter are making waves in spite of the story being ignored by the rest of the mainstream media. Mike's stories are roaming the internet on sites like www.indianz.com and other Native news networks and this week he joins "Let's Talk Native...".

Another Trip to NYC to Host FVIR

2011-11-06T10:36:00.002-05:00

I want to thank Tiokasin Ghosthorse for inviting me to guest host his show again. First Voices Indigenous Radio is a true treasure and represents the best of the diversity and out-of-the-box programming that the legendary WBAI was famous for. It is always an honor and a pleasure to bring my own brand of Native talk to NYC and tap into Tiokasin's loyal listeners.

While Tiokasin took the story of the American Genocide to Europe, I got a chance to view the "Occupy Wall Street" scene for myself and offer my perspective on the show. I encourage you to listen to the show (http://archive.wbai.org/files/mp3/wbai_111103_090057fvoices.mp3) and I won't restate my comments here but be assured my thoughts are a little outside the conventional opinions. FVIR again gave me the opportunity to bring not just some of the general issues of the Haudenosaunee to the New York airwaves but even some of the specific issues associated with the corruption of the Tuscarora "leadership" (and I use that term sarcastically).

The trip also afforded me the chance to visit the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian in Manhattan. I had a great chance to speak with some of their personnel, share some thoughts and perhaps open a door or two. If their interest in having me come back down to speak develops further it would be the first time a perspective, shared by many but rarely expressed, would get such a forum. Stay tuned.

I am genuinely honored that Tiokasin trusts me to cover for him. I consider shows like FVIR and my own LTN endangered species. No one in the mainstream media is falling over themselves to give Native voices a platform. Maintaining a niche in public radio as Tiokasin has done is difficult with so much competition and the rivalry associated diverse ethnic programming. My challenges are different. I pay for airtime on commercial radio. Soliciting support to cover costs and carving out the time slot is my main challenge. I believe that guys like myself and Tiokasin are doing important work and it is great when our paths cross. As always, I look forward to joining with Tiokasin and First Voices again. My next challenge is to get him as a guest on my show.

A Month in on My New Digs

2011-10-12T19:17:00.002-04:00

"Let's Talk Native..." made the move to WWKB 1520AM on 9/11. After a month at this powerful 50,000 watt station I am still amazed at its signal strength. The fact that LTN can be heard from Seneca Territory to Mohawk Territory, without a satellite or the internet, just puts me in awe. Perhaps this says something about "old ways". Of course by posting my shows on my blog or WNYMedia.net or Rezkast.com they can be heard anywhere and anytime and that's a good thing. But an AM signal carrying the words of Native people and Native issues, live, just through air, to be picked up by any traveler on the road on any Sunday night in a car or on a simple hand held radio is almost magical. It is like burning tobacco and watching your words take flight. Not to the powers of Creation but to anyone who cares enough to receive them.

It is a privilege to provide a forum for the discussions I have each week and I am grateful, not just to those that listen in, but to those that participate. I thank Matt and Dan for sitting in studio with me each week and I thank the callers and those that post comments here on my blog. Responses from as far away as Baltimore and the Poconos as well as the the local calls from right here at the Western Door of the Haudenosaunee add to the show. They suggest to me that the conversations we have on the show will continue at home, at work and, of course, on the web.

Another appearance on "The Capitol Pressroom" with Susan Arbetter in Albany last month and my up-coming trip to NYC, in the midst of the "Occupy Wall Street" movement to guest host once again for Tiokasin Ghosthorse on "First Voices Indigenous Radio" give me even more opportunity to encourage conversation. I just did a 3 hour interview for Buffalo Spree Magazine for an article due out in January. I can't help but feel the appetite for a Native message growing. I don't think it is a fascination with "our ways". Perhaps it's hope.

I have said all along that we have more to offer than gas, gaming and cigarettes. We may need to remove a little dust from who we really are and dig into that medicine pouch. I know we need to do it for us but, like I said, I can't help feel like there are those in the non-native community that hope we have more to offer as well. The beauty in doing "Let's Talk Native..." is that I get to interact with people who are quick to show their support for our issues. My guests find an on air experience that is as comfortable as a coffee shop conversation. Even those that have called in to take issue with the views I express have ended the conversation with gratitude and a little enlightenment.

Treaties, statutes and court rulings are put in their place on my show. Words on paper will never trump the spoken word as far as I'm concerned. When we hear educators refer to our "oral traditions", it is often made to sound primitive but I once wrote that for all the writing and reading we will ever do, it would teach us nothing if we couldn't discuss it.

It is not my intent for "Let's Talk Native..." to be entertainment, although I hope it is entertaining. My intent is to educate and to demonstrate a different way to address differences; an old way. As a Native person, it is not my vote I fight for or my citizenship or my passport or my Bill of Rights; it is just my voice. My voice can be heard every day: not once a year or every two years; not just when subpoenaed or interviewed, but every day. The spoken word is still the most effective way to communicate. Conversation, not legislation and adjudication, is the way to resolve conflict or satisfy concerns.

Just past a year on air and a month in my new digs and I am more convince now than when I started the need for conversations has never been greater. Join me on Sunday nights or look for me anytime on line and Let's Talk Native....

"Let's Talk Native...with John Kane" Makes a Big Move

2011-09-09T00:50:00.005-04:00

On 9/11, after a full day of remembrances, prayers, dedications and commemorations, "Let's Talk Native..." will take to the airwaves on a new frequency. LTN will debut on WWKB 1520AM at 9 pm on Sunday, September 11th. KB1520 is a legendary station from the AM rock and roll days. It's 50,000 watt signal has been picked up on US Naval vessels in the Atlantic and even in several European countries. Clearly, a Native radio show broadcasting from the Western Door of the Haudenosaunee will blast a signal well beyond the Eastern Door on the power of KB1520. No longer will this unique show be limited to a modest broadcast area in the Buffalo market. "Let's Talk Native..." will still be posted on Native Pride and Rezkast as well as several other web sites, but now every Native and non-native community east of Seneca Territory will be reached with the live broadcast.

I want to thank WECK, the Buffalo Breeze, for giving me a home for my first year. I wish the good folks there the best of luck with their shift to a music format and much success.

I will continue to make the rounds on radio from New York to Albany and back here to Western New York. And as always, those appearances will get posted here on Native Pride. LTN will keep conversations on Native issues flowing. As a live, free form show, call-ins are encouraged. Callers who agree or disagree with the views expressed will be engaged intelligently and with respect. The show will continue to host guests, both in studio and remotely. New guests and a few returning friends will join me. Current events that affect Native people and our communities, as well as a little history and culture will be shared weekly.

Join the "Let's Talk Native...with John Kane" Facebook group. Post comments and suggestion for the show or anything that adds to our much needed conversations.

Be a part of the Newest Voice on "A New Voice. A New Choice" KB 1520AM.

Join me for my last show in New York

2011-08-19T15:10:00.003-04:00

Next Thursday, 8/25/11, will be my last guest hosting appearance on "First Voices Indigenous Radio" while I filled in for Tiokasin Ghosthorse for the month. FVIR airs on WBAI FM 99.5 in New York City as well as over twenty stations throughout the US and Canada. Tiokasin invited me to his show and allowed me to bring a little of my own Western New York show, "Let's Talk Native...", to the Big City. It has been an honor and a privilege to host a show I have admired for years; a show that encouraged me to start my own.

I hope the faithful FVIR listeners liked what I brought in Tiokasin's absence and I also hope those listeners I brought to FVIR will continue to listen to the show and support the good work Tiokasin does.

Please check out the FVIR web site at http://www.firstvoicesindigenousradio.org/ and pay particular attention to the request for funds to help Tiokasin to travel to Auschwitz, Poland to participate in an event to raise awareness of the holocaust of indigenous people in the Western Hemisphere.

Join me for one last show next Thursday morning at 9am. The show airs live on FM 99.5 in the NYC, streams live everywhere at http://www.wbai.org/ and can be heard in archives on both sites listed here and will be linked here on Native Pride as well.

"Let's Talk Native..." Completes its First Year on Air

2011-08-12T11:33:00.007-04:00

I missed the opportunity to address a landmark for my entrance into radio. Last week was the first anniversary of "Let's Talk Native...with John Kane". My show is paid programming so it has and does depend on support from individuals to keep it going. I have to thank all those that have assisted in keeping our issues out in the public as well as to thank those who promote the show and encourage others to tune in. I have a list at the bottom of those I wish to acknowledge.

The show has been successful on many levels. While it is hard to gauge the size of the listening audience and the impact on them, every once in awhile a comment comes back, either from a caller or through Facebook or even email, that expresses some fulfillment of the intent of the show. Of course LTN has also created the opportunity to make appearances on The Capitol Pressroom with Susan Arbetter and allowed me to use those trips to Albany to push for support from state legislators who probably would not have done so without my urging. Jed Morey used an appearance on LTN to write an excellent column not only addressing the racist reporting of John Stossel from FOX News but he took it beyond a rebuttal. See it at http://jedmorey.com/2011/american-genocide/.

Although LTN does not have guests every week, the guests that have appeared have all been great and it has been my privilege to promote their work or provide a platform for their message.

As I write this, I am half way through fulfilling an invitation to guest host "First Voices Indigenous Radio" which airs out of WBAI FM99.5 in New York City and is carried on over twenty stations throughout the US and Canada. For the month of August I have continued doing my LTN shows Tuesday mornings from 9 till 10 on WECK 1230AM in Buffalo and then I travel to NYC to guest host FVIR on Thursday mornings from 9 till 10. The guest hosting in New York and travel for appearances are also made possible only by support from individuals.

I truly hope I can get "Let's Talk Native..." and Native talk radio in general to a point where it is self sustaining, but in the mean time the show is completely dependent on contributions and advertisers. Anyone interested in supporting the show can email me at jmkane1220@aol.com.

I truly thank the following for helping complete a year of good work.

The Tonawanda Merchants Association

Neville Spring

Ross and Holly John

Joe Harter

Totem Pole Smoke Shop

49 Express

Terri John

Sally Snow and Will Parry

Dan Post Jr. and Sr.

Suzanne Smith, Alyse Pierce Gunther and Aaron Pierce

Maxine Jimerson

Tom Moll

Eric White

Sue Sprague

Susie Cornell

"Don't Seize Native Brands", New York State Tax Department

2011-08-01T22:40:00.003-04:00

Although the State of New York refuses to publicly state as much, the tax department has instructed its agents to leave Native brands of tobacco products alone. Over a dozen scenarios described in an inter-department memo states "DON'T SEIZE" on all but one. Only if "Non Native Americans, Middle Eastern and Foreign Nationals running a business in NYS and who are found selling untaxed native American made cigarettes at retail outlets such as bodegas etc. Seize the untaxed cigarettes whether they are premium or Native American brand.

It is interesting that it wasn't enough to reference "Non Native Americans", but they had to add "Middle Eastern and Foreign Nationals". I think they would have been covered by "Non Native American". Is this to single them out or to suggest a connection between the sale of Native brands and Jihadists?

New York Senators George Maziarz and Tim Kennedy still have not gotten a response from the tax department asking for exactly what this memo calls out so are stae representatives and the public to assume this is the response? Who knows. It certainly does not appear the governor's call to change the way things are done in Albany has gone into effect yet. The state is still dysfunctional. When two state senators can't get answers to a relatively simple request of the tax department that clearly have an answer to, something is clearly still broke.

Here is the content of the letter that Mr. Maziarz and Kennedy sent to the state's tax commissioner:

May 16, 2011

New York State Department of Taxation and Finance

Commissioner Thomas H. Mattox

Building 9, State Campus

Albany NY 12227

Dear Commissioner Mattox:

We write in today in reference to the regulations that have been issued for the collection of New York State Sales Tax on Native territories for sales of tobacco products made to individuals who are not Native Americans. In reading these regulations, it is clear that the issue of the sale of Native Brand cigarettes and tobacco products, which are produced on Native territories, are not addressed.

A call to your office yielded the response that this is a “gray area”. We respectfully disagree. There is currently no process in place to stamp Native cigarettes in order to effectuate sales tax collection, as can and is done with so called premium brands. It is our view that Native Brand cigarettes, which are produced and sold on lands owned by Native Nations, constitutes commerce that is essentially Native to Native, and therefore cannot be regulated or taxed by the State of New York. This issue is completely separate and apart from the Departments and the Courts contention that sales tax can and should be collected for the sales of premium brands to non-Native individuals, even when such sales are made on Native territories.

It is our view that the State should not pursue an effort to collect taxes on Native Brands because such an effort would be contrary to the sovereign rights of the Native American Nations, and would be a severe blow to the Native retail economy.

Since the regulations issued in the wake of the recent court ruling are silent on this issue, we request that you provide clarification to us as soon as possible and in writing. It is very important that all of the citizens of the State of New York and their elected representatives know what the intention of your Department is with regard to the collection of State taxes on Native Brand cigarettes and tobacco products.

We look forward to your timely reply and toward working with you to resolve this important issue.

Sincerely

Senator George Maziarz, 62^nd Senate District Senator Tim Kennedy, 58^th Senate District

Clearly a timely response has not been forth coming. In fact, thus far, no response other than the memo at the top has come.

A New Time Slot for "Let's Talk Native..."

2011-07-14T10:35:00.003-04:00

As I close in on a complete year for the radio show I launched on August 10th of last year, my time slot has been upgraded to the tail end of the drive time. LTN will air live on Tuesday mornings from 9am to 10am. The drive time is considered prime time for radio and I hope to continue to connect with listeners stuck in their slow morning commute. Perhaps listening in on a good conversation will make the drive seem shorter.

The year has been consumed by a lot of conversation over the State's continuing attempts to gain revenue from Native sales and will likely continue to be so. The issue has lead me to three appearances on The Capitol Pressroom, including a debate with Jim Calvin of the New York Association of Convenience Stores and an appearance with New York Senator George Maziarz. Senator Maziarz also appeared with me on my show as well.

In August, as I enter my second year as the only Native radio show in Western New York, I will also be hosting the only Native radio show in the New York City Metropolitan area. My good friend Tiokasin Ghosthorse, who produces and hosts "First Voices Indigenous Radio" on WBAI FM 99.5 in Manhattan, asked me to host his show while he returns home to South Dakota for ceremonies and visits with friends and family. I look forward to the four shows in New York and hope to spread our message close to the homes of some of our biggest political detractors.

So note the new time for "Let's Talk Native..." and look for my appearances on "First Voices Indigenous Radio" all next month. As always, LTN shows will be posted here on Native Pride. If you don't have the opportunity to catch FVIR streaming live on www.wbai.org you will be able to catch them here on Native Pride as well.

I'm Commuting to New York City in August

2011-07-05T23:12:00.007-04:00

One of the guys who got me interested in doing radio is my friend Tiokasin Ghosthorse. Tiokasin is a man of many talents, not the least of which is being a musician. But I came to know him as the host of First Voices Indigenous Radio, which airs out of WBAI FM 99.5 in New York City. Over the years Tiokasin has turned to me as a resource for news affecting the people of the Six Nations as well as a guest to talk about history and culture, specifically on his Thanksgiving specials. His show airs on Thursday mornings live from 9 till 10 but is carried by about 20 other stations on various days and times throughout the U.S. and Canada. The shows can be streamed live from http://www.wbai.org/ and can be listened to out of archive there or on http://www.firstvoicesindigenousradio.org/.

A couple of weeks ago Tiokasin asked if I would guest host for his show in August while he goes home to South Dakota to do ceremonies and to connect with his family and community. So needless to say, I'll be hosting First Voices Indigenous Radio for the four Thursdays of August. I want to thank Tiokasin for asking me to fill in and bring a little of Let's Talk Native... to the Big Apple and I also want to thank the supporters of LTN who are helping me to be able to do a show in Buffalo on Tuesday and a show in New York on Thursday. I made the trip last week and appeared on Thursday's show. It was the the first time I was an in-studio guest and it allowed the chance to meet the WBAI personnel and find my way around. I want to thank Ross John Enterprises and Pierce Trading for assisting me with the trip.

Much of the political will against Native people is based in the New York metropolitan area so this is an opportunity to take it to them. My appearances on The Capitol Pressroom have allowed me to take it to them where they work, FVIR and WBAI will let me take to where they live. I'll post the shows on Native Pride so be sure and check them out.

For the month of August, the Native voice on Buffalo radio will also be the Native voice on New York radio.

Inside the Catsimatidis Cabal

2011-06-22T20:57:00.003-04:00

By Jed Morey in Indian Issues on http://jedmorey.com/

John Kane is an Indian educator and advocate in upstate New York, who broadcasts a show on WECK-AM in Buffalo and blogs at http://www.letstalknativepride.blogspot.com/. As a Mohawk, married to an Oneida woman, living in Seneca territory, he likes to say he has half of the Iroquois Confederacy covered. Kane brings native issues to light on radio and online from the native perspective, and over the past couple of years we have become fast friends, trading stories and anecdotes related to tribal sovereignty issues that I frequently write about, but he has mastered—an impressive distinction given the complexities and differences of opinion inherent in these debates even among Indians.
During the Anthony Weiner fiasco, Kane reminded me of the disgraced congressman’s duplicitous role in shepherding the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking Act (PACT Act) of 2009, of which he was the House sponsor, through Congress. In the middle of this ridiculous Twitter situation with Weiner, I spoke with Kane on his show about the scandalous nature of an act sold to the public as an anti-terrorism, tax-evasion punishment with positive public health consequences as Rep. Weiner argued on the House floor. In reality, the act itself was a protectionist economic tool crafted by, and for the benefit of, the American tobacco giants and convenience-store retailers seeking a way to curb the growth of native brand cigarettes. The passage of the PACT Act is a textbook example of money and influence in Washington where holier-than-thou legislators preach from atop an artificial moral high ground from a pulpit made of campaign cash.

The greased wheels of democracy behind this bill carry a clown car of strange bedfellows down roads that all lead back to billionaire John Catsimatidis, the ringmaster of this bizarre circus of influence. Catsimatidis is a high-profile figure in New York politics whose fortune is derived from the oil-refinery, grocery and convenience-store industries. Most recently it was the high society nuptials between his daughter, Andrea and Christopher Cox—grandson of Richard Nixon and son of New York GOP leader Ed Cox—that put the Catsimatidis name in the public eye. This is a merger of the highest social order in New York, renewing the notion that Catsimatidis will take a shot at becoming the next billionaire mayor of New York City, a hope that had been dashed when current Mayor Michael Bloomberg decided to run for a third term. Add to the mix that presumptive candidate and power-grubbing sycophant Weiner is out of the picture, and the Catsimatidis for Mayor campaign will undoubtedly be in full swing.
Catsimatidis stands in stark physical contrast to the relatively soft-spoken and diminutive Bloomberg. A big man with bulbous features, he has a caricaturesque appearance. Apart from these visual differences the two men have much in common. They are self-made billionaires whose party affiliations are fluid and for whom the job of Gotham’s mayor is the brass ring. Less notably, but important where the tobacco industry is concerned, they are perfectly aligned in their unmitigated offensive against the native cigarette trade, and they were Anthony Weiner’s two top individual donors.
Bloomberg’s assault on the Indian cigarette trade has been well-publicized, but it’s Catsimatidis who truly keeps the fire stoked. For example, half of the sponsors of the PACT Act have been recipients of Catsimatidis’ largesse over the past several years. Since the 1990s he has spread around nearly a million dollars in campaign contributions under his name or his direct family members. He even dumped campaign cash into the coffers of Rep. Peter King (R-Seaford), who, during the cycles he received money, produced a congressional committee report titled “Tobacco and Terror,” which attempted to establish a link between the native cigarette trade and Hezbollah. It was a marginal and laughable report until Rep. Weiner matter-of-factly referred to the report (produced by his political nemesis) as gospel while arguing for the PACT Act on the House floor. From that point, the fate of native cigarette traders was effectively sealed. The New York and Washington, D.C. tobacco cabal, bought and paid for by Catsimatidis, included provisions in the act that delivered a direct blow to the Seneca Nation in western New York, arguably the most successful tobacco entrepreneurs in the United States, and direct competitors to the chain of convenience stores and gas stations owned by none other than John Catsimatidis.
Ironically, but purposefully, the only winners from the PACT Act were the tobacco manufacturers and convenience store owners who essentially crafted the legislation and financed its passage. Big Tobacco reaffirmed its competitive economic advantage by squeezing off supply routes for native brands and Indian retailers, which in turn benefited convenience stores with multiple locations. The act had little to do with trafficking, public health or terrorism, and everything to do with asserting monopolistic influence over a growing native trade that was gaining market share.
Watching Weiner argue the bill crafted by his donors told me everything I needed to know about this guy long before he revealed his true sleazy nature. “An act that goes after cigarettes, tax evaders and terrorism? Slam dunk… Who gets hurt? Indians? Where do I sign?” This was probably the extent of the conversation that transpired between PACT Act sponsors like Anthony Weiner and sugar daddy Catsimatidis. When it came down to it, Weiner could be bought. That’s the name of the game, I suppose, and whoever takes his spot will likely be no different. After all, a Weiner by any other name is still a dick. (You didn’t think I would get through the whole piece without a penis pun, did you?)

Author: Jed Morey
Jed Morey is the publisher of the Long Island Press, an alternative weekly newspaper with a circulation of 85,000, and www.longislandpress.com, which welcomes more than 750,000 unique visitors every month. He serves on the boards of the Long Island chapter of the New York League of Conservation Voters and the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center in Nassau County, as well as the President's Council of Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Long Island. Morey is also a proud founding member of the Keep It On Long Island (KIOLI) movement, an online community - www.kioli.org - dedicated to preserving the Long Island economy while providing environmental stewardship in the region. The Kioli founding members set aside 5% of membership investments to purchase shares of a local, organic Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) project, which then donates the equivalent shares to Island Harvest, a Long Island-based hunger relief organization. In addition to the contributions on this blog, Morey authors the award winning column for the Long Island Press entitled "Off The Reservation" and is a staunch advocate for Indian rights. Morey lives in Glen Cove with his wife, Eden White, and their two daughters.

Why Does the UNDRIP Recognize What Many of Us Don't?

2011-06-20T12:01:00.003-04:00

I am in a constant debate with many Native people over where our Sovereignty and general "rights" come from. I grow frustrated with those that suggest that "treaties" grant us our sovereignty or our rights to and on our own land. I openly condemn the "treaties" that so many hold sacred. They were not pursued by us, written by us and they were rarely, if ever, properly ratified by us (or them for that matter). They do not define us or nor do they limit by their exclusion what our rights are (that is to say that if a "right" or "privelge" isn't spelled out in a treaty that it doesn't exist).
While I am not completely sold on the merits of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, it is amazing that every participating nation of the UN (with some holdback from the US and Canada) recognized the following:

Recognizing the urgent need to respect and promote the inherent rights of indigenous peoples which derive from their political, economic and social structures and from their cultures, spiritual traditions, histories and philosophies, especially their rights to their lands, territories and resources,

Recognizing also the urgent need to respect and promote the rights of indigenous peoples affirmed in treaties, agreements and other constructive arrangements with States,

Note that the Declaration associates land rights and resources with "inherent rights" not "treaty rights". And that the Nations of the world specify rights "affirmed in treaties" not granted in them.
Our people have to understand these distinctions and stand with the rest of the people of the world in declaring what they already seem to know and should be so obvious to us.

The State Clears Another Hurdle to Cut Off Its Supply to Native Stores

2011-06-09T11:57:00.005-04:00

I have to start off by clarifying certain misrepresented facts. Nothing the state is doing will force tax collection on sales of tobacco products on Native lands. The whole scheme is designed to stop New York State wholesalers from supplying unstamped and untaxed cigarettes to Native wholesalers and retailers. No law has been passed to prohibit our sales; stamp or no stamp. The state knows they cannot do this. There is also no law that prohibits a non-native person from making un-taxed purchases from our territories. The fact remains that, under NYS law, ANYONE(of legal age) can bring up to two cartons of cigarettes into the state from any where for use and consumption without NYS tax or its stamp applied or any liability for that tax and that includes purchases from Native retailers.

The new law, when and if it ever does come into effect, will serve only to put a few NYS licensed wholesalers out of business. The state will not only see no revenue from this but will actually lose money from a whole range of areas directly from its actions. The job loss is one direct cost but so will the loss in MSA payments from Big Tobacco as more consumers shift to Native brands from those that pay millions to the state. Native brands will go from representing 80% of the sales from Native retailers to 100%. Of course the occasional load of Marlboros and Newports will still make it to the shelves of Native retailers but they will come from other states that will receive those MSA payments. The state will also have to decide how much they are willing to spend on enforcement. We have seen the state spend as much as $23 million per month in state police alone over this issue in the past.

The other cost to all this is the political cost and the damage in the relationship between the state and Native people. These types of disputes also tend to polarize the public not just on the issue at hand but on racial issues in general. One only needs to read comments to the mainstream media coverage of the issue to see comments that cross well into racism.

I'm Making The Trip Back To Albany

2011-05-27T01:46:00.004-04:00

I've been invited to be on The Capitol Pressroom with Susan Arbetter again. Ms. Arbetter told me she has learned more about our battle with the state on my two appearances than she has learned in all her years of covering the issue with other guests. As such, she is having me back on Thursday, June 2nd. The show will be following a hearing on the 1st in Buffalo that may or may not clear the way for the New York State to prohibit its licensed wholesalers from selling unstamped/untaxed cigarettes to Native wholesalers and retailers on Native lands. This move will undoubtedly put several state licensed wholesalers out of business and cause Native retailers to shift from what is now between 80 to 90% of their sales to 100% being Native brands. The state will essentially be prohibiting their licensed wholesalers from carrying Native brands because they cannot bear the state's tax stamp so the distribution of those brands will return back to Native distributors and wholesalers. The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance knows their weak legal arguments stop well short of allowing them to interfere with the Native to Native trade of a Native produced product. This will likely be the dominant theme of the conversation on The Capitol Pressroom.

Adding to the drama is the call from two state senators from both major parties for the tax department to put in writing their intentions regarding Native brands. Their phone calls to the taxation department got them a response from the department officials that this falls into a "gray area". The senators stated clearly in a letter to Thomas Mattox, the NYSDTF Commissioner that they not only didn't agree with that assessment but that it was unacceptable. They told the commissioner that the state had no authority to infringe on Native to Native commerce and that doing so would be harmful the Native people and the entire regions in which they live. The senators insisted that New Yorkers and their elected representatives had a right to to know what the department was up to and that their position should be put in writing so that their intentions would be clearly known.

The letter was dated May 16, 2011 and as yet the NYSDTF has failed to respond. It is amazing that a plan by the state that has literally been in the works since 1988 still leaves the state's tax officials stumped to answer such basic questions. Between a potential court ruling on June 1st and, perhaps, a response from the NYSDTF to some fairly adamant senators, Thursday's Capitol Pressroom should be a good one. The show is carried throughout the state on NPR stations so check your local listings for the airing times in your area.

Another Good Showing in Albany

2011-05-15T23:45:00.002-04:00

My appearance on The Capitol Pressroom went well. Jim Calvin of the New York Association of Convenience Stores was pretty easy to put away in my debate. Of course, he was at a huge disadvantage. He only had the same old talking points that our opponents have been spewing for over twenty years. The only things that anyone heard to shine a light on the issue came from me. But beyond me correcting his exaggerated interpretations of court cases and calling out his twisted view of what a level playing field is, was another interesting conversation on the show. This one was between the shows host, Susan Arbetter and the New York State Budget Director, Robert Megna on the segment before debate with Calvin.

Susan Arbetter told Robert Megna that I claimed the state was intent on shutting down our tobacco retail businesses and that to do so they plan to outlaw Native brands and to actively stop the legal distribution of those brands. She asked, "Is this the case or not?" Mr. Megna's response was, "You know...I don't think so....I mean, I haven't heard that. We know that the Native Americans produce or have begun producing their own brands of cigarettes, but I think what we have said, the State of New York has said for many years, is that we want to collect the money paid on cigarettes that were not produced by the Native Americans that are being sold by the Native Americans to New Yorkers tax free. Um...it's as simple and straight forward as that. I think the Governor's office and the Tax Department have developed a rational plan for doing that which does not involve the State infringing on the territories of Native Americans but rather working through wholesalers and saying that if you are going to sell...,you know...um, manufactured cigarettes...That all cigarettes have to have a stamp on them to ensure that those that are being sold to New Yorkers, the tax has been paid and that an allocated amount will go to Native Americans for their...for their purposes that will be tax free. This has been our policy for a long time."

This was the first indication from the State that they realize the lines they would have to cross to prohibit Native brands. As I have said repeatedly, the State has only two choices under its current law when it comes to Native brands. They can't stamp them so they must either acknowledge, as they have in the past, that they have no authority to regulate Native brands sold on our land or they will have to fight us to to kill them. According to Mr. Megna, the State may be once again looking away.

Check the side bar of my blog or go to http://thecapitolpressroom.org/the-capitol-pressroom-for-may-11-2011/ to hear the State's Budget Director and my segment with Jim Calvin.

White Men In Black Robes Do It To Us Again

2011-05-09T20:04:00.003-04:00

ATTORNEY GENERAL SCHNEIDERMAN WINS SECOND CIRCUIT CASE TO COLLECT TAXES FROM NON-TRIBAL MEMBERS ON INDIAN RESERVATIONS

News from Attorney General Eric T Schneiderman

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 9, 2011
New York City Press Office / 212-416-8060Albany Press Office / 518-473-5525https://alb-me3.oag.lawnet/owa/NYAG.PressOffice@ag.ny.gov/UrlBlockedError.aspx

ATTORNEY GENERAL SCHNEIDERMAN WINS SECOND CIRCUIT CASE TO COLLECT TAXES FROM NON-TRIBAL MEMBERS ON INDIAN RESERVATIONS

Court's Unanimous Decision Allows for the Collection of Hundreds of Millions of Dollars in Tax Revenue

Schneiderman: Today’s Decision Respects Tribal Rights and at the Same Time Represents an Important Victory for the State to Collect Deserved Revenue and Protect Public Health

NEW YORK - Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman today announced that the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued a unanimous decision upholding the authority of New York State to collect taxes on cigarette sales made on reservation land to non-Indian Tribe members. The Second Circuit recognized that New York’s law carefully balances the interests of Tribal sovereignty with the State’s legitimate interests in taxing all cigarette sales made to non-Tribal members. The State estimates that the decision will enable the State to collect approximately $500,000 per day in additional tax revenue.

"Today’s decision respects Tribal rights and at the same time represents an important victory for the State to collect deserved revenue and to protect public health," said Attorney General Schneiderman. "The decision closes an enormous tax-evasion loophole that was depriving New York of hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue. I'd also like to commend all of the attorneys in the Attorney General's office whose extraordinary efforts on this case helped us achieve the best outcome for New Yorkers."

In 2010, the New York State Legislature passed a law requiring the collection of cigarette taxes on cigarette sales to non-Tribal members. The law provided Indian Tribes with several options for collecting those taxes while ensuring that cigarette sales to qualified Tribal members would remain tax free. The law is important for protecting the public health of New Yorkers as well as raising hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue during a time of economic hardship.

The law was intended to go into effect on September 1, 2010. However, in August 2010, several Indian Tribes sued the State in federal district court to enjoin enforcement of the new law. The Tribes asserted that the law violated their tribal sovereignty and caused them irreparable harm. Two federal trial courts stayed the enforcement of the law. The New York Attorney General’s Office filed an expedited appeal with the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Today's unanimous decision accepted the arguments made by Attorney General Schneiderman. The Second Circuit determined that under settled United States Supreme Court law, the Tribes have no likelihood of success on the merits. Accordingly, the Second Circuit vacated all orders staying enforcement of New York’s tax law.

Deputy Solicitor General Andrew D. Bing argued the case for the Attorney General's office. Special Counsel to the Solicitor General Alison Nathan and Assistant Solicitor General Steven C. Wu also handled the case, all under the supervision of Solicitor General Barbara D. Underwood. The initial case was also handled by Assistant Attorneys General Robert Siegfried, David Roberts and Darren Longo.

"The Sovereignty of Indian Reservations and Indian Tribes is Not Absolute"

2011-04-24T20:00:00.004-04:00

This is the opinion of James Calvin of the New York Association of Convenience Stores (NYACS) who is clearly the foremost authority on Native sovereignty (NOT!). This statement was offered as a counter to my claim that New York State is lying to the public when they say they plan to tax reservation sales and that the true intent is to shut our convenience stores down. The exchange was produced on a segment of The Capitol Report with Susan Arbetter. http://video.wcny.org/video/1892617821

Here is Calvin's complete statement that appears on the show:

"The sovereignty of Indian reservations and Indian tribes is not absolute - That there are circumstances where...,for example, when a state is trying to collect taxes on cigarettes or other products from non-Indian customers on the reservation - The state is entitled to collect those taxes and it does not infringe on the sovereignty that the tribes have been granted."

OK, let's start with some basic definitions before I even address the ramblings of this idiot. Sovereignty by definition is the possession of supreme jurisdiction or power over a territory or region. It is the right to freedom, independence and autonomy from outside authority. It is not nor cannot be granted; it is simply recognized or not recognized. Any attempt to control the activities on Native land by outside elements represent a willful infringement on a sovereign people or an ignorant failure to recognize our sovereignty. Calvin first tries to suggest that Native sovereignty is not absolute and then tries to suggest that the state's attempt to tax sales on our land does not infringe on our sovereignty. I can only assume he meant to say that the state's right to tax sales occurring on our land is a "legal" infringement of our less-than-absolute sovereignty. Of course this is so untrue that even he could not bring himself to actually say it.

New York State may have the right to tax its own people when they bring certain products purchased from Native retailers back into the state for use and consumption in the state. They clearly claim to have that right regarding cigarettes and, as such, have a form, NYS Form CG-15, to be completed by anyone using cigarettes brought into the state without the state's excise tax paid (or state stamp affixed) provided over two cartons are brought in at a time. To rephrase that: New York may have the right to tax the use of cigarettes in the state that are purchased on our land but NOT the SALES or PURCHASE that occurs on our land. One more time; the use of the product brought into the state may be taxable; not the transaction that occurs on Native lands (or out-of-state for that matter). It is interesting that Calvin doesn't just claim that the state can tax New Yorkers but anyone who is "a non-Indian customer". This would indicate a race component into the argument that goes beyond a jurisdictional issue.

I hope that the fluff that this mouthpiece for an association that represents New York convenience store owners, most of whom don't even live in the state, does not cloud the point I was trying to make on Ms. Arbetter's show and that is that New York State is intent on shutting down the tobacco sales of Native wholesalers and retailers and to do so it plans to outlaw Native brands and to actively stop the legal distribution of those brands. Let's see you really question this claim, Mr. Calvin.

American Genocide

2011-04-06T23:08:00.004-04:00

By Jed Morey in Indian Issues on http://jedmorey.com/

Writing a column is sometimes an arduous process. When a thought is in the embryonic stage, yet deadlines require it to prematurely take shape on the page, it can be utterly frustrating. There are times, however, when the column gods smile upon you and organize your experiences in such a profound and unambiguous way that the act of writing is a denouement of sorts that reaffirms one’s faith in the process.

On Monday of this week I was reviewing materials related to New York’s cigarette taxation policy on Indian territories—a frequent topic of this column—in preparation for an interview with a friend upstate named John Kane, who discusses Indian issues on his weekly radio show in Buffalo. While I was organizing my notes, John sent me a message asking if I had seen a recent news report about welfare and Indians in America by John Stossel. I had not.

Full disclosure: I had no idea who John Stossel was prior to viewing this report. It didn’t take long, however, to arrive at the conclusion that this reprobate masquerading as a reporter is a modern-day sophist who obviously sold his soul to the devil a long, long time ago in return for fame, fortune and the worst ’70s porn moustache this side of Geraldo Rivera.

Last week, this veteran television “journalist” broadcast a segment titled “Freeloaders” on Roger Ailes’ ongoing anti-intellectual jihad known as Fox News. It’s a subject Stossel has “investigated” before. Only this time he directs his vitriol at American Indians, a group he refers to en masse in his introduction as “wards of our state.” Stossel then proceeds to churn out quite possibly the most one-sided, racist commentary on TV news since Dodgers’ executive Al Campanis told Ted Koppel in 1987 that black people don’t have “some of the necessities” to manage in baseball and lacked “the buoyancy” to be good swimmers.

Stossel’s report is packaged as an investigative news feature and passed off as real journalism despite the complete absence of veracity. Stossel prevaricates so often in attempting to prove that every Indian in America is poor, stupid and lazy that this piece almost feels like satire. Only it’s not. He blames outrageous government subsidies for poverty on Indian territories, not the fact that over four centuries, the Indians who weren’t extinguished and disposed of were herded into the remote, resource-poor areas of our nation and stripped of their land, rights, dignity, habitat, game and whatever else our government could steal.

But for Stossel, enough is enough. It’s high time Indians pick themselves up, dust themselves off and start making money without the assistance of the federal government or revenue from casino gaming. Declaring “Capitalist Indians achieve,” Stossel sets out to prove that the American dream is available for Indians too, if they would just stop being so poor, stupid and lazy. In fact, not only can they still be Indian, they can be rich. Like the Amish.

No, that wasn’t a joke. He actually asks a pro-native advocate during an interview, “How come the Amish got wealthy?” While his guest is attempting to recover from the idiocy of this question, he steps in with his own conclusion: “Maybe they weren’t relying on government rules and Indian trusts and lawyering that teaches Indians to be helpless.”

Every conclusion that Stossel arrives at is based upon absolute lies. He holds the Lumbee tribe in North Carolina out as the ultimate success story, insinuating that they are all thriving because they choose to ignore government subsidies and don’t let the United States control their land like every other tribe in America. He uses this example as the benchmark against which every Indian nation should be compared and ignores the fact that the Lumbee Indians exist in perhaps the strangest Indian purgatory with a status exactly unlike every other tribe in America.

First of all, there is no Lumbee reservation. Moreover, Lumbee is just a colloquial name given to an amalgam of Indian tribes who are federally “recognized” as having authentic Indian roots though hailing from a large and disparate geographic area. This condition is vastly different from being “federally recognized.” The distinction is of no moment to Stossel, who goes on to falsely claim that the U.S. government actually controls Indian reservations. Footage of poverty-stricken reservations out west provides the backdrop for venomous lies such as this: “Because the government owns most Indian property, individuals rarely build nice homes or businesses.”

I have neither the time nor the inclination to detail the copious ways in which Stossel lies through his cheesy moustache in this shameless “report.” I’ve wasted too much effort on this lowlife bastard already. Instead, I leave you with the perspective I gained from witnessing the perfect counterpoint to his dripping filth.

Tuesday night my wife and I attended an event at the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center of Nassau County to hear Eli Rosenbaum speak. Rosenbaum, who hails from Westbury, is the director of human rights and special prosecutions for the U.S. Department of Justice and has the distinction of being the longest-serving prosecutor and investigator of Nazi criminals and other genocide perpetrators in history. His presentation was brilliant and captivating. But it was the courageous testimony of Eugenie Mukeshimana, a survivor of the Rwandan genocide who spoke before him, that broke the hearts of every person in attendance.

What struck me most as I sat down to pen this column, and what the column gods undoubtedly intended me to experience in this period, was not as obvious as you might think. The obvious parable is the dichotomy between Stossel’s blatant racism and transparent hatred and the purity of Rosenbaum’s work and the tragedy of Mukeshimana’s story. But it’s John Kane’s perspective that broke through to me, and perhaps saddened me the most.

No matter what I write here or how many dots are ever connected in people’s minds about life in Indian Country, there will never come a time when the majority of Americans recognize the genocide hidden in plain sight: the American holocaust. This is how Indians like John Kane refer to it, and casually so, because for them it is living history, an ever-present reality. But it isn’t spoken of or acknowledged in white circles. There is no one for Eli Rosenbaum to prosecute. There is no Indian Mukeshimana who can testify to the atrocities.

As Americans we view ourselves as liberators, and in many cases throughout history, we have been indeed. We go so far as to blame ourselves for not intervening in places such as Rwanda but our national guilt ends there. And while I was simultaneously bursting with pride last night listening to Eli Rosenbaum—a Long Islander, one of us—and breaking with sorrow for Eugenie Mukeshimana, I must admit to what is perhaps the grossest of human emotions: envy.

I was envious that there are good souls in the world who value human life enough to listen, understand and learn. Envious that there are people like Rosenbaum who selflessly dedicate their lives to justice, no matter how belated it may be. Envious because neither exists for the invisible indigenous people of our nation considered by Stossel (and I’m sure many others) as “wards of our state.”

CLICK HERE TO VIEW STOSSEL’S RACIST REPORT

A Good Trip to Albany

2011-03-31T17:19:00.006-04:00

I think my appearance on The Capitol Pressroom went pretty well. Check it out for yourself and offer your comments both here on Native Pride and on the podcast. http://thecapitolpressroom.org/the-capitol-pressroom-for-march-30-2011/.

I also took the opportunity to meet with the staffs of Senators Kennedy (D) and Maziarz (R) while they did battle in the Senate Chamber over the state budget. The basic request I made of both Senators and my charming host was to assist me in flushing out the true intent of the Taxation and Finance Department. Their claim that they simply intend to precollect state excise tax on cigarettes coming to Native retailers for resale is false and disengenuous. Beyond the problems that this "simple" proposition represents is a much bigger one that scarcely anyone is talking about and that is what the state plans to do about Native brands. Check out this show and my weekly show on WECK to get the low-down on this issue and the collision course the state is on with us. Also take a look at the previous post below for more information on what I brought to Albany.

My thanks to Rick Jemison for joining me on the trip and doing a great job representing the Seneca Free Trade Association.

John Kane Will Be On "The Capitol Pressroom"

2011-03-27T11:24:00.008-04:00

I will be a guest on "The Capitol Pressroom with Susan Arbetter" on Wednesday, March 30th. The show airs live on WCNY and can also be heard live on http://thecapitolpressroom.org/. The show is also broadcast on WBFO in Western New York on 88.7FM weekdays at 1 pm. For insight on the show topic, see the email I sent to the show's host below.

First I am sending a link to an article on my blog that captures most of my issues with "Attea". http://letstalknativepride.blogspot.com/2009/04/attea-is-not-land-mark-case-against.html. If you have trouble with the link just go to my blog and search "Attea" to bring it up. The only thing not mentioned in this article was the emphasis the court had in Moe and Colville on the fact that the Native retailers were just selling a non-native product back to the non-native public with no value added to that product but simply the state tax bypassed. 80% of our sales are Native brands manufactured in one territory of the Haudenosaunee or another and distributed to all. These brands are available exclusively through Native retailers. While I may concede that the states, including NY, may have the authority to tax the purchases of their residents on products used or consumed in their states, I reject the claim that they have authority over Native sales made on Native lands. The reality is that the states may only have the right to impose a "Use Tax" on their resident when that use occurs within the state's jurisdiction. The states have no authority to regulate the commercial activity on our territories. I say this not as a treaty right but simply as a right that was never conceded, although the right to our "free use and enjoyment" of or territories is acknowledged in treaty after treaty. On this note let me list a few issues that are never addressed by those that promote the states' authority: As I said, while I may concede the state may have authority to impose "Use Tax" on its residents, it certainly doesn't in all instances. In fact according to NYS Form CG-15 (http://www.tax.ny.gov/pdf/2010/altab/cg15i_710.pdf), everyone in the state is exempt from the cigarette use tax provided the cigarettes brought into the state for use do not exceed 400 cigarettes (2 cartons). With this in mind, the state is saying that all of its residents can leave the state's jurisdiction, purchase cigarettes without a NYS tax stamp and consume that product in the state. They just insist that those sales to their residents cannot be made from "Indians". The state does not consider their overreaching on the sales made on Native lands to non-native consumers that will not use the product in NYS. Many non-native consumers are from out of state. Prior to the passage of the PACT Act and losing 70% of our sale volume represented by remote sales, the vast majority of our sales were to out of state consumers (which, by the way, brought significant revenue into Western New York). Even still, with many of our communities close to the state borders, a notable percentage of our sales are to out-of-state residents. There is also no accounting for the consumption of cigarettes by non-native consumers on our lands. Since our territories are are among the last places on Earth that smoking is allowed in public places and between gaming facilities and other public events, it is fair to assume some of the cigarettes purchased by non-natives are not "used" in the state. There is simply no explanation how the state makes the leap from overturning "Attea" to claiming they have the right to stop Native retailers from selling cigarettes to non-native consumers without a NYS Tax stamp, especially when you consider that every other state and country can make those sales. Of course what I consider the white elephant in the room are Native brands. About a half dozen Native brands now represent over 80% of the sales of native retailers. The state's dirty little secret is that this is not about collecting taxes from Native sales but rather to end them. Several Native communities stamp their inventories and as such add a fee that results in a collective benefit to the community. Overnight, cigarettes will go from being discounted because of the Native regulatory advantage to being more expensive that off reservation prices. The state hopes that some of these lost sales will result in more sales of stamped product from off reservation sales. What is not talked about is to insure that all sales of untaxed product ends the state will essentially outlaw Native brands. Over the last few years the state and the ATF have collaborated in creating a circumstance that even Native brands are distributed by New York State wholesalers. Native brands were excluded from the Master Settlement Act (MSA) and as such cannot be stamped without the state forgoing the revenue they collect from MSA payments from Big Tobacco. Philip Morris has already challenged the making of MSA payments to NY because of the state's lack of enforcement of the MSA against Native brands sold on Native lands. Ironically, NYS had to defend our non-participation in the program citing that the MSA did not apply to us. This was obviously done to protect the state's revenue stream from the program that was borrowed against under the Pataki administration (a revenue that has already shrunk significantly since the PACT Act). So the end result is that once NYS wholesalers are required to sell only stamped products to Native retailers, Native brands will no longer be amongst them. Since NYS maintains that only state licensed wholesalers can ship unstamped cigarettes but not to Native wholesalers or retailers, Native wholesalers distributing Native brands to Native retailers will be subject to seizures and prosecution. The state would like everyone to believe that this is just about pre-collecting a tax that they are entitled to but much of the story is not spoken of. By attacking Native brands the state has moved well beyond interfering with commerce with "Indians" and clearly moves into interfering with the commerce of "Indians". the assumption that a Native wholesaler supplying a Native brand to a Native retailer will ultimately result in a sale to a non-native consumer does not give the state the right to impose itself on Native to Native trade. In fact the commerce clause of the US Constitution reserves the power to regulate commerce with "Indians" to Congress and makes no assumption about the delegation of authority to regulate the commerce of "Indian". It is interesting that Peter King is back in the news with his twisted views on terrorism. A few years back his office prepared a report entitled "Tobacco and Terror: How Cigarette Smuggling is Funding Our Enemies Abroad" ( http://chs-republicans.house.gov/list/press/homeland_rep/morenews/cigarettesmuggling.pdf ). In it he tries to make the public believe there is a direct link between Native sale of cigarettes and the funding of terrorists abroad. Patrick Fleenor with the Tax Foundation: http://www.taxfoundation.org/, suggested to me that the direct to consumer sales by Native retailers has done more to undo the illicit tobacco trade than all law enforcement combined. He argues that our sales cut out the middle men, particularly with the remote sales that have now been forced off shore. Our legal trade that used to bring millions of dollars of revenue into Western New York has already began to slip into the shadows by closing down Native remote sellers (mail-orders) via the PACT Act. Now those remote sales are conducted by who knows who from Russia, a few European countries and several in Africa. The state's attempt to end our face-to-face sales will push more business to organized crime and perhaps even to Mr. King's dreaded terrorists. With over 70% of our sales lost to the passage of the NYS supported PACT Act, one would assume that the state would have produced volumes of financial statements showing the sharp increase in tax revenue but to the contrary the state must be losing significant MSA revenue due to all the lost sales of premium brands sold to out-of-state consumers. NYS received a MSA payment for every carton of premium brand cigarettes sold by Native retailers. With Philip Morris and others joining in on the attack of Native businesses those sale are relegated to less than 10% of sales by Native retailers. Believe it or not I am holding back to try to keep this brief. There is much more about this issue from the protections of Native economies laid out in the U. N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples to state and federal legislation continuing the assimilation programs of the past. I am not a smoker and I am neither in the business nor do I like the reliance on such an economy but if we can't defend our right to market our regulatory advantages in a legal product the way every other city, town, county, state and country does, no matter how un-PC that practice may be then what successful economic engine would be safe in our territories? Trust me, our fuel sales are next and gaming is always a battle.

John Kane - Karhiio

Host of "Let's Talk Native...with John Kane" on WECK 1230AM in Buffalo, NY www.letstalknativepride.blogspot.com

"Let's Talk Native..." is an Opportunity for The Native Voice to be Heard

2011-03-02T10:37:00.008-05:00

The show has been airing since August and since day 1 LTN has had an open mike for callers and guests to discuss Native issues. I tout the show as the only Native radio talk show in Western New York and a place for a full conversation on the issues that effect Native people, our lands and the people and regions around us. It takes a station like WECK 1230AM that is committed to local content to provide a forum for the expression of Native views. The show is paid programming and depends on support from the public to cover the airtime costs but for "Let's Talk Native..." airtime is only half the story. The shows are available not only on the AM dial but they stream live on the WECK web site: www.weck1230.com and can be heard after the broadcast on a surprising number of sites. The Coeur D'Alene home page actually features the latest show each week. A search of our show on Google gives 5 or 6 pages of links to various shows and sites. The point is that our words are getting out there. I encourage people to take me up on the invitation to participate in getting our message out there. Hopefully, more shows and opportunities to get honest exposure to the media will develop but for now this is it. As a show that airs in Buffalo, NY, I know most of the immediate listeners are non-native and likely an older demographic and that is a good thing. I say time and time again that our issues stand stronger in the court of public opinion than in a courthouse or a legislative chamber. We need venues like this, not to rant and rave about injustices but to educate and explain issues that can't be captured by a few quotes in the news. I know that with a format that includes an open mike that I will get the occasional haters and certainly those with opposing views but I look forward to those calls as well. Dispelling the myths and providing thoughtful and intelligent responses to those that question our integrity or intentions is the best way to demonstrate the legitimacy of our positions. My hope is that the conversations that are started on air will continue without my participation. On air, please be confident that I will treat callers and guests respectfully. I encourage listeners to offer comments and suggestions here or on air. Grade what you hear and if you don't like it offer your own wisdom. Look for the show on Tuesday from 11 till noon on WECK or online anytime.

Native Spark

2011-02-18T00:08:00.009-05:00

By Matt Hill

Inside every Native person is a spark of who we once were. In some people it shines, some it glows, in most it flickers or is almost out. This spark was strong in our society of not too long ago. We carried it throughout our territory through a network of consensus decision making and mutual respect for the earth and each other. When we shared that spark through a decision based on what was right for now, and for the faces of the grandchildren we would never see. It grew in strength as more people recognized it as being the right thing to do. Our fire was strong.

Through our exposure to the elements of corruption, brought by the colonist after a devastating mass loss of people from disease, we were very vulnerable. Temptation of material things clouded the minds of some of our people. Our decision making was "not of a good mind". The core principal of our society was breached. The respect was fading.

The loss of that spark was further snuffed out by the influences of the boarding schools. There the children were punished, abused and on occasion killed, just for being Native. Out of love for their children, some of our Grandparents thought that if they didn't expose the children to who we once were, it would spare them from the pains. We were falling to assimilation. It was getting colder.

This assimilation has become so deep rooted that some don't even recognize the most basic elements of respect. This past week has shown me a lot. There is a major disconnect from what those elements are. We as a people need to recognize that our society is broken. It is a time to heal the wounds that have cut away at our world. It is hard even for a small room full of people to agree what kind of pizza to order! How are we supposed to win a fight against attacks on our peoples sovereignty if we only look out for our own personal interests and not the good of all? Learn who we are. Look out for each other. Talk to your elders. Read a book. Google it. Whatever it takes. Get your spark back. I did and I'm getting fired up!

Once again, Indian tobacco taxes assumed

2011-02-04T11:43:00.004-05:00

Posted on February 2, 2011 at 5:43 pm by Rick Karlin, Capitol bureau in General, Indian Taxation
This has come up before, but Cuomo’s budget plan assumes that the state will get $130 million from, finally, taxing cigarette sales on Indian reservations to non-Indians.
From the budget’s revenue projections: 2011-12 Projections All Funds receipts are projected to be $1,786 million, an increase of $165 million, or 10.2 percent above 2010-11. This increase reflects the full year impact of the legislation enacted in 2010-11, including $130 million in cigarette tax revenue from the implementation of laws requiring the collection of tax on cigarettes sold on Indian reservations to non-Native Americans.
News of the planned taxes was greeted warmly by an organization that has been pushing for that, the Enforce the Law, Collect the Tax Coalition “The Enforce the Law Collect the Tax Coalition applauds Governor Cuomo for projecting real and significant increases in cigarette tax revenue in his 2011-2012 Executive budget. By projecting excise tax collections from the implementation of laws requiring the collection of tax on cigarettes sold on Indian reservations to non-Native Americans, the Governor’s Executive budget proposal is yet another clear indication of the administration’s commitment to rectifying this long standing inequity. We remain confident that the courts will soon conclude that the state is correct on these issues and will clear the way to collect these much needed revenues.”
A reality check may be in order here, since the Indian tobacco tax has been on the books, unenforced, for years and it was supposed to happen last year as the current budget was being finalized as well.

21 Comments
1. MomOfThree
February 2, 2011, 7:18 PM
I thought that every Indian nation had its own separate laws and therefore are not subject to outside laws. So how can Cuomo even bring this up?

2. joe_from_france
February 2, 2011, 7:49 PM
Including revenues from cigarette sales on Indian reservations to non-Indians shouldn’t that be considered another Budget “sham” Mr. Megna?

3. Smith
February 2, 2011, 8:06 PM
Perhaps the Governor is going to finally get our money’s worth from the $100,000 per year Troopers by using them to enforce the tax collection.

4. ezpickinz
February 2, 2011, 8:35 PM
These native Americans are not going to pay NYS one single cent of tax money. They would rather owe NYS than screw us out of that tax money. I think that NYS should stop maintaining the State highways that pass through the reservations and lead to their casinos. Not too long ago, the Seneca Nation wanted to charge a buck a car for each vehicle passing through their reservation along the NYS Thruway. OK; but payback is a bitch, ain’t it?

5. thelawisclear
February 2, 2011, 9:13 PM
MomofThree, courts have said a number of times that the state would not be taxing native americans. The state would be taxing native american sales to non-native americans. Their laws/treaties have nothing to do with it. This absolutely is an issue of enforcement and each of the last three governors have basically not even tried, even though they all count the revenue.
Talk about a scam.

6. Parma Ham
February 2, 2011, 10:26 PM
Smith, good point about the troopers, how about starting them at $45k and letting them up to $60k after 10 years. i bet you’d get no shortage of quality applicants

7. Lwoodbluz
February 3, 2011, 3:37 AM
What the state really needs to do is set up checkpoints right outside the reservations to collect duties(taxes) from people leaving the Nation. Just a simple “Do you have anything to declare?” and a search if necessary should bring in the revenue.
And don’t worry about the Native Americans closing off the Thruway like they did in 1997. They want thier casino money, they won’t close thier lifeline to all that revenue.

8. ResidentX
February 3, 2011, 5:54 AM
its really not a big problem… if the taxes arent collected we can just layoff more state workers. I mean, thats what they are there for… right?

9. Walt
February 3, 2011, 7:20 AM
The state will lose on this as well as all the other bullying tactics they are attempting!

10. UnCivilServant
February 3, 2011, 7:41 AM
What I don’t get is why we continue this farce. The residents of these “nations” have Us Citizenship and the right to vote in US elections, and thus should be subject to all taxes imposed on the rest of us. We should stop pretending that they aren’t part of this country. The annexation was complete almost a century ago, sweep away the last vestages of deceit and bring our fellow citizens into the fold.

11. WHAT A JOKE
February 3, 2011, 8:02 AM
The tribes want New York services? The Tribes should then pay New York taxes. What’s complicated here? The Tribes can’t have it both ways.

12. Albany Resident
February 3, 2011, 8:50 AM
How about we cut the $130,000,000.00 out of the budget. If the blood-suckers at the capital don’t have it, maybe, just maybe, Cuomo won’t let them spend it. But thats probably as much a pipe dream as collecting the tax is in the first place. However I do like Lwoodbluz take on it. We have checkpoints at the entrances/exits to our other “Nation” neighbors, they want soveriegnty then treat them like it!

13. K2
February 3, 2011, 9:28 AM
@ mom of three, if they are a sovereign nation why do they receive state and federal funds.
They can accept our tax dollars but can’t collect taxes on non-natives? It is one or the other not both.

14. From Western New York
February 3, 2011, 10:41 AM
The new tax revenues will NOT be achieved. First off, there is the whole issue of elasticity. People will buy fewer cigarettes. Second there is whole substitution issue. People will seek other, cheap sources. Finally, part of the tax revenue will need to be diverted to pay for unemployment, welfare, WIC, etc. as New York Jobs are killed by the Governor.

15. Robin Hackett
February 3, 2011, 11:02 AM
@From Western New York…you’re right. I already buy my ciggarettes in the states I travel through. I haven’t bought a pack in NY since Patterson’s last luxury tax increase.

16. jimbo
February 3, 2011, 12:55 PM
If the Tribes have to tax non-residents, their cigarette sales will drop like a rock anyway, so the revenue the budget is projecting in new taxes is just an excuse to spend more money they won’t have.
The border patrol checkpoints on the tribal territory boundaries is an interesting idea. I wonder how many state workers they would have to hire to man those stations? They could easily suck up all that extra revenue and create new state worker jobs at the same time. The additional funds would never make it out of the administrative funds necessary to implement it, the unions would look good and a few western state lawmakers would look good come next election……

17. WNYTaxpayer
February 3, 2011, 1:10 PM
All DTF has to do is to subpoena the Merchant Account Processors for the Indian retailors and compare the list of who made purchases with visa, mastercrad, etc. that did not report it on their state income taxes and issue notice of deficiencies to them.

18. can't uc
February 3, 2011, 3:16 PM
If the plan is imposed on the natives to collect taxes on sales to non-natives , it will only create a huge black market making more natives very wealthy.

19. pragmatic
February 3, 2011, 7:26 PM
It is time for Andy to stand up and shut down the indian casinos. Spitzer had the chance but lacked the courage. Lets see if Andy has the guts to stand up to this special interest group

20. John Kane
February 4, 2011, 10:10 AM
We should be clear that the state knows this new law will not generate revenue from Native sales. The intent of the law is to shut off supply to Native retailers of unstamped product. If Native retailers lose their regulatory advantage, Native sales will end. The question is will those sales be made elsewhere and where? The numbers that are being used in this budget are a sham. They are based on past sales and assume that as Native sales are lost that a significant portion of them will become taxed sales. Over the past year Native sales in Western New York have fallen by 80% due to shutting down the US Post Office from delivering remote sales of tobacco. Even without Native sales, the state loses far more than $130 million in revenue leakage to out-of-state sales; this would obviously increase with the loss of Native sales, which by the way still contribute to the NYS economy. Of couse a fair amount of people will just not be able to afford to smoke and while that maybe a good thing from a health standpoint, it certainly does nothing for the state’s budget. The other thing, only lightly touched on by other comments is the price of enforcement. The last time the state did battle with the Indians it cost $23 million per month and that was before troopers were making $100,000 per year. The final point overlooked is the resiliency of Native retailers. They will still find product to sell, with or without New York State wholesalers.

21. John Kane
February 4, 2011, 10:19 AM
Another point that the media refuses to point out is that the state allows everyone in the state to purchase and consume in the state cigarettes without NYS tax applied up to two cartons per consumer. NYS Form CG-15 for Cigarette Use Tax clearly lays out the exemption (http://www.tax.state.ny.us/pdf/2010/altab/cg15i_710.pdf). Apparently, the state’s position is that these untaxed sales can be made anywhere outside New York's jurisdiction except on Native lands.

Senecas' long, tragic history

2011-01-30T22:13:00.004-05:00

Thomas Indian School

Effort to protect sovereignty must be viewed against backdrop of injustices

By Keith R. Burich

The Seneca Nation of Indians has embarked on a campaign to tell its side of the story over taxation, casinos, sovereignty and treaty rights and obligations. The nation’s new president, Rob Porter, has even set out on a goodwill tour of local and state political and business leaders.
The Senecas are trying to explain that the rights they claim are guaranteed in treaties and that those treaties are inviolate and protected by the “supremacy” clause of the U. S. Constitution. They could also point out how their exemption from state taxes came in exchange for millions of acres of land—an exemption that was really no different than the tax breaks and subsidies grant- ed developers for building condos on the waterfront, rehabilitating buildings, keeping businesses downtown or luring businesses from one town to another.
However, there is far more to their story than broken treaties and promises—a story that the government and the American public would like to dismiss or forget. The determination of the Senecas to jealously and zealously protect their sovereignty and independence must be understood against the backdrop of the injustices they and all Indians have endured for 400 years. The story unfolding in Western New York is merely the latest chapter in the long, often sordid, and always tragic history of Indian and white relations.
Indians have been driven off their lands, herded onto reservations, deprived of their ability to sustain themselves and their way of life, stripped of their languages and cultures, denied their right to practice their religions and, when they resisted, subjected to warfare that in any other instance would be considered genocide.
The numbers don’t lie. The North American indigenous population in 1492 was between 15 million and 18 million. It was less than 250,000 by 1900. The first peoples of this country were on the verge of extinction by the early 20th century. The removal of Indians from their ancestral territories to reservations resulted in the loss of land and the disintegration of social, political, economic and family structures that left tribes in a perpetual state of dependency and vulnerable to the whiskey and wiles of the white man.
Although the days of warfare, removal and epidemics sweeping through their populations ended long ago, the trauma of the past was transmitted along generational lines in the form of new and just as deadly epidemics: alcohol and meth, teenage pregnancy and suicide, diabetes and heart disease. The statistics are startling and disheartening. Indians have a higher mortality rate, including among infants, have a shorter life expectancy and are more likely to die from cancer, heart disease and alcohol abuse than the general population. On some of the more isolated, Western reservations, unemployment can reach 50 percent to 60 percent, and The Buffalo News has recently reported that Indians are the poorest people in America.
Government policies have made matters worse. Shipping children off to boarding schools to be Christianized and civilized, or relocating families to cities far from reservations, created generations of children who, to borrow a popular Indian metaphor, were neither wolf nor dog, neither white nor Indian. Alone and lonely, desperate and despairing, they all too often succumbed to the self-destructive behaviors that have ravaged Indian communities for generations.
In Western New York, the Senecas have enjoyed a revival due largely to casino revenues and their tax-free cigarette and gasoline enterprises, but that prosperity is only recent and came only after they were robbed of millions of acres of land and, thus, their ability to sustain themselves and their language, culture and independence. A few decades ago, they suffered from the same poverty and its attendant afflictions as tribes on other reservations, and from the same heavy-handed and clumsy efforts at forced assimilation.
For example, the Thomas Indian School on the Cattaraugus Reservation was not closed until 1957, long after most other Indian boarding schools were shuttered, and only after thousands of Indian children from across the state were taken from their homes, sometimes as infants, placed in the care of strangers and alienated from their language, culture and families. When they were released, often at the age of 21, they were cast adrift in a world they were not prepared to enter and that was unprepared to accept them. The end results of this education for assimilation were broken homes, broken families and broken lives.
The Thomas Indian School was a product of the destructive forces of removal that created generations of orphaned, abandoned and neglected children. The Seneca and other Iroquois tribes are generally not associated with removal since they retained some of their ancestral lands. Unfortunately, that did not save them from the trauma associated with removal, including poverty, disease, starvation, population loss, alcohol abuse and suicide.
The removal of the Seneca and other Iroquois tribes began in earnest with Gen. John Sullivan’s campaign in 1779 that destroyed villages, crops and food stores along the Genesee River and drove the Senecas west to the Buffalo Creek territory. When Sullivan’s troops were done, they left behind an invisible and deadly present: smallpox. The combination of warfare, starvation and disease decimated the native population of New York. The Seneca tribe alone would lose nearly 50 percent of its population. So bad were conditions on the New York reservations that throughout the 19th and into the 20th century, the Senecas would suffer from a higher mortality rate than the rest of the population. The loss of land and population undermined their social, economic and political institutions, and left them in a self-perpetuating state of dependency.
The Senecas eventually lost nearly all of the 4 million acres guaranteed by the Canandaigua Treaty of 1794. The loss of lands culminated in 1842 with the Buffalo Creek Treaty, one of the most fraudulent treaties in the long history of fraudulent treaties, that forced the Senecas off the more than 80,000 acres that encompassed most of downtown Buffalo. To be sure, the Seneca and other tribes were not forced to sign the treaties at gunpoint, but starvation can be just as compelling as a soldier with a gun.
The trauma of removal did not end with the treaties that defrauded them of their lands in the 18th and 19th centuries. In the 1950s, Senecas on the Allegany Reservation were forced out of their homes as their land, although guaranteed by treaty, was inundated with the waters of the reservoir created by the Kinzua Dam, while at the same time the Tuscarora Indians in Lewiston lost a good portion of their reservation to the New York Power Authority.
The losses suffered by the Seneca and other New York tribes are often forgotten or obscured by economic and constitutional issues. There are other facts that get lost, including the fact that Indians pay taxes like the rest of us. They pay federal income taxes, Social Security and Medicare taxes, and if they work and live or shop off the reservation, they pay state income tax, local property taxes and even sales taxes. Furthermore, the state takes 25 percent off the top of their casino revenues, which amounts to more than $100 million per year, and that brings us back to the question of taxation.
The Senecas claim that the same Buffalo Creek Treaty of 1842 that defrauded them of 80,000 acres of prime real estate exempted them “from all taxes, and assessments for roads, highways or any other purpose.” Their opponents cry foul, claiming that it gives them an unfair advantage in the cigarette and gasoline trade. However, the fact remains that the tax exemption Indians claim by treaty is nothing more, and in fact certainly far less, than the billions of dollars of tax exemptions and subsidies routinely granted to businesses like Bass Pro in exchange for dubious promises of economic stimulation and for which the taxpayers of New York are on the hook. However, there is one difference: the Seneca and other Indians have paid dearly and tragically for their rights.
There is more than just a little irony to all of this. For 400 years, Indians have been told to learn the white man’s language, live in the white man’s houses, worship the white man’s God and adopt the white man’s values. However, when they finally do act like white men by asking for rights that are guaranteed them by treaty and that white businessmen take for granted, they are somehow un-American.
Businessmen are always quick to invoke the American traditions of fair play and competition even though, as Carl Paladino pointed out in opposing the Statler bailout, such tax breaks and subsidies are inherently unfair. Of course, the Senecas could cut a deal or compromise with the state rather than risk a lengthy, expensive and possibly losing court battle. But if they do, they would not only be compromising their sovereignty, they would also be compromising their identity as Seneca, or Iroquois, or indeed, Indians.
Keith R. Burich, Ph. D., is a professor of history at Canisius College specializing in Native Studies. He has just completed a book on the Thomas Indian School on the Cattaraugus Reservation.

Apology Offered by Partner in a Prominent Law Firm that Specializes in "Indian Law"

2011-01-15T13:49:00.003-05:00

A partner in the prominent "Indian Country" law firm, Dewey, Cheatum and Howe(sorry Car Talk guys), offered his apology after posting an offensive commentary of a Traditional Opening that was offered at a memorial service to the American people in Tucson last week. Paul N. Admiredjackoff, who writes on www.whitepowerlineblog.com, apologized for biting the hand that feeds him. Mr. Admiredjackoff said, "I had no idea that telling people how I really feel about pagan rituals would offend anyone. How could I know? I come from a city that has a professional football team called the Redskins and I'll have you know I support these Redskins faithfully". He went on to express his sincere regret for causing any problems for his partners and offered his hope that any clients who would be considering dropping his firm would "grow a pair and face the facts that you are better off with us on your side than against you". A statement from Dewey, Cheatum and Howe also expressed regret for Mr. Admiredjackoff's comments. The statement reads; "It has never been the policy of this firm to say the type of things, Mr. Admiredjackoff has taken responsibility for, in public". The firm also expressed their sincere hope that, "Everyone can just forget about all this nonsense and get back to restoring Indians back to their rightful place as tools for the gaming industry".

A Review of "Toward The Setting Sun" by Brian Hicks

2011-01-04T20:06:00.004-05:00

Last month I received an email from Grove/Atlantic Inc., a publishing company. The representative expressed an interest in getting a new book they were releasing out to bloggers. GA sent me a copy and I promised to read it and give a review.

Brian Hicks pulls off telling a detailed history, most know little about, without writing a history book. The story of John Ross, the Cherokee people, a ruthless state and a country with no respect for their own laws is laid out more like a novel than a lesson. Hicks gives a fair and compelling account of the divisions that developed within the Cherokee Nation as the pressure from Georgia and Washington became unbearable. The Andrew Jackson portrayed here creates a circumstance where a reader will have a difficult time gazing on the face on a twenty dollar bill without feeling a certain level of contempt. The story leads up to one of the most tragic events in the history of Native interaction with the United States, the Trail of Tears. The Cherokee story is more than just an account of bad US policies that include extermination, assimilation, removal and termination. It is a story of outright theft, breach of contract and lies from those that children, to this day, are taught to idolize. Mr. Hicks paints the Cherokee principal chief, John Ross, as an uncompromising hero of the highest character who has traitors undermining his authority at the most critical time for the Cherokee Nation.

I recommend the book highly. This story was by no means unique to the Cherokees. It played out over and over again through the entire 19th century and in many ways continues today. This is precisely why "Toward The Setting Sun" is important. I do find that Mr. Hicks seemed to rush the ending of the book and in his loyalty to the honor of John Ross neglected to address the Chief's dream of Cherokee statehood in the controversial light it was truly received. Mr. Hicks also seemed to gloss over John Ross' support of slavery and in particular how it was that while an entire third of the Cherokee population perished on the forced march to Oklahoma that he managed to have the resources to get his 50 slaves moved with little trouble. In spite of a few short comings, "Toward The Setting Sun" should be read to provide, not only historical context for Native life at the time, but context for the lives, positions and views that Native people still have. Read this book.

Execution 150 Years Ago Spurs Calls for Pardon

2010-12-17T13:01:00.003-05:00

By ROBERT K. ELDER
Published: December 13, 2010, New York Times

MANKATO, Minn. — On Dec. 26, 1862, thirty-eight doomed Dakota Indians wailed and danced atop the gallows, waiting for the trapdoors to drop beneath them. The square scaffold, built here to accommodate the largest mass execution in United States history, swayed under their weight.
“It seemed that the purpose of the singing and dancing was only to sustain each other in their last ordeal,” a witness observed. “As the last moment rapidly approached, they each called out their name and shouted in their native language: ‘I’m here! I’m here!’ ”
Thirty-seven of the men were among the “most ferocious” followers of the Dakota leader Little Crow, according to the federal government. They stood accused of killing approximately 490 settlers, including women and children, in raids along the Minnesota frontier.
But one man, historians say, did not belong there. A captured Dakota named We-Chank-Wash-ta-don-pee, often called Chaska, had had his sentence commuted by President Abraham Lincoln days earlier. Yet on the day after Christmas 1862, Chaska died with the others.
It was a case of wrongful execution, Gary C. Anderson, a history professor at the University of Oklahoma and Little Crow biographer, said last week in an interview. “These soldiers just grabbed the wrong guy,” he said.
Although the story of the mass execution in Mankato is well-known locally, scholars say the case of Chaska — spared by Lincoln, then wrongfully executed — has been long overlooked by the federal government and all but forgotten even by the Dakota.
Now, an effort to keep the story alive is taking root on campuses and even on Capitol Hill as the 150th anniversary of the execution, in 2012, approaches. Commemorative events will include symposiums, museum exhibits, monument re-dedications, book publications and an original symphony and choral production.
“It’s time to talk about it and time for people to know about it,” said Gwen Westerman, a professor of English at Minnesota State University at Mankato and a member of the Dakota who is planning to investigate Chaska’s case and the cultural context of the conflict with a class. She says she is hoping her students can “put together some more pieces of the puzzle.”
“Because there is a historical record” for Chaska’s commutation, Ms. Westerman said, “that’s a good place to start.”
A move to award Chaska (pronounced chas-KAY) a posthumous pardon has drawn some initial support. Before his defeat in November, Representative James L. Oberstar, Democrat of Minnesota, said a federal pardon would be “a grand gesture and one I think our Congressional delegation should support.”
“A wrong should be righted,” he added.
Senator Al Franken, a Minnesota Democrat who sits on the Committee on Indian Affairs, issued a statement last week signaling that he might move the issue forward.
“Senator Franken recognizes that this is a tragic period in history,” said his press secretary, Ed Shelleby. “The senator will continue to look into this incident in the next Congress.”
Tension between the Dakota, historically called the Sioux, and the influx of settlers had been mounting for years before the Civil War, which further strained United States resources, disrupting food and supplies promised to the Dakota in a series of broken peace treaties. One local trader, Andrew Myrick, said of the Indians’ plight, “If they are hungry, let them eat grass.”
Enraged and starving, the tribe attacked and plundered the new state’s settlements. Of the 400-plus Dakota and “mixed blood” men detained by Brig. Gen. Henry Hastings Sibley, 303 were sentenced by a military court to death. But Lincoln found a lack of evidence at most of the tribunals, and he reduced the number of the condemned to 38.
We-Chank-Wash-ta-don-pee’s case was No. 3 and not listed in the execution order handwritten by Lincoln, but his fate may have been the result of mistaken identity. The man he died for was No. 121, identified by Lincoln as Chaskey-don or Chaskey-etay, who had been condemned for murdering a pregnant woman.
But historians say something far more complex may have been responsible for Chaska’s death: rumor. During the raids, Chaska took a white woman, Sarah Wakefield, and her children prisoner — not an uncommon occurrence during the Dakota War.
What was uncommon, however, was Wakefield’s defense of her captor at his military tribunal. Chaska defended her and her children, she said, and kept them from certain death and abuse at the hands of his fellow tribesmen. “If it had not been for Chaska,” Wakefield said, “my bones would now be bleaching on the prairie, and my children with Little Crow.”
One prison chaplain wrote to her after the hanging: “Dear Madam: In regard to the mistake by which Chaska was hung instead of another, I doubt whether I can satisfactorily explain it.”
Wakefield firmly believed that Chaska was executed on purpose, in retaliation for her testimony and in reaction to rumors that she and Chaska were lovers. General Sibley, who appointed the tribunal that convicted Chaska, privately referred to him as Wakefield’s “dusky paramour.”
Wakefield denied any sexual relationship in the booklet she wrote the year after his death, titled “Six Weeks in the Sioux Teepees.” She wrote, “I loved not the man, but his kindly acts."
Some details of the conflict have been willfully buried or forgotten, by both sides of the war. The Dakota conflict came in 1862, which historians have described as Lincoln’s “darkest year” during the Civil War. It was the year the president lost his 11-year-old son, Willie, to typhoid fever. Thousands died on the battlefields at the Battle of Bull Run and at Fredericksburg, as Lincoln fought with his own generals. In large part, the narrative of mass execution in Mankato was lost in the United States’ struggle to preserve the union.
Lincoln himself was distressed at the speed of the military tribunals that condemned 303 men, and his decision to commute most of the sentences was politically dangerous. But he said, “I could not afford to hang men for votes.” The 265 Dakota Indians Lincoln spared from the gallows were either fully pardoned or died in prison.
Modern Mankato, once a prairie outpost, is now a city of 37,000, where a modest downtown struggles for survival, competing against outlying strip malls and chain stores.
The only reminders that 38 Indians died here is a Dakota warrior statue and plaque outside the local library. The location of the actual scaffold is now called Reconciliation Park.
Glenn Wasicunna, a Dakota language teacher and husband of Ms. Westerman, said that for decades, his people would not even drive through Mankato during the day. The place carried too many memories, too much cultural trauma, he said.
“These were our family,” Ms. Westerman added. “These were people my great-grandparents knew. They have a direct effect on who we are.”
Each year on Dec. 26, the annual Mankato memorial run acknowledges those who died in the mass execution. But Wayne Wells, a Dakota language teacher on the nearby Prairie Island reservation, said there would be a range of response to a pardon just for Chaska. Many Dakota, he said, “consider all of them to be innocent martyrs — people who stood up and died for us.”
However, Leonard Wabasha, a local Dakota leader, said a federal pardon for Chaska would “shine a light.”
“It would cause people to read and research into it a little deeper,” Mr. Wabasha said. “It would be a step in the right direction.”

The Kanienkehaka Kanonhsesne Condemns the Saint Regis Tribal Council

2010-12-11T12:17:00.003-05:00

The following is a letter from the Men's Council of the Longhouse addressing the treasonous actions of the Saint Regis trustees toward the community of Ganienkeh.

Based upon the recent agenda of the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribal Council, the topic of the Kanienkehaka Territory of Ganienkeh remains as pressing as ever to the state-recognized trustee “Chiefs”.
To be clear, there is nothing new about tribal discomfort with the free-thinking of the variety that gave birth to the Ganienkieh settlement(s).
In October of 2010, two letters were sent by the Tribal Council to the state of New York. The first letter was coyly written and only hinted at the Ganienkeh Territory. The second letter was more telling. An impressive dossier of testimony accompanies this letter, citing Big Apple articles and the investigative findings of the Tribal Gaming Commission, which serve to justify the immediate goal of tarring Ganienkeh.
At the November 2010 Saint Regis Mohawk Tribal meeting, a woman asked the meeting Chairman, Tribal Chief Mark Garrow, if he was jealous of the people of Ganienkeh, since what he did by signing the letter with fellow Tribal Chief Randy Hart (Chief Monica Jacobs abstained from signing either letter) showed his true feelings towards that group of the People of the Flint. Chief Garrow made a point to remark during the meeting that he represented the people who elected him.
It has been stated by the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribal Council that the action taken was not against Ganienkeh, but rather on behalf of the tribal membership, specifically to stem the flow of Tribal gaming revenue to the state of New York for failure to protect gaming compact exclusivity that was agreed upon as a stipulation by the state to allow the Tribe to operate the Akwesasne Mohawk Casino under a gaming compact.
Yet many in attendance at the November 2010 Tribal monthly meeting clearly stated that the Tribal Council did not consult with Tribal members before electing to take this deliberate action of notifying the state of Ganienkeh Territory gaming activities, that the action was both treasonous and “an act of war”, and that many People of the Flint were packed and ready to move out to defend Ganienkeh from state (and tribal) oppression.
Nothing is new here to those with memories of past Tribal Council actions pertaining to Ganienkeh. When Moss Lake, located near Utica, was settled as the “first” Ganienkeh, and this former Girl Scout campground was the point of negotiations between Ganienkeh spokespeople and representatives from the New York Governor’s office, a letter dated November 25, 1974 arrived in Albany from the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribal Council. Signed by Chiefs Leonard Garrow (father of present trustee Mark Garrow), Rudolph Hart (father of present trustee Randy Hart) and Charlie Terrance, the letter objected to the reclamation of the state-owned property and called for the assertion of state jurisdiction to remove the Ganienkeh settlement. There seems to be no hesitation to Tribal Councils of any era to call in their pay-masters when the sledding gets tough. Nor is anyone riding a white horse in that posse.
To many, Ganienkeh represents freedom. To others, the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribal Council represents an attempt to assert control. It may just be that the trustee eyes are bigger than their stomachs allow.

Signed, 12-09-2010
Men’s Council of the Kanienkehaka Kaianerehkowa Kanonhsesne (People of the Longhouse)
Turtle Clan Representative – Sakoieta
Wolf Clan Representative - Rarahkwisere
Bear Clan Representative – Kanaretiio

"Somehow, We end up with the bible and they end up with the land!"

2010-11-24T01:21:00.003-05:00

Cartoon by Jack Ahasteen

Not Another Post About The "Real" Meaning Of Thanksgiving

2010-11-22T13:42:00.004-05:00

This is the time of the year when a litany of opinions, lectures and down right scoldings will be offered up about "Thanksgiving". If the Western civilization had to appropriate one of our festivals and rewrite history to kick off their holiday shopping season so be it. I am more concerned about what we do. I am not talking about turkey or spending a quarter of our salary the day after gorging ourselves. I am thinking more about our direction and commitment to securing our cultural and political distinction.

The last time our people came together after a period of conflict between us was when five regions of our people brought their 49 families together committing their titles with that of Tadadaho to create the Kaianerehkowa. The great peace enjoyed by the Great Path of Goodness was to be recited every year to all of our people in all our territories and would be recited at a great convention for all of our people every five years. We need to once again come to a unified understanding of what bound us together before the clash of the European culture would disrupt our people so. Religion, disease, war and the growth of the capitalist empire have left many of our people struggling with their sense of identity. Even "Indian" religions have clouded the waters to such an extent that we only look back to what a handful of generations have offered up as a definition of what it means to be Ohnkwe Ohnwe or Haudenosaunee.

It is time to look at the path worn by the millions of feet that walked this land before us. The Kaianerehkowa has not been properly examined or certainly followed in over 200 years. Generations of egotistical men, many of them carrying some of those 50 titles, have moved so far off that path that the generations that followed lost their way back. I have no use for examining the paths followed by generations of oppressed people, a path of survival. I would rather return to the path that advanced our people rather than the one used to desperately hang on to shadows of who we were. We need to relearn the Kainerehkowa and let it be a priority.

If our people can brandish the Hiawentha Belt on everything from flags to body art, if we can treat our Longhouses like churches, if we can gather to celebrate "treaty commemorations", if we can wear our "Indianess" on our sleeves; then why can't we learn the one thing that separated us and distinguished us from all other men. The Kaianerehkowa is not a gift from the "Creator". It is the path that honors Creation. It is not "like" anything that man has created. It is not a supernatural phenomenon but rather a natural one. In a world where power, authority and wealth was wrestled from the weak or ignorant to be placed with the privileged few, the Kaianerehkowa was the only model that proved liberty was not chaos and that authority and dominion over others was not required for order and peace. If we can adopt all of these false "traditions" that we claim to be a part of our "culture" then how about reclaiming the lost tradition of a yearly recital. Perhaps then the festivals our people celebrated will begin to have real meaning and a genuine return to a higher quality of life can begin.

Governor Cuomo? It has a familiar ring to it.

2010-11-04T23:37:00.003-04:00

For many of us that have been putting up the resistance to New York State as they encroach on Native lands and liberties of Native people, we always look at these new governors with more questions than expectations. Will Andrew take advice from his dad on Native issues? And will his advice come from the Mario that showed skill and integrity in the handling of the Ganienkeh stand off or from the State's Chief Executive that was responsible for "Gallant Piper"? The senior Cuomo was the first governor to tackle the "problem" of Native retailers marketing their regulatory advantages. He took a State licensed wholesaler all the way to the Supreme Court to prove he had authority over him and laid the groundwork as he and future administrations who would attempt to choke off our supply or tax our wholesale purchases.

It turns out that our resistance convinced the tough talking Republican that replaced him to do a complete about-face on the subject. As it would turn out, George Pataki would prove to be the most diplomatic State executive we have faced and properly addressed the issue politically rather than through force or courts. It is worth noting that Governor Pataki paid no political cost for respecting Native sovereignty.

So now a second generation Governor takes the helm. This one faces challenges the others couldn't have dreamed of; anemic revenue from Wall Street and a billion dollars a week going out to Medicaid. Even the conservative estimates have New York facing a $10 billion deficit next year. The question is: will Cuomo the younger do as others have and use us as a distraction from his real issues or will he ignore the racist clamor from morons like US Congressman, Peter King and his new found Republican majority which will now put him as a chairman of the Homeland Security Committee? How close will this one push us to the brink of an all out conflict before he becomes another humbled governor.

Wouldn't it be a pleasant surprise to start out with one of these guys as a human being instead of so much of our energy going into forcing him to be one?

Seneca Nation Attorneys' Weak Showing in Court Shows Why We Shouldn't Be There

2010-10-23T11:53:00.005-04:00

By failing to challenge the New York State's authority to interfere with Native commerce in their so-called fight against the State, Seneca Nation attorneys have left many, including the judge in the case, believing that the Seneca Nation has conceded its sovereignty to the State. At this point the entire legal fight has hung on the SNI fighting to keep State wholesalers in the Native tobacco business. Their argument is not that we cannot be compelled to collect tax for the State but rather the method the State is attempting to employ is too burdensome.

Now, I am one of those that believe it is wrong for us to wrap ourselves up in a bunch treaties to defend ourselves. Unlike the "Honor Indian Treaty" crowd, I reject the notion that our territories were created by them and that we are, likewise, defined by them. Our sovereignty is our birthright and was certainly never gifted to us through the words of swindling politicians. The few passages from these over lauded contracts of theft that refer to "free use and enjoyment" or lands that will never be claimed by the U.S. or even those that mention taxes specifically do not encompass the extent or limits of our rights and authority.

Having said that does not mean that we should be afraid to argue against the State's authority. In the SNI's briefs in Federal court, the Nation made clear "it is not advancing the argument in this litigation that its specific treaty rights exempt it and its members from the Supreme Court's generic rule that the State may tax such sales [cigarette] to non-Indians." But they not only shied away from "treaty rights", they failed to reject the State's authority at all. As such, Richard Arcara, the judge in the case, determined that the Nation was conceding this position and wrote in his ruling that "The Seneca Nation expressly acknowledges that, as a general principle, New York State has authority to require reservation retailers to collect excise taxes on sales to non-Indians." I'm not sure that the Seneca Nation has actually conceded this point but only challenging the manner in which the State forces us to collect tax and not even addressing whether they had the right to do it in the first place certainly suggests so.

The whole premise for a state to impose a "minimal burden" on tribes to collect taxes for the state is born out of a few cases heard in Federal Court in other states against Native people with views and circumstances different from ours. There are dozens of issues that make those cases inappropriate for use or justification for New York State, not to mention the general problem we have with anyone believing they can violate our sovereignty simply because a court let another state violate the people of another territory. Not one Wampum Belt needed to be dusted off for this fight. The courts, however, certainly could have seen fit on their own to cite treaties, that their forefathers wrote, to undo this mess. After all these "treaties" are their laws. The belts are ours.

All this points to the undeniable fact that if we allow these issues to be reduced to a matter of state or federal laws, legal issues, we have already conceded certain authority. These are political issues. This is not a question of who has authority over who, because we concede no authority to other controlling interests. That is the definition of sovereignty. In the instance that the freedom of one infringes on the freedom of another is where diplomacy steps in.

When we enter their system, we go in with the risk of losing. The legal wizards in this case that believed they could risk nothing if they just avoided certain issues certainly failed to prove their point. In fact they failed to prove any point except, possibly, mine.

"Are you crazy?"

2010-10-20T11:53:00.002-04:00

Cartoon by Jack Ahasteen

Again

2010-10-16T22:49:00.002-04:00

Yesterday a cloud blocked the sun

I’m hurting so bad inside its hard to explain

I could tell in the dr’s eyes when he walked in the door that things aren’t gonna be normal anymore

And somehow I always end up with a losing score

All I could think of is my wife and kids and how all I want is the best for them

I put my head down as my wife cried she is truly my best friend

I have to fight I can't let this pull me down

My emotions are mixed as I tread these tears so I don’t drown

To my wife the strongest woman I know

The love of my life she makes me whole

She’s there for me like the sun

And in the dark she’s the stars in the sky

With her I will never turn and run

I’m truly lucky to be her guy

Again we are called to fight this

Again cancer is in our life

Again the chemo bags will drip

Again I will feel sick

Again I will lose my taste

Again my hair will lose its place

Again I will be weak

Again my soul will seek

Again I will have to be away from my family

Again WE will fight

Again WE WILL WIN

Lesten James White-Pigeon

The LJWP Fund

2010-10-12T20:11:00.010-04:00

Lesten White-Pigeon is Seneca from the Seneca Nation Territory of Cattaraugus. He is 29 years old with a wife, Jessica and two children; Lesten James Jr. age 4 and Julia Rose 17 months. He has been battling Osteosarcoma for more than a year. He lost his leg a year ago last summer but the cancer spread to his chest and lungs. He plans to enlist the help of M. D. Anderson, a specialized cancer hospital in Houston, Texas to join with the Roswell Cancer Institute in Buffalo that is now treating him. The fund raising effort is to both help the family as they enter the holiday season and to assist in the cost associated with out of town treatment. Make checks payable to Lesten White-Pigeon and send them to The LJWP Fund, PO Box 93, Versailles, NY 14168. Thanks for your support.

Cartoon by Jack Ahasteen

2010-10-03T09:46:00.001-04:00

I must have missed something

2010-09-15T01:57:00.003-04:00

When did this battle to defend our economies become a fight for the right to buy from New York State wholesalers? I thought the whole reason for shifting to Native brands was to strengthen our position. There doesn't seem to be any voices out there fighting for our right to ship Native products from Native wholesalers to Native retailers from territory to territory. All the "legal" challenges are to fight the State from depriving us of their licensed wholesalers. Are we suggesting that the only way we can buy and sell Native brands is through the State? Are we stupid? How did we create a situation where all these Native brands were developed and then box ourselves in so we can't distribute them to each other with out the State? And why isn't this issue being argued? The only mention of shipping Native products has been around shipping product only to the "tribal leaders" or a "tribally run enterprise". When the "recognized leader" of the Tuscaroras was asked recently by one "his" people to allow electricity to a warehouse that was built, he said he only allows power to residences. So are we supposed to fight for "leadership" to be the supply line for our economy when they wield this kind of power? This goes way beyond the regulation of commerce. This isn't the freedom that is the foundation of what it means to be Ohnkwe Ohnwe. This isn't what it means to be Haudenosaunee where the "chiefs" possess this kind of power. When the private sector of the Seneca Nation built this industry and agreed to allow a mechanism to give back to the community, I don't think they had in mind giving complete control of their supply line to the Nation. They wanted to give back not give in. But perhaps we are back where we were in '97 when many thought we couldn't win so the prevailing thoughts were around getting the best possible deal out of the State. I must have missed something because as I recall, we pushed back even as the the governor was inking deals with "tribal leaders" and proved there was no deal to be had. Did all the success we have had make us stronger or weaker? Clearly, I must have missed something.

A Gathering to Support the Sovereignty of First Nations

2010-09-12T01:48:00.002-04:00

On Tuesday, September 14, 2010 starting at 5:00 PM there will be a gathering along the New York State Thruway where it passes through the Seneca Nation Territory of Cattaraugus. The gathering site can be accessed at the Big Indian Smoke Shop and Fuel Station on Mile Strip Road in Cattaraugus. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to come and bring as many friends as possible. The gathering will be a family friendly event to support the People of the First Nations. Our non-native support is both appreciated and important. The gathering has the potential to not only show support for Native Sovereignty and Autonomy but to protest the over reaching of authority by the State and Federal governments into the lives of individuals. It is important that people realize that attempts to cause economic harm to Native economies are not just attacks based on race but on class. Big business and wealthy politicians are waging war against anyone they can marginalize; whether it is based on the color of our skin or the size of our wallets.

Join us to send a message to those that want to keep blaming us for their own incompetence. See some friends and make some new ones. Stand up and be recognized and find out who really will have your back when things get tough.

The 5 "Indian" Policies of the US

2010-09-09T11:02:00.005-04:00

I did a show last week on those 5 policies. Thomas Jefferson, who is considered the most enlightened political philosopher of all US presidents, captures the intent and strategy of the US from its start in the paragraph below. Assimilation, Removal, Termination and Extermination are laid out in a single statement. His comments show his deceit and his utter lack of honor or integrity. Enlightened; my ass.

Jack Ahasteen captures the US concept of Self Determination in the cartoon below that.

"To promote this disposition to exchange lands, which they have to spare and we want, for necessaries, which we have to spare and they want, we shall push our trading uses, and be glad to see the good and influential individuals among them run in debt, because we observe that when these debts get beyond what the individuals can pay, they become willing to lop them off by a cession of lands.... In this way our settlements will gradually circumscribe and approach the Indians, and they will in time either incorporate with us as citizens of the United States, or remove beyond the Mississippi. The former is certainly the termination of their history most happy for themselves; but, in the whole course of this, it is essential to cultivate their love. As to their fear, we presume that our strength and their weakness is now so visible that they must see we have only to shut our hand to crush them, and that all our liberalities to them proceed from motives of pure humanity only. Should any tribe be foolhardy enough to take up the hatchet at any time, the seizing the whole country of that tribe, and driving them across the Mississippi, as the only condition of peace, would be an example to others, and a furtherance of our final consolidation." - Thomas Jefferson.

Self Determination on a Chain

Cartoon by Jack Ahasteen

We Don't Need Leadership; We Need Participation

2010-08-31T20:34:00.006-04:00

I have had this title posted on the top of my blog for several months. It couldn't be a more appropriate expression now. Tomorrow the people will show themselves. In Tuscarora the people will continue what they started yesterday, standing out on the street making themselves seen and heard. In Cattaraugus the people will gather at the Big Indian and at Native Pride. There too the people will be seen and heard. Some will grab the microphone, I may myself, but don't for a minute think that anyone is any more important than anyone else. We may not always agree, and that is OK. We aren't soldiers all marching in step looking to some fearless leader. We are the People. Before we were Senecas and Mohawks we were "The People of the Mountains" and "The People of the Land of Flint". We were "The People of the Marshlands" and "The People of the Hills. We were "The People Where the Stones Stand" and we were "The People of the Cypress". We weren't 5 or 6 Nations nor were we 50 or 52 Chiefs. We were the People of the Longhouse. We need to stop looking for a savior, for the One with all the answers, for a leader. We need to step up and get involved. I have another favorite saying: "The best way to prevent the abuse of authority is to not give it; the second best way is to take it back". This isn't necessarily a slap at tribal government, I'm talking about the State, but if the shoe happens to fit; wear it. At times such as these we have three choices: we can do nothing, we can expect others to fight for us or we can all do our share. Showing up for a rally or a demonstration isn't exactly hard work and no one is really expecting conflict, at least not tomorrow. Certainly no one will be putting their life on the line. Stand up and be accounted for. See some friends and make some new ones. No one needs to lead a charge.

We don't need leadership; we need participation.

More Provocation as the Deadline for the State's Interference in Native Business Nears

2010-08-27T21:47:00.004-04:00

This sign hangs on a front lawn of a residence on the Territory of the Tonawanda Senecas. Last week two New York State Troopers Pulled up to the sign, got out of their car, pulled their weapons and posed for each other to take pictures of themselves with the sign behind them. They packed up and sped off when they were approached by residents. Real brave, guys! The property owner called the Trooper barracks where the Major assured her he would look into it and deal with the officers appropriately. He also suggested that they keep this between them so as to not make too much of it. A couple of nights later as some women were enjoying a quiet Tonawanda night when a New York State Trooper car sped by the same residence with engine racing and gravel flying as they cruised down Bloomingdale Road.

The rural nature of Tonawanda alone make a State Trooper presence unnecessary. There are only three reasons to go to Tonawanda; you live there, you have friends there or you shop there. State officials do not live there, they have no friends there and their business is not welcome. The sign could not be clearer.

The only thing as clear as the sign is the intent of some of these cowboys to participate in the State's on-going provocation of Native people. Invariably as tensions rise intelligence falls. You see and hear it in the words of prominent political figures like Mike Bloomberg suggesting the brandishing of shotguns to show who's boss or comments from the State governor acknowledging the potential for violence and even death but quoting for the newspapers, "There will be quite an uprising and protest to this but I am going to maintain this policy." And now, almost like answering the call to Bloomberg's call to "cowboy up" against the Indians, certain Troopers are willing to show their ignorance.

The best way for both the Native people, who will be sure to respond to the State's aggression, and the State Police, who will be used as the State's pawns, to ensure their own safety would be for them to form a somewhat unholy alliance where both sides agree to make as big, as spectacular and as expensive, while entirely peaceful, a demonstration of the State's futile efforts as possible. Everyone with their Warrior shirts and flags; flex your muscle and show your strength and resolve while you boys in the blue cars; bring entirely too many of yourselves to our reservation borders, collect your overtime and "hazard" pay, spend every dime of your State paid per diems and let's let the fools in Albany wallow in their stupidity.

50 Years of Questionable University Health Research Practices on the Cattaraugus and Allegany Reservations of the Seneca Nation of Indians

2010-08-25T00:30:00.002-04:00

By Rodney C. Haring, PhD.

Research in Native Communities

Cultural appropriateness is an ethical factor that underlies research with any group. However, Native Peoples have structures of belief, customs, and historical experiences vastly different from that of researchers trained in mainstream universities. Special care needs to be taken when these same researchers attempt to apply methodologies to Native peoples and Native communities.
It is often the case that researchers may be viewed negatively in Native communities. Native people have often been exploited, not just by governments and corporations, but also by researchers who have come in from the outside to study Native people. Often, Native communities have not been informed of the study findings nor experienced any benefits of the research. Other instances include tribal information being lost or used in an unethical manner.

Research in Seneca Country: Circa. 1960

The history of questionable health research practices on the reservations of the Seneca Nation of Indians started nearly five decades ago by the State University of New York at Buffalo (SUNY). In fact, the most notable of these health research studies included early genetics studies, studies on the blood groups of Seneca Indians, in-breeding among Seneca Indians, and potential migration patterns, all based on blood samples taken from Seneca Indians on the Cattaraugus Reservation with many occurring via home visits on Seneca Nation lands (Doeblin & Mohn, 1967).
Another study, Diabetes and hyperglycemia in Seneca Indians (Doeblin, Evans, Ingall, Dowling, Chilcote, Elsea, Bannersman, 1969) that published in Human Heredity followed Doeblin and Mohn (1967) study, blood groups of the Seneca Indians, published in the American Journal of Human Genetics, stated that Doeblin’s team and SUNY UB researchers visited mostly homes on the Cattaraugus Reservation and drew venous blood samples for research purposes. The blood samples in this study indicated that blood was taken from 266 Seneca peoples on Seneca reservation lands. This study also went on to examine fertility rates among Seneca women. A subsequent study, Diabetes in the Seneca Indians: Plasma insulin responses to oral carbohydrate published in Diabetes (Frohman, Doeblin & Emerling, 1969) further shows lack of coordination between the SUNY Buffalo and the Seneca Nation of Indians tribal government or health departments for ongoing health research practices. Yet another SUNY Buffalo research team further published a report without article description of Seneca Nation of Indians oversight, guidance, and approval in Public Health Reports (1969). Elsea, Partridge, and Neter (1967) conducted research on Seneca lands by collecting fecal samples by rectal swabs and blood specimen collection via home visits at Seneca member house holds on the Cattaraugus Indian Reservation.
Methodologically, all of these early SUNY Buffalo studies lack detail on Seneca Nation oversight, blood sample protection and return, and potential harms produced by using blood sample which looked at in-breeding, genetics, the geographic origins of Seneca Peoples, diabetes, and fertility. Similar to the questionable research practices conducted on Seneca Nation tribal members in reservation lands, the Havasupai Nation, a small Native American tribe located in the Grand Canyon, had given DNA samples to university researchers starting in 1990 in the hope that they might provide genetic clues to the tribe’s devastating rate of diabetes. The Havasupai later learned that their blood samples had been used to study many other things, including mental illness and theories of the tribe’s geographical origins that contradict their traditional stories.
Acknowledging a desire to “remedy the wrong that was done,” Arizona State University’s Board of Regents agreed to pay $700,000 to 41 of the tribe’s members, return the 151 blood samples and provide other forms of assistance to the Havasupai Nation. The case raises the question of whether University scientists had taken advantage of a vulnerable population for a university eager to cast itself as a center for American Indian studies and research.
Where are Seneca ancestors’ blood stored today? Has the SUNY Buffalo used Seneca blood samples for genetic testing? Can the 266 Seneca blood samples, over 100 more samples than the Havasupai Nation tribal member case, be reclaimed and properly laid to rest using Native American Graves and Protection and Repatriation Act?

Research in Seneca Country: New Studies using Archived Seneca Members Data

More recent health research studies conducted included investigations by Roswell Cancer Institute, an affiliate research organization of SUNY Buffalo. UB affiliated researchers received initial approval from the Seneca Nation to produce health research results by reviewing Seneca Nation health data between 1955-1984 relating to potential life lost factors based on 924 death certificates of Seneca Peoples (Mahoney, Michalek, Cummings, Hanley, Snyder, 1989). This original article was followed by a subsequent publication titled, Mortality patterns among a Native American population in New York State found in the New York State Journal of Medicine (Michalek, Mahoney, Cummings, Hanley, Snyder, 1989).The findings and articles indicated that UB affiliate researchers worked with the Seneca Nation but does not describe in detail how information provided by the SNI Health Center is protected or that the project had SNI council approvals and protections regarding the continued use of health data provided by the Seneca Nation of Indians.
The continued use of Seneca Nation health data for publication and presentation purposes are highlighted by further use by a different set of authors. This included a published study found in the American Journal of Epidemiology (Mahoney, Michalek, Cummings, Nasca, Emrich, 1989). This article titled, Mortality in a northeastern Native American cohort 1955-1984 reported using the same data set provided by the Seneca Nation of Indians tribal rolls. Recently this same information which included the Seneca Nation tribal rolls data and Seneca Nation death certificate information was republished on-line as public information in 2006 .
It may be the case that Roswell Cancer Institute, a SUNY UB affiliate, continues to present findings at conferences across the country (without SNI oversight) and publish variations of the Seneca Nation health data in journals which may not be approved by the Seneca Nation. These questionable health research practices have risk and harm factors to Seneca Nation members and community. This is represented by the ability of these publically released statistics to influence health insurance providers serving Seneca Members, life insurance premiums and coverage based on Seneca specific statistics including cancer treatments, homicide rates, and motor-vehicle insurance rates related to mortality rates found using certificates of deceased Seneca members.

Research in Seneca Country: The last decade (2000 to 2010)

More recently a health related research project conducted by SUNY Buffalo without Seneca Nation approval included an investigation of Seneca Nation children’s asthma and health behaviors. This study, The prevalence of asthma in children of elementary school age in Western New York (Lewebuga-Wukasa & Dun-Georgiou, 2000) published in the Journal of Urban Health was conducted in conjunction with Gowanda Central school systems. SUNY Buffalo courted Seneca children at Gowanda Central elementary school systems, sent consent forms to Seneca reservation homes, and Seneca parents residing on reservation had the opportunity for enrolling their children in the SUNY Buffalo health study. This was a backdoor mechanism that SUNY Buffalo utilized to enter Seneca Nation lands to conduct health research without Seneca Nation approval, oversight, or Seneca Nation Council approval.
This study in particular released Seneca Nation community member health data. In comparison, the findings have the ability to influence insurance rate premiums to Seneca Nation members. Specifically, Seneca community health results related to asthma, medication, and other concerns including “house hold triggers” which included researched items such as commercial tobacco and rodent/cockroach prevalence in Seneca homes.

A Call for Action

From the early 1950s to today, no other university working within the Seneca Nation boundaries has conducted as many questionable research practices then SUNY Buffalo. These collections of unethical health research practices in Seneca Country are clear-cut documented cases which provide probable cause for jurisdictional oversight by the Seneca Nation on behalf of the Nation’s community members and family’s in which the government is in existence to protect.

Summary

In today’s Seneca societies health research is important. Health research when conducted properly and respectfully has the ability to gain insight in directions of the Seneca Nation’s choosing. Health research provides answers, results, and guidance for our future generations. Further, health research and evaluation helps existing programs discover if their program are effective or ineffective.
The Seneca Nation in relation to health research has the capability of protecting tribal intellectual property and knowledge at both the community level and for members that reside in the Territories of the Seneca Nation. The Seneca Nation has the ability to guide research that improves community health in respectful ways, yet staying within the boundaries of scientific principles. Finally, the Seneca Nation has the right and duty, much like the Havasupai Nation, to reclaim our ancestors’ blood specimens for proper burial, stop potential DNA/genetics research, in-breeding investigations, related biological research from past blood samples/rectal swap collections and to proceed with legal action against the University for unethical research practices dating back nearly five decades.

I Finally Got the Return Call, But They Won't Put It in Writing

2010-08-19T22:06:00.006-04:00

I've mentioned previously on one of my comments that I called the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance to inquire on their "Indian Commerce" policies. Three weeks after my initial call I received a call back from the department's Office of Counsel. I asked what the State's policy is and would be after September 1st regarding Native to Native commerce and the sales and distribution of Native brands of tobacco products from territory to territory. The caller made it crystal clear that the State intends to stop any shipments of product that leave a reservation regardless of whether the product was produced or manufactured by Native people and regardless if the transaction is in the commission of trade between Native people on Native lands. When pressed where the State feels it has the right to interfere with Native to Native trade the caller suggested that there was case law that supported their position. I reminded her that the case law she refers to was specifically based on the premise that the tobacco sold by the Native retailers in Montana and Washington at the time had no value added to products by the Native people. Clearly this was no longer the case now that 70 - 80% of the product sold by Native retailers are Native brands and clearly a sustainable business can now exist entirely off those brands. The caller then suggested that the State would only consider value having been added if was done in the community that it was sold in. In other words; Native people could not manufacture a product and sell it to Native people from another Native territory without the State's regulation. When I continued to pressed her on the notion that the State would even stop, and indeed did so last week, a Seneca wholesaler from transporting a Native product from the Seneca Territory of Cattaraugus to the Seneca Territory of Allegany, she backed off some saying that the State would stop shipments going from one Nation to another. She said she couldn't comment on last week's seizure and speculated on various reasons that could have been in play.

The bottom line is that the State is so emboldened by new legislation and case law from places that are far from the territories and people of the Haudenosaunee (geographically and politically) that they are actually saying they will prohibit Native to Native commerce that doesn't comply with State law. I couldn't get the Office of Counsel to provide a written policy statement saying such because they don't want to use language that in any way addresses Native commerce distinct from State commerce. As far as the State is concerned our trade is their business.

We obviously cannot stand for this. We also cannot allow Native to Native commerce be reduced to a situation where only the tribes are allowed to conduct commerce under a concept of Nation to Nation commerce. This will be the ultimate sell out by tribal leadership and will make them complicate in criminalizing the private sector economies of our territories; the few that are left. Native people challenging the State's authority in front of white men under black robes is only slightly better than white men under white hoods. The laws these men live and judge by are as racist and outdated as the Klan. A system of laws that allows hundreds of distinct sovereign societies to be lumped together so that precedent can be established upon the weakest and imposed on those where no such ruling could be made on its own merits is no system at all. It is a sham.

A Submission from an Anonymous Reader

2010-08-17T23:11:00.002-04:00

Judge Arcara’s ruling is in. The glimmer of hope is distinguished. It really should come as no surprise that once again, and for hundreds of years, the Native American Indian has not be given a favorable decision by the white man’s court.
As if to add insult to injury, yet again, bumbling Bloomberg is suggesting that State officials need to put on cowboy hats and use shotguns this time, when asked about the possible violence which may come to pass after this ruling. This could be likened to the “show of the rifle” and to the usually peaceful native, this is a great violation of the universal Indian code of conduct. Bloomberg has shown himself to be an untrustworthy, dishonest adversary.
Have we really come no farther than the 1800’s when the court of New York was heard to say, “ Let us forget once and forever the word 'Indian', and all that it signifies"?
Are we to hear again, the words of general Sherman when he was quoted as saying, “ the only good Indian is a dead Indian”?
Or even the words of President Teddy Roosevelt who would not go as far as to repeat the above, but said, “ I don’t go as far as to think that the only good Indian is a dead Indian, but I believe nine out of ten are and I shouldn’t like to inquire too closely".
This USA has done nothing but rob these people since we set foot in the Americas and it continues everyday. The white people wanted the Natives to take care of themselves but, not too good. They never wanted them to do too well. The State of New York has their hands out ready for the casino earnings but that isn’t even enough they also want to heap State taxes on their tobacco. The natives didn’t create the mess this State and country are in but they are being asked to remedy the situation at the cost of their sovereign rights. Shame on the people of American, who cry, ”cultural diversity”, but would forsake the very founders of this land.

New York State and the U.S. Federal Government Are Provoking Native Conflict

2010-08-14T09:19:00.004-04:00

As politicians and news outlets paint a picture of potential violent conflicts with Native people it is important to put things in their proper perspective or at very least consider the Native one. Should you find yourself backed up on the New York State Thruway or any other major highway that cuts through a Native community or barraged with news reports of stand-offs or conflict between Native people and law enforcement, consider the events of the past year before judging the cause and ask yourself who do these State and federal politicians really think they are serving by creating this conflict.

Last year, in Mohawk Territory, U.S. Customs blocked vehicle access to a section of Akwesasne because Canadian Border Services abandoned their check point on the Mohawk’s Cornwall Island when they were denied permission to bring weapons into the Mohawk community. The river became the only means for residents of the island to access food, general supplies and basic services. Kids were forced onto the river just to go to school. This year the U.S. Coast Guard rammed a boat carrying two young men in an attempt to force them to report their travel from the island to the south shore of the river. Both boys were injured; one of the permanently disabled. Shipments of raw tobacco have been unlawfully seized enroute to Native manufacturers in Akwesasne and the U.S Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms claims to be bringing indictments down on cigarette manufacturers there for operating without a U.S. license.

In Seneca Territory, remote sellers of tobacco products have been under attack by federal law makers who under charges that the Native retailers have been putting cigarettes in the hands of children, robbing money from state coffers and promoting terrorism passed legislation that has begun wiping out as many as 3000 jobs and has already cut the Seneca Nation’s revenue from their retailers to 40% of what it was prior to the legislation. Last week the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance seized a truck carrying Native product shipped by a Native wholesaler from one Seneca territory to Native retailers in another Seneca territory. The State, emboldened by this new federal legislation now believes it can interfere with Native to Native trade even as it proposes shutting off its State licensed wholesalers from supplying Native retailers. On September 1st the State intends to wipe out the remaining Native tobacco trade that has thrived for 30 years and has been the foundation of the economies of every community of the Six Nations.

Last month the U.S. State Department hosted consultations with Native people in Washington D.C. to gather comments and concerns regarding the United State’s position on the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The current position has been a total rejection of the Declaration since 2007 and we are told that position is now being reconsidered. At issue is the legally binding nature of such an international agreement and the conflict presented by the U.S. “domestication” of Native issues and conflicts. Domestication is a fancy word for forcing Native people into U.S. courts and under U.S. authority. A week after the State Department put on their show for the “Indigenous Peoples” in Washington they attempted to “domesticate” the Iroquois Nationals Lacrosse Team by refusing to recognize their Haudenosaunee passports. Great Britain was hosting the FIL World Lacrosse Championship Tournament and refused to issue travel visas to the descendants of the game’s founders unless they carried a recognized passport that could ensure their re-entry to the United States.

Domestication was the same rationale that developed the concept of “Kill the Indian; save the man”. It was also the means used to throw out the Cayuga land claim and, just last week, the Oneida claim as well. While the U.S. Courts have acknowledged the lands were taken unlawfully, the “domestic” processes determined that in both cases too much time elapsed for the Nations to be entitled to a settlement. This from the country that spends billions in support of the 2000 year old land claim and the autonomy of Israel.

Seized Cigarettes Will Be Given Back to Seneca Retailer

2010-08-12T11:12:00.001-04:00

Posted: Wednesday, 11 August 2010 6:29PM

Rachel Kingston Reporting
rkingston@entercom.com
Buffalo, NY (WBEN/AP) -- New York State is going to return a truck full of cigarettes that was seized by taxing agents on Monday to the Seneca retailer to whom it belongs.State Taxation and Finance Spokesman Brad Maione said Wednesday that Monday's stop and seizure was not illegal, but officials who've reviewed of the facts of the case have nontheless chosen to give the truck and its contents back to Aaron Pierce. Maione would not elaborate on what specifically led tax officials to change their minds.Agents who made the seizure on Monday said that they did so because the cigarette cartons weren't stamped properly. But the Senecas question that explanation, since taxation of Native American tobacco products is currently not permitted under New York State law.Pierce contends that the seizure is an act of retaliation. He and 140 other Seneca businesses have filed lawsuits against a new federal law, known as the PACT Act. It bans the shipment of cigarettes in the mail. The Senecas are currently trying to have it declared unconstitutional.At the time of the seizure, the cigarettes were being shipped from one Seneca reservation to another.Seneca Nation President Barry Snyder said Wednesday the tribe is demanding an explanation from Governor Paterson."Why did the state make a move on something that's been going on for a number of years?" Snyder asked. "Why is that process starting in August of this year? [Does it pertain] to the legislation that was passed for September 1 of this year? Or is it something to do with the federal case that's going on, over the PACT Act? I have no idea, at this point."Snyder was referring to the measure that state lawmakers approved earlier this summer, that would authorize the state to collect sales taxes on Seneca tobacco products that are sold to non-Indians. That new law is scheduled to take effect on September 1.

Let's Talk Native... with John Kane

2010-07-29T12:56:00.003-04:00

I'm moving into radio. Starting August 10th at 11:00am I will be hosting a one hour show on WECK 1230 AM. The show will air live from 11:00 till noon every Tuesday morning. I will have the shows available here for replay and they will be available on http://www.weck1230.com/ via web stream and podcast.
Prerecorded and produced 30 second ad slots are available during the broadcast as well as live promos.
Feel free to recommend topics here and comment about shows.

A Couple Weeks of Declarations; Celebrated, Reconsidered and Forced

2010-07-19T22:34:00.015-04:00

So a couple of days after Americans celebrated their Declaration of Independence from tyranny I travelled to Washington D.C. to observe and participate in the U.S. State Department's "Smart Partnership Dialogue" events. The events are to assist the State Department in their review of the U.S. position on the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, that position being a complete rejection of the entire document back in 2007.

The first day, July 7th, was the "Tribal Consultation", described as the "government-to-government tribal consultations between U.S. government agencies and federally recognized tribes". The State Department, which actually hosted the meeting at their facility, rolled out a few of its big guns for the event (don't get excited, Hillary was no where close) and rustled up some White House Indians, some Interior Department underlings and various other government agency staffers. The event was well attended; in fact the room was full to capacity. Sitting to the immediate left of the U.S. panel was the Haudenosaunee representatives; I single them out specifically because of the events that would unfold later in the week. A good portion of the discussion focused around religious rights, sacred sites, federal recognition and the general poverty of Indian Country. No one mentioned economic development, trade, passports or any issues related to Native sovereignty as it relates to the international community or the United Nations.

The second day was an opportunity for the NGO's to be heard; that's U.N. speak for non government organizations. In other words, the federally recognized tribal leaders had their day, now it was time for the people. This event was held at the Smithsonian's Museum of the Native Americans on the Capitol Mall. I went to listen for the Seneca Free Trade Association but to speak as a free thinking Kanienkehaka. And speak I did.

I began by expressing my cynicism for the whole process, especially with the agency's constant reference to the domestication of indigenous/tribal issues and the foreboding of potential conflicts should our issues no longer be held as domestic issues. I suggested that we take a look at how well we have fared with their domestication of us. I also expressed skepticism on the integrity and conscience of the international community as well. I actually brought up many of their domestic laws and policies including the passport issue as well as their Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative IDs that attempt to force our declaration of U.S. or Canadian citizenship. I brought up the citizenship act of 1924, the Homestead Act, the Dawes Act, income tax, draft registration for military service, BIA recognition, the conflict between state's rights and federal authority, jurisdiction, land loss, land use, land title and land claims. I brought up federal Indian law and the practice of establishing precedence against weaker tribes to apply force of law against others. I brought up trade and commerce as well as the role the United States plays in preventing our private sector development. I spoke of the tobacco trade and couldn't help but mention that tobacco was prominently displayed in full growth as part of the landscaping for the museum (and not traditional Indian tobacco but full broad leaf commercial grade tobacco). I brought up the overtures made by the President and the photo ops and of course the White House Indians. I brought up the PACT Act and called out Jodie Gillette in front of the whole auditorium for not giving us the time of day to discuss the damage that her boss signed into law. What I didn't know was what was about to transpire over the next couple of days.

A few days after the State Department finished courting us in D.C., the Iroquois National lacrosse team was held hostage by them in New York City. Bound for England to play in the World Lacrosse Championship Tournament in Manchester, the Haudenosaunee passport carriers ran into a brick wall. The United Kingdom refused to issue travel visas for the team without assurances from the State Department that the travellers would be allowed back home on their Haudenosaunee passports. In the eleventh hour Hillary Clinton intervened and ordered that the department issue a "one time" waiver to allow the use of the substandard travel documents for reentry into the U.S.. Feeling as if they were off the hook without really giving into the obstinate Indians, the State Department stepped out of the role as villain. The problem was that the Brits weren't satisfied. The U.S. had shoved the hi-tech travel documents down every one's throats in the name of 9-11 and Hillary's discretionary use of "one time" waivers was not cutting it for them, so now they insisted that the athletes either produce U.S. or Canadian passports, in other words fully recognized passports, to receive their visas.

So a little more than a week after Americans celebrated their independence from their tyrant, the very people who lost more in and after the war that was fought for that independence were kicked around like illegal immigrants. The media had a frenzy with the issue but stayed cautiously close to the main story line: Iroquois Nationals banned from competition for insisting on using their own passports. There was never any connection made to the discussion over the U.N. Declaration. The Haudenosaunee representatives never broached the subject in Washington and the entire coverage of the issue as it developed never strayed beyond the lacrosse players. Only I mentioned the travel document issue in this "Smart Partnership Dialogue". If I had any idea these guys were heading to Europe I would have jumped all over the issue rather than just mentioning it.

Our people face travel restrictions every day. With half of our Haudenosaunee communities north of the imaginary line and half south of it, as well as one Mohawk community straddling it, we can't even visit family without a fight over travel documents. Even without their international borders to cross, goods are seized even as we travel from one community to another in the commission of legal trade. As you read this, a prominent Seneca is on trial because his product was purchased by a Native retailer in the state of Washington without reporting the transaction to the state. Two Mohawk boys were permanently disabled when a U.S. Coast Guard vessel rammed their boat as a result of their refusal to yield to them as they travelled across the river from one part of Akwesasne to another. U.S. and Canadian officials blocked bridge access to part of Akwesasne simply because the people refused to allow Canadian Border Service Agents to be armed on Mohawk land. Vehicles that drive from one part of Akwesasne to another that don't first drive into the city of Cornwall to report are seized if they later enter Canada. Invitations to many countries are declined simply because of travel restrictions for those that refuse to declare themselves as U.S. or Canadian citizens and this is the real issue.

Although the mainstream media has danced around the subject, the main conflict over all the travel documents is centered on the insistence that we declare citizenship to a nation that is not our own. This is not just assimilation, it is by definition; genocide. The third act that constitutes genocide according to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide is: Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.

So where does this leave reconsideration of the U.N. Declaration? What is the point of open discussions if there is no transparency to what happens off stage? My skepticism of the international community could not have been more justified when one of the nations that has already signed attempts to force our people to declare subjugation to the only two countries on the planet that have refused to become signatory nations. Much of the debate about this U.N. document has been over its potential legal ramifications. We know from past experiences that the first time this is used as a legal document against the U.S. someone will challenge it and have the federal courts declare it unconstitutional as a legally binding agreement. Man-made law will not solve our issues; U.S., U.N. nor any other. Fair and honest diplomacy that can withstand international scrutiny is the only solution and it is long overdue, I do declare.

Iroquois lacrosse team misses England flight in passport hold up

2010-07-14T10:46:00.001-04:00

New York (CNN) -- The 4 p.m. Delta flight out of John F. Kennedy Airport to London came and went on Tuesday -- but without the members of the Iroquois Nationals lacrosse team on board.
The team was hoping to make the flight in anticipation of this week's World Lacrosse Championships in Manchester, England.
They were supposed to depart for England on Sunday with about 43 people, including family members.
But the British Consulate told the team Friday that it would not be given visas unless the U.S. State Department could confirm in a letter that the Nationals would be allowed back into the United States following the tournament's end, according to a press release issued by the team's board of directors.
State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told reporters Monday that the hold-up appears to come from new security measures applied to passports -- and whether the Iroquois-issued passports meet new rules applied to travel.
Crowley said he could not confirm whether or not the passports meet new travel requirements. He referred that question to the Department of Homeland Security.
Matt Chandler, a spokesman for that department, said the agency was working to help resolve the matter with government entities including the State Department, but would not comment further.
At Tuesday's briefing, Crowley elaborated on why the team was denied the letter.
"There are specific criteria as to the circumstances under which you can provide those letters. This situation does not meet that criteria. We stand by to help them gain the kind of documents that will allow their travel to the United Kingdom," he told reporters .
"We are trying to see if there's a way to help them. The easiest way to accomplish what they want to accomplish is to get them a U.S. passport. We've been ready to do that for a number of days, and we stand ready to do that today," Crowley said.
But Dr. Percy Abrams, executive director of the Iroquois Nationals, said U.S. passports wouldn't even be accepted at the competition, where players have to produce a passport originating from the country they are representing -- the Haudenosaunee Confederacy.
Also, Abrams said, it's a matter of principle.
"We have our principles and with that sovereignty goes the idea that our country has been accepted. We've been traveling on this for years," Abrams said during team practice Monday at Wagner College in New York.
"I think it should have been explained well ahead of time or someone should have been advised that travel requirements had changed," Abrams said when asked about the update in travel security measures.
The people of the six-nation confederacy live in upstate New York. The Iroquois territory once covered most of the northeastern United States and eastern Canada.
Monday afternoon, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson sent a letter to the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security on behalf of the Nationals.
He asked that the matter be reviewed immediately and also noted that the passports have been used to travel outside of the United States since 1977 without problems.
"As a governor of a state with a significant Native American population, I know many tribes and pueblos will watch carefully how these young competitors are treated by the administration. As a signator of the U.N. Declaration on Human Rights, which includes the freedom to travel and return, I believe we have an obligation to assure these young men's rights are protected," Richardson wrote.
Congressman Dan Maffei, who represents the 25th District of New York, has also pledged his support to the team.
Tanya Gonnella Frichner, legal adviser to the Nationals, said Maffei was expected to meet with the State Department Tuesday evening to continue to help resolve the matter.
"He has been one of the strongest advocates," Frichner said.
The last time the team traveled outside the country was in 2002, when the championship was held in Australia. The passports didn't pose a problem then, Abrams said. But Crowley acknowledged that that was before travel requirements changed.
On Monday, Nationals General Manager Ansley Jemison told CNN that preventing the team from playing in the championship would be a "worst-case scenario for the game of lacrosse."
"These guys are also heroes to a lot of the young children that we have in our communities, and I think that would be a very negative message for the U.S. government to send to our people," Jemison said.
"We don't have a lot of heroes, and it's tough for us to have a lot of heroes... These are the 'Michael Jordans' of the native communities. These are the guys that we hold on the pedestal. These are the guys we look up to," Jemison said.
Despite the missed flight, the players are staying optimistic.
Sid Smith, a defender for the team, said the players are continuing to work hard and stay focused.
"The boys have still got their spirits pretty high and I think the morale is pretty high right now," he said.

New York Jacks Up Cigarette Tax Another $16 and Plans a Tax (Attacks) Against Native Retailers on September 1st

2010-07-03T08:41:00.004-04:00

Can we finally stop selling "Big Tobacco's" products? In New York State our tax advantage after July 1st will be almost $50 per carton (over $60 in NYC). There is enough Native produced tobacco product to stock our shelves and serve all comers to our territories. So what is the hang up? Native cigarettes already represents 80% of our sales and, all taxes aside, our own brands are as good or better than theirs and cheaper. Big Tobacco turned on us a long time ago yet, through Marlboro sales alone, most Native retailers have contributed more to Philip Morris' lobbying efforts than to the defense of their own businesses.
The New York State Legislature passed a measure that calls for tax collection on product intended for resale to non-natives to begin on September 1, 2010. However, the State knows that they can't tax our own product. All those cases they try to cite that gives them "authority"(including Attea) all go back to a case in the state of Washington where a major part of the government's argument was that cigarettes being sold had no value added to them by the Indians. Stopping us from selling product that we manufacture would be a whole other battle for the State to fight. The State is wrong for what it is doing as are the feds but we need to recognize how this all plays to our favor.
As Native people, we need to stop fighting each other or throwing each other into the line of fire and concentrate on our Native to Native commerce. If the State and feds want to block their businesses from doing business with us then we need to find solutions around them. They can't stop their citizens from visiting our lands and buying our goods. We need to provide more goods and services to both meet our own needs and to market to the surrounding population so the dollars that come in, stay within our communities longer. As the American economy continues to degrade, more people will be looking for means to save money. For those fortunate enough to be our neighbors, or at least be in driving range, savings on goods and services as well as jobs will always be available on our lands as long as we continue to push and market our advantages. We know which territories are committed to fighting for our commerce. We need to support each other in these territories and be prepared to back away from those that are not willing to defend Native to Native trade. Compliance with the State or even the Feds should not be a prerequisite for trade. Whether a solution is developed to keep our remote sellers in business or not, we need to continue to build and grow out our brick and mortar businesses and that includes retail, service, manufacturing and tourism.

An article from the July issue of Making A Visible Impact Magazine

A Declaration for the 4th of July

2010-06-27T23:19:00.006-04:00

A Declaration of Sovereignty

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one People to define the political and historical relationship which has connected them with another, and to re-assume among the powers of the Earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and Creation entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to make such a clarification.- We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all mankind are created equal, that they are endowed by Creation with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.-- That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among People, deriving their just powers only from the Consent of the Governed,-- That whenever any form of Government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the Right and Obligation of the affected People to alter, abolish or separate from it, and to re-establish themselves, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments and Relationships long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all human experience has shown, that mankind is more disposed to suffer, while injustices are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing that which they have grown accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations pursuing invariably the same Course, evinces a design to reduce Human Beings to a mere resemblance of a proud People under absolute Despotism, it is their Right, it is their Duty to throw off such Governments, and to provide new measures for their security.- Such has been the patient sufferance of entire Generations of the People of the Six Nations; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter what has become of their Relationship to the New York State and United States Governments. The history of the Executives, Legislators and Judges of these Governments is a history of repeated injuries, usurpations and deceit, all having in direct object the unlawful occupation of Native lands and the Eradication of First Nations as Distinct, Autonomous Societies. To prove this, let the Facts be submitted to a candid World.- The Governments of New York State and the United States have combined together and with others to subject our People to a jurisdiction foreign to our Constitution(s) and unacknowledged by our Laws; giving assent to their acts of pretended legislation:--For developing national policies, including Extermination, Removal, Assimilation and Termination, with regard to Native People:-- For directly or indirectly allowing for the unlawful occupation of Native lands and the theft of Natural resources:-- For abrogating their own "Supreme Laws of the Land", altering on every occasion promises made by the United States regarding Territorial Boundaries, Land Use and Sovereignty:-- For attempting to Denationalize us by forcing U.S. Citizenship upon us:-- For abusing our children with a policy of "Kill the Indian, Save the man" through the use residential schools, forever altering generations:-- For cutting off trade with all parts of the World, including in and amongst our own Territories:-- For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:-- For forcing our People into their courts and there by depriving us of a trial by a jury of our peers:-- For imprisoning our People for conduct in our own Territories and claiming such conduct to be crimes against the United States:-- For ignoring our own power to legislate, and declaring themselves invested with the power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever:-- For historically coercing, corrupting and deceiving our Representatives and in many cases appointing our Representatives for us:-- For keeping among us an unwarrantable police presence without the consent and against the will of our People:-- For designing specific military plans for the invasion of our Territories (ala Gallant Piper), including the requisition of body bags and ambulatory services:-- For developing the concept of “Federal Indian Law”, which applies case law from one Native Territory to another completely disregarding the distinct status of our Nations and the Relationships to, not only the United States, but the International Community in general:-- For reducing the obligations made in Treaties to welfare and arbitrary act of charity:-- For adopting policies that encourage Socialism in our Communities and discourage the private sector development of our economies:-- For developing self serving concepts including; Quasi-Sovereign, Domestic Dependent Nations, and Ward- Custodian Relationship, and then treating them as accepted and established law:-- For claiming that the U.S. Constitution vests Congress with plenary powers over the affairs of our Sovereign Nations and that our own Sovereign Powers are subject to the plenary powers of Congress:-- For destroying the natural beauty and integrity of our homelands, contaminating the air, water and soil; destroying the game and vegetation that existed in harmony since time immemorial. Representatives from New York State and the United States have mis-stated history, law and fact for the sole purpose of causing dissention and hostility among their People against our People. The formation of citizens groups calling for the abolishment of all U.S.- Indian Treaties, all Native Land Claims and recognition of our Sovereign Territories has begun. Tension between Native and non-native People in some communities is at a modern day high. By and large the Good People of New York State and the United States have remained our friends. Together with People from around the World they support our efforts and continue to recognize our Sovereignty. Our presence alone, however, is not a strong enough reminder of our history. We must, therefore, promulgate our position, our standing, our autonomy and, in the oldest of ways, offer to clean the eyes of those who cannot see injustice, clean the ears of those who cannot hear the appeals of others and clear the throats of those who cannot speak the truth.
We, therefore, the People of the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Tuscarora and Seneca Nations, appealing to the People of the Earth, Declare, that we are of right and, indeed, have always been a Sovereign People. We reject any assumption of subjugation, including any misconception regarding our Citizenship. We are and always have been the People that constitute our respective Nations and claim no other. We define our Sovereignty as the Right or Power to have Independent Authority not affiliated with other controlling entities. We affirm our Relationship to the United States and to the rest of the World as defined in the “Two Row Wampum” and disclaim and/or dissolve any political connection to anyone that supports behavior contrary to Mutual Respect, Non-interference and not conducive to a Peaceful and Prosperous journey on the River of Life.

July 4, 2010

This appears as the centerfold for the July issue of Making A Visible Impact Magazine

Seneca Warriors mean it when they say: "Never Again!"

2010-06-22T10:19:00.001-04:00

The following is an anonymous email forward well worth passing on.

We are a Nation in a crisis. The Seneca Nation is in the crosshairs of the US and NY State again.

Over the past 10 years, the State of New York and Phillip Morris have worked hard to pass a bill that will attack and erode the sovereignty of the Seneca Nation. Over the course of this decade our Councillors and Presidents have insisted that the passage of such legislation will be a violation of our Treaties, deny the Seneca Nation a legitimate revenue source, and devastate our economy. In spite of these efforts, the US has passed the PACT Act, and now there is no doubt that the enforcement of it is a Treaty violation, criminalizes our people, will eliminate funds needed for legitimate Seneca programs, and eliminate over 60% of commerce occurring on our territories.

The passage and implementation of the PACT Act has targeted the Seneca Nation economy, and the passage of this Act has been at the behest of the State of New York. Just as New York pressured all credit card companies and carriers like UPS, FED EX, and DHL from freely interacting with our Nation's economy, now New York State is preparing to implement a plan that will force every Seneca to pay NY State taxes. A report issued on June 10th, 2010 states clearly that the Treaties between the US and Seneca do not preclude the State of New York from collecting taxes on everything but "land".

New York State will implement this plan on September 1st, and they are planning on the implementation of the PACT Act as a measure that will destabilize our Nation--weakening our ability to use resources to defend our economy and preserve our culture. Clearly, our deadliest political enemy is our neighbor: New York State.

These facts are clearly known, so the question is what can we do about it? One option is to do nothing and simply allow the US and NY State to slowly eliminate and terminate our Nation. This option would show that the Seneca Nation agrees with NY State politicians that Senecas are "terrorists", "smugglers", "criminals", and that our economic activities are "illegitimate." More importantly, doing nothing would in essence show our acceptance of the colonial control of our destiny and our submission to the law of perpetual genocide. The PACT Act is not unique; the PACT Act is only the most recent example of colonial control by the US and NY State. The passage of this act now joins other historical events like the construction of Kinzua, I-90, I-86, Salamanca Lease, Thomas Indian School, forced relocation, compromised Treaties, land theft, Sullivan's Campaign, and the countless other colonial measures that sought to eliminate our "free use and enjoyment" of our lands.

Another option is to resist and refuse to accept NY State politicians' determining our future. Didn't we tell the US and the State of New York, "Never Again" after they flooded 1/3rd of our Allegany Territory? Isn't this why we protested NY State's invasion of our lands in 1992 and 1997. This was a time when peaceful protests on our lands were met with several thousand NY State shock troopers. Less than 20 years ago, the defense of our territories by Seneca Warriors effectively resisted the two month long NY State Trooper occupation of I-90 and I-86.

As in 1992 and 1997, the Seneca Nation in resisting the PACT Act has used every method available and like other times in our history, these efforts have fallen short. And like times in our history, the defense of the Seneca people and Nation rests in the abilities, fearlessness and strong will of Seneca Warriors to stand up and resist.

Resisting New York State has been an activity that has consumed our resources since the 1600's.

Resisting New York State this time mandates that we also resist the passage of a New York inspired law from the US. Make no mistake, NY State takes pride in proclaiming that they are behind the PACT Act.

While the United States Postal Service stance is they are simply "following orders" of the US Congress. The US Congress and US leaders have insisted that this law does not impede on the sovereignty of the Seneca Nation. Yet how do these US leaders explain away that the "main sponsor" of the PACT Act is from New York State: Anthony Weiner - US Congressman from NY? They cannot. We need to prove to the world that these people are anti-Indian. This act seeks to profile Seneca people as automatic criminals. The legislators that passed this act have positioned themselves as our enemies with their anti-Indian legislation. When the US Postal Service follows this act they will abide by anti-Indian laws and racially monitor our economic activities.

What do we do to stop New York State? We develop a plan of action to address this issue internationally, nationally, and locally.

We need to make this an international issue. Now is the time to insist that our voices are heard over the din of New York State's greed. The world is on our side, and international media will pay attention. We can get their attention by proving the PACT Act as an attempt by NYS to blockade our economy and this economic blockade must be exposed for what it is: economic terrorism. The perpetrators of these actions will be exposed as anti-Indian, and making this case will be easy in a time when Arizona is suppressing brown people in the South West.

On the national level, any plan must include the formation of a Seneca Nation postal service and the complete elimination of all US postal activities on our Territories--especially all addresses that insist on the colonial occupation of NY. This means that your address will be known as the Cattaragus Territory, SN or Allegany Territory, SN. This will send a clear and precise message to the US and NY State that the Seneca Nation refuses to remain under the passive or active control of the US and NY.

Locally, we need organized and visible protests that include the people of Western New York, during which time we need speeches, signs, and of course the local, regional, national, and international press. Our claims need to make it clear that the PACT Act is imperialism, colonialism, genocide, and the actions of NY State over the past 5 years is tantamount to an economic embargo. These protests need to be on our Territories and we need to say under no uncertain terms will we turn our people into criminals, nor will we allow outside colonial agencies to use evidence gained through racial profiling to come onto our territories to arrest and criminalize Seneca people.

Seneca Warriors are here to defend this Nation during times when America's colonial experiment enters the realm of outright oppression. Now is the time.

The New Making A Visible Impact Magazine Is Out

2010-05-20T21:58:00.003-04:00

Look for it in stores starting tomorrow. Check out articles from Jed Morey and Lance Morgan. Also check out the MAVI Racing article. MAVI Magazine is free so support it by purchasing ad space. Help us spead our message.

Making A Visible Impact Magazine's Next "Signed, Mavi"

2010-05-12T23:04:00.005-04:00

Dear Mr. Obama,

I'm not going to start listing the long list of promises and assurances that you made during your campaign and at the beginning of your presidency. I am also not going to go through the litany of treaties that most Native people feel compelled to quote from as if they define our existence. I will not rehash the most recent travesty that you and the Congress are trying to inflict on our people either.

I will tell you; we get it. Not all of us, but enough of us to matter. The Crow might be falling all over themselves to adopt you and give you an "Indian" name and there are plenty of "tribal" officials that would love to get a photo op with you or get invited to some White House function. But those of us that have been in the trenches fighting for our sovereignty and autonomy, we have always understood. We have a name for you too. Rahnatakaias: it means "Town Destroyer". It is not so much a name for Barack Obama as it is for the office you hold. Your actions are what make it personal. We understood from the start that the men who would hold your office would be praised by many and always be promoted as men of fine character even as they acted out the most cowardice and inhumane policies against our people. George Washington ordered what you and your contemporaries would call an act of terrorism his instructions to General John Sullivan regarding the Seneca people:
I would recommend,...parties should be detached to lay waste all the settlements around, with instructions to do it in the most effectual manner, that the country may not be merely overrun, but destroyed.

But you will not by any means listen to any overture of peace before the total ruinment of their settlements is effected. Our future security will be in their inability to injure us and in the terror with which the severity of the chastisement they receive will inspire them.

Washington was the first to earn the title, but you all do your part to earn the description. Jackson's "Trail of Tears", Lincoln's Homestead Act and execution of 38 Lakota prisoners (the largest mass execution in US history) as well as Kennedy's flooding of Seneca land with the Kinzua dam are just a few examples that rarely get much attention from folks like you. But we remember. So we get it.

You certainly are not the first to make overtures to Native leaders only to continue on with your belief that you and your Congress have legitimate authority to legislate over us. In 200 years you have broken many Native people and destroyed many Native communities. You have bought and paid for tribal leaders to sellout their people from coast to coast. But know this; the People of the Haudenosaunee are not beaten or bought.

Legislating against us does little to change those of us that understand our sovereignty. Criminalizing us does not make us go away. Feel free to turn off the rhetoric any time. It just makes you look foolish in the long run. Just keep doing what the 43 before you have always done. There is no reason to lie to our faces or on your taped addresses. You do not work for us. Congress does not represent us. Just because the Senate declared us citizens in 1924, doesn't make it so. As I said, we get it.

Signed,
Mavi

Tribal Leaders React to Boat Crash

2010-04-19T22:04:00.005-04:00

This article is as it appeared in the Plattsburgh Press Republican

Published April 17, 2010 01:26 am - Tribal leaders react to Monday's boat crash in Akwesasne waters, saying Coast Guard crashed into civilian Hydro yacht.

Tribe: No contraband involved in crash

Tribal leaders seek private investigation

By ANDREA VanVALKENBURG

Staff Writer - Plattsburgh Press Republican

MASSENA — Tribal leaders say there was no contraband found in the civilian boat that was struck Monday by a U.S. Coast Guard vessel.Coast Guard operations have been suspended in the international and tribal waters as the investigation into the boat crash continues.

TRIBAL WATERS

The Mohawk Council of Akwesasne said few facts about the crash have been released, but it appears the civilian Hydro yacht, operated by two Akwesasne residents, was in Akwesasne waters of the St. Lawrence River when a chase apparently began. In a news release, tribal officials said it's still unclear what members of the Cornwall Regional Task Force were attempting to stop the men for, but that "it has been confirmed that the two Akwesasne boaters were not in possession of any form of contraband."

CRASH IN U.S. WATERS

As the Akwesasne boaters were pursued in U.S. waters, Mohawk officials say, it was "struck by one of the police vessels in pursuit." That vessel has been identified as a Coast Guard ship. The two Akwesasne men suffered serious injuries in the wreck and were airlifted to Fletcher Allen Health Care in Burlington, where they are still being treated. Sources say one of the men was paralyzed in the crash. Four Coast Guard members suffered minor injuries. Authorities have refused to identify those involved in the accident, despite repeated requests from the Press-Republican and other news agencies.

TRUST TESTED

Citing the nature of the incident, the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne is pushing for an independent investigation. The incident is currently being probed by a number of U.S. and Canadian agencies, along with tribal authorities. Grand Chief Michael K. Mitchell said, "the Akwesasne community looks to the outside police agencies to help keep our lands and waters safe from criminals who would use our geographical location to their benefit, and incidents such as the one that occurred this past Monday test that trust we place in them. The outside police agencies are entrusted to protect our lands and waterways from illegal trafficking of drugs, weapons, human cargo and various other contraband, and it is incumbent upon these outside agencies to conduct themselves in a respectful and honorable manner within the territory of Akwesasne."

INDEPENDENT PROBE

Tribal leaders say the crash has far-reaching implications to the relationship between the Akwesasne community and outside police agencies. They fear profiling by other agencies could result in a rise in similar incidents. "The real criminals in this matter are those who put the international border through the middle of our community," Mitchell said. "And we, as a community, continue to suffer from that act in our daily lives. Outside police agencies should take all safety precautions, and follow proper procedures and the law. We need to be satisfied that these standards and precautions were followed in Monday's incident. The only way to do this is through an independent investigation." Coast Guard officials have not released any further information about their investigation, citing its ongoing nature.

INFORMATION SOUGHT

Anyone with information about the crash is being asked to contact the St. Regis Mohawk Tribal Police at 358-9200 or Akwesasne Mohawk Police at (613) 575-2340

Or better yet post the info in the comment section so the Mohawk People can deal with it themselves.

Two Injured in Assault on the River

2010-04-14T09:36:00.005-04:00

The following is a Press Release from the Men's Council of the Kaianerehkowa Longhouse in Akwesasne.

Kanienkehaka Kaianerehkowa Kanonhsesne

For Immediate Release
April 13, 2010

Ahkwesasne - Last evening, in the final daylight hours, members of the Men's Council for the Kanienkehaka Kaianerehkowa Kanonhsesne were called to the scene of an incident where a couple of young Mohawk men were attacked on Mohawk waters. Upon the questioning of eye-witnesses and conversations with the victims, the following was determined: The act of aggression was committed by a group effort consisting of RCMP, the US Coast Guard and the US Border Patrol using the vessels under their control. It is presently unclear which agency actually rammed the small craft operated by the young men, but the RCMP and Coast Guard immediately fled the scene after the assault, leaving the Border Patrol to fish the injured men out of the river and see to their injuries. Both men are hospitalized with back injuries with one of them currently suffering paralysis. Neither has been charged but the damaged boat which lost its motor in the collision has been confiscated. The US Border Patrol denied committing the assault on the young men.

The Men's Council of the Kanienkehaka Kaianerehkowa Kanonhsesne condemn this act of aggression and demand that those responsible for this criminal act be held accountable. The parties involved in this action have no right to interfere with our use of our water ways and, in fact, have from time to time forced our people to use the river as our only means to access areas of our community.

The US and Canada use Our land to connect their people and commercial interests and then attempt to dictate to Our people on what terms we can access Our communities. The constant high level of tension between the Kanienkehaka and our oppressive neighbors has now been ratcheted up once more. This Council will consult with the People and take steps to aggressively confront this action and any future acts of violence against our people.

The Two Row Wampum Is About Respect

2010-04-13T09:43:00.006-04:00

The Two Row Wampum has been mischaracterized too long. We are told by too many that the Two Row started between the Haudenosaunee and the Dutch, that it is a trade agreement and that it specifically references the canoe and the ship. While it has been used over and over again in many circumstances and explained in many ways, the reality is that the Two Row is simply about respect. In the words of Kaneseraga; "Our first and most sacred covenant is with Nature and our Mother, the Earth." The Two Row starts here. When we say the Ohenton Karihwatehkwen or the "words before all else" we do this to convey our respect to all of creation. We start with the People and cover every relationship we have; from the most distant stars in the sky to the stone, soil and water at our feet.

The Two Row with its magnificently simple design depicts two rows of purple wampum set against a background of white. The two rows are equal and run side by side with each other. We represent one of those rows. The other is for any and all that we share a mutual respect. Any one of those mentioned in the Ohenton Karihwatehkwen can be placed on that second row. When we say those words before all else, we describe our connection to creation and all that it has produced. The key is respecting our relations as equals and respecting that while we all have our own path; we are still connected.

When the Two Row is described as two vessels on the river of life, it is the river that connects us. The distinction of the separate and equal rows show a respect for the distinct paths our vessels travel. It is said that everything that is ours must stay in our canoe while everything that is theirs must stay in their ship. This concept of possession was foreign to our ancestors. What they did understand was responsibility and the consequences of losing our way. It was told to me that much of the problems of today is that too many want the "things" or benefits of every path or vessel they see with the responsibility of none. When we disrupt the paths of others simply for the taking or when our path is disrupted, there are consequences.

The Two Row started with us. We used it to show respect to all that accept the responsibility of maintaining their path. Nature has always done this unequivocally. This concept was put in place between the people of the Haudenosaunee and shared with people of other cultures. The Two Row Wampum was also put in place with other Onkwe Ohnwe as a path for peace without coming under the Kaianerehkowa and the protection of the Tree of Peace. When helpless strangers reached our shores and expressed a desire for peace the Two Row was offered and accepted, first by the Dutch and followed by the French, British and ultimately by their offspring that would come to be known as Americans.

The Two Row Wampum began as covenant of respect that we shared with and offered to all that we knew. When the concept was offered to a foreign people with no common history, language or culture, it would become the first and only treaty ever offered by our people to the white man. Perhaps we should have stuck with offering the Two Row to what and who we knew. How could our ancestors know these strangers to our shores would be incapable of genuinely living with respect for others?

Brian Higgins and Chris Lee Have Turned Their Backs on Western New York

2010-04-02T23:20:00.004-04:00

On March 17, 2010, Congressmen Chris Lee (Republican) and Brian Higgins (Democrat) voted in favor of a measure that will cost thousands of Western New Yorkers their jobs, that disgracefully interferes with the inherent rights of sovereign peoples and threatens the economic stability of one of our region’s largest employers, the Seneca Nation of Indians. An attack on the economy of the Seneca Nation and its People is an attack on the economy of all of Western New York.

Before the end of June, approximately 140 Seneca Indian owned businesses will be forced to close their doors resulting in the immediate loss of close to 3000 jobs in the Western New York area; most of these jobs are held by non-Indian residents of New York State. This figure does not include the job losses that will be experienced by non-Seneca businesses either directly or indirectly from the virtual collapse of the Seneca Nation’s private sector economy. The overall impact will be felt by Western New York’s accountants, marketing consultants, advertisers, postal delivery personnel, internet service providers, attorneys, restaurant owners, and the countless non-Seneca vendors that provide services to Seneca businesses.

Congressmen Lee and Higgins were advised of the dire economic consequences that a bill that makes tobacco nonmailable through the United States Postal Service would have on Western New York communities and jobs. Congressmen Lee and Higgins were advised that Seneca businesses had no delivery alternative to the United States Postal Service because New York State had previously strongarmed all private delivery carriers into discontinuing delivery of tobacco products for Seneca businesses. Please do not listen when Congressmen Lee and Higgins tell you that they were unaware of the consequences. Either they just didn’t listen or they just don’t care.

Congressmen Lee and Higgins are part of what is currently wrong with the political culture in Washington; these men are part of the “politics as usual” mentality running rampant in federal, state and local governments today. Republicans and Democrats alike are to blame. Politicians must learn that they are accountable to their constituents and that there will be consequences at the polls for turning their back on their communities.

Congresswomen Stephanie Herseth Sandlin of South Dakota, among others, stood up in support of Indian Tribes and jobs in her state by voting NO against the bill supported by Congressmen Lee and Higgins. Congresswomen Herseth Sandlin had this to say in opposition to the bill – “I believe the bill threatens the government-to-government relationship with Native American tribes set out by our founders in the U.S. Constitution.”

In stark contrast, Congressmen Lee and Higgins said nothing.

Congressmen Lee and Higgins your silence was deafening. We are still listening; do you have anything to say to Western New York? No more excuses.

Friends of the Seneca People and nypoliticiansunveiled

The 44th Rahnatakaias signs the PACT Act into Law 3/31/10

2010-03-31T20:06:00.004-04:00

Well he did pretty much as we expected. Oh! And that seat at the table he promised..., well, let's just say we were promised a seat, but no one said we would be allowed to sit in it. We didn't hear too much out of Kimberly Teehee or Jodi Gillette either. I suppose they are only interested in posing as the White House token Indians to add diversity to the Obamacare campaign. They slipped this one through before the Jobs Bill starts being batted around. After all, how can you talk about stimulating jobs and addressing the "historically underemployed when you just signed into law a measure that will either kill 2000+ jobs or criminalize them. I guess Jodie and Kim will be kept out of the photo ops for this one. Indian Country has the highest unemployment rates on the continent but I can't help thinking that the historically under-employed that the Congressional Black Caucus obsessed over in this bill, does not include Native people or Native lands. Congress and the President made it clear once more that we are not a part of their system nor do they want us using any part of it. They don't speak with us, they don't respect us and they don't represent us or our concerns. We are still as much in their way as the day they landed on our shores. We don't have to look at a bunch of bullshit 200 year old treaties that offered false promises as our land was being stolen. We only have to listen to the bullshit uttered over the last couple of years by Mr. "Hope". I have hope too. I hope that all those Native people who bought into the Obamania will finally recognize him as the 44th to earn the title: Rahnatakaias. I don't care how many aspiring Indian girls he packs in the White House, he is still just another Town Destroyer in my book.

The Republicans Abandon Principles to Hold Hands with the Dems on the PACT Act

2010-03-21T12:04:00.009-04:00

We have certainly come to expect the paternalistic, ward-custodian, we know what's best for the under privileged attitude from Democrats. But where were all those anti-socialist, pro-freedom, fight for liberty, keep government out of business, free market, leave it to the states, fiscally responsible Republicans on this one? Only 20 out of 178 House Republicans voted against this bill.

The states were quite capable of shutting down remote sales on their own with one exception; Native sales. This is the whole reason the Feds acted; because the states have no legal authority over us. And frankly the Fed don't either. That is why they had to regulate the US Postal Service to get to us.

The Congressional Budget Office determined that the 2003 version of this bill would cost $140 million in enforcement and implementation. I suspect the cost has risen since then. This law has no funding in it so how will it be paid for?

The USPS will lose between $150 and $200 million in the revenue that remotes sales generate. Teetering on the brink of survival, the Postal Service will have to take this hit and find dollars to enforce the law. Prevention of mail fraud, kiddie porn and shipping of hazardous materials like anthrax and explosives will have to shift resources to intercepting otherwise legal tobacco products.

According to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), only 1% of their case loads and 2% of their budget is attributed to alcohol and tobacco. They received no additional funding in this law so firearms and explosives will have to wait. Bomb sniffing dog will have to be retrained to search out cigarettes and chew instead.

So neither the do-gooder Democrats nor the less government intervention Republicans got this one right. They were both bought and paid for by the Marlboro Man and threw the Post Office and ATF under the bus along with another freedom of the American people.

Making A Visible Impact Magazine Hits Stores Today

2010-03-19T18:27:00.005-04:00

MAVI Magazine is in distribution starting today. By next week most Native retailers should have it available. The magazine is free as is the conversation and thought we hope it stirs. Articles from Native Pride will be featured as well as features from other contributors. The magazine's website, mavimag.com will feature additional articles, photos and information. Readers can submit comments and photos for future issues and to be featured on the website. Ask the retailers in your community for MAVI Magazine.

Check out previous posts on the PACT Act

2010-03-13T10:25:00.004-05:00

As the drum beat gets louder over this new Federal legislation, take a look at some of the previous posts on the subject.

http://letstalknativepride.blogspot.com/2009/11/what-next.html

http://letstalknativepride.blogspot.com/2009/11/shutting-down-native-mail-order-tobacco.html

http://letstalknativepride.blogspot.com/2009/06/seneca-people-warning-of-possible-trade.html

http://letstalknativepride.blogspot.com/2009/05/apology-not-accepted.html

http://letstalknativepride.blogspot.com/2009/05/pact-act-will-not-necessarily-end.html

http://letstalknativepride.blogspot.com/2009/05/when-is-fight-worth-fighting.html

The US Senate Passes the PACT Act

2010-03-11T23:18:00.009-05:00

Well the "good ole boy's club" finally got it done. By unanimous consent, without a discussion, debate or even a comment of concern, the Senate managed to come to one voice on an issue they could all agree. Make no mistake about what they agreed upon because it wasn't underage smoking, it wasn't tax avoidance, it certainly wasn't concern about funding terrorism. What was stated clearly by this chamber, just as it was in the House, was that Native jobs, the economy of Native territories and in particular the private sector of Native lands mean shit to them. Anyone who believed for a second that representatives from New York could give a rat's ass about the Native People or Native communities that affect their districts should finally get the message; They don't! Schumer is a pompous ass who thinks he knows what is best for everyone which is really laughable since he doesn't care about anyone or anything but his camera time and air time. Gillibrand proved herself just as untouchable as Schumer and is so busy licking his boot heals that she can't make a decision for herself. Not to mention her ties to Philip Morris who practically wrote and paid for this legislation. On the House side is our old friend Brian Higgins. You remember him; he is the one who tried to apologize for voting against our businesses in the late 90's when he was a State Assemblyman. He told us he was new on the job and didn't read the bill back then. This time he votes for a Federal law to kill our businesses and then says he changed his mind when it is too late. When are we going to learn that these guys don't represent us. They don't even represent the non-natives who live around us; they get thrown aside with us. The Senators from New York might just as well call themselves the Senators from New York City. The rest of the State matters little to them. There are a few wealthy people scattered throughout the State that command a little attention but New York only matters when it is said twice; New York, New York. The House Representatives in our areas pay lip service to us but know their responsibility is to people like them; wealthy and white, not us. They don't mind posing for a picture with us, at least those of us that look like them, but they know we can't get them elected and once they are in only their own self destruction takes them out. You certainly won't hear any of these guys challenge a Peter King or any other down-State bigwig when they are accusing us of supporting terrorism or organized crime. This type of governance is based on posturing for the future not actually governing for the present. What ever current problems we have with the State or the Feds, these politicians know there is no future and certainly no benefit in going out on a limb for us. So when the PACT Act wipes out a couple of thousand jobs from our communities, many of them non-native jobs, they can just blame it on the recession and claim they had no idea their actions would cost jobs. We have plenty of non-native support in and around our communities but we must acknowledge when it comes to the State and Federal representatives; the lines have been clearly drawn. It is us against them!

NYS Governor Hanging by a Thread

2010-02-27T20:02:00.007-05:00

While everyone sits back to determine how seriously to take the weakest Governor in the State's recent history as he tries the most aggressive and, frankly, ridiculous attempt to shut down the Native tobacco business, we have to decide what we will do to protect ourselves. It is fine to dismiss the actions of Governor Paterson, but perhaps just being dismissive will end up creating a situation where we miss an opportunity to thwart attempts by future governors as well future State legislatures.

Even if we look at Paterson's attempts as a weak political ploy for a guy who already has been forced to throw the towel in on a run for re-election, it doesn't change the fact that state politicians have been dogging us for years. Even the local state representatives have catered to downstate interests. Only George Maziarz has stood unflinchingly with us and we appreciate it.

We are now a position we always longed for and that is to have control over the product we sell. If the State wants to regulate their wholesalers out of our business then we should let them. There are enough Native tobacco products to support our businesses. We no longer need the products sold by non-native retailers. Our products by and large are just as good or better and priced where theirs can't compete even with coupons and buy downs. The fact is that big tobacco used us to pushed their sales and then turned on us when we started producing our own. Philip Morris has been colluding with state and federal authorities to specifically attack our businesses. They are allowed to advise and actually help craft anti-Indian legislation. Why should we sell their product anyway?

The one issue we need to address is any involvement by State wholesalers in the transportation and distribution of Native product. This never should have been allowed to develop in the first place. Theirs is an unnecessary step in the process of transporting Native product to our territories. We have the right to carry goods to our people without interference from anyone. Native to Native business does not require State involvement. The current situation is tantamount to extortion by the State. We pay their wholesalers to move our product for us and the State leaves us alone. The State gains an accurate count on our trade and uses that info against us.

By taking the logical step towards Native product only in our shops we wipe out all three issue the State has bitched about for twenty years. Revenue will be lost both from the inevitable death of State wholesalers and the loss of MSA payments collected from our sales of premium brands. Information Sharing will be lost with the elimination of the State licensed wholesalers from our territories. We certainly will not provide information to them. Parity will never happen. In fact they will not even have a product to compare. In the past they could look at the price of a carton of Marlboros on and off our territories, all the while ignoring how much buy downs and special promotions by those manufacturers added to the disparity. Now they will have compare Senecas to Marlboros, a comparison that Philip Morris dreads. And the prices will never compare.

The other thing we need to do is break down the barriers to trade between our people and our territories. Mohawk products should be promoted in Seneca territory and Seneca products should be pushed in Mohawk territory. Of course every Native territory in between should included and those Native territories outside the Six Nations as well. At some point we need to address the interference of our commerce by the feds, but the start of this battle is with our own people and those bent on working with the State. Unified opposition to the State will be an easy fight especially with a Governor hanging by a thread.

Native Pride Collaborates to Launch MAVI Magazine

2010-02-27T16:16:00.007-05:00

March will see the laucnh of Making A Visible Impact Magazine. Many Native Pride posts will be featured from the past and going forward. The printed version will be available at Native retailers free of charge. As always my desire is to start the conversations and discussions needed to engage our people. MAVI will be a little on the lighter side featuring photos and promoting artisanship as well. Continue to check in here even as MAVI makes its way around for day to day news and views. See Making A Visible Impact at http://mavimag.com/.

Breaking the Myths of Native Remote Tobacco Sales

2010-02-15T10:11:00.004-05:00

It appears that the latest attempt to push through a ban on the use of the U.S. Postal Service for the shipping of tobacco products may be to attach the bill to Homeland Security and Anti-Terrorism legislation. In the America of uber-patriotism, or at least the politically correct need to appear so, hoards of politicians line up to pass anything dubbed Homeland Security or Anti-Terrorism. These mindless "servants of the people" check common sense, or any sense for that matter, at the door without even considering the absurdity.

Can anyone actually believe that a sale that takes place on Native soil by Native retailers direct to a consumer can some how be supporting Al Qaeda? The two most influencing arguments for making tobacco not mailable are claims that terrorist organizations may be benefiting from this trade and that children are purchasing cigarettes from Native retailers. Both of these worries are ridiculous and hide the truth behind the legislation. While it is possible for both a child or a terrorist to buy cigarettes from a Native retailer and have that product delivered, by mail, to them; it is neither a practical process for the type of instant purchase and under age smoke would employ or the clandestine path a terrorist would choose. Minimum and maximum purchases apply. Age and identification must be verified. Payment is done with a clear paper trail through checks or credit cards and it can take a week to ten days for the product to come. Not to mention, it is a government agency making the delivery.

There is nothing sinister or immoral about remote sales. No matter what your opinion about smoking is, tobacco sales are legal as is the mailing of tobacco. Native participation in this industry is both appropriate and thoughtful. No one really believes our sales are supporting Al Qaeda or Hammas nor does anyone believe children are indiscriminately being shipped cigarettes for them and all their friends to become addicted. These claims as well as some of the numbers associated with lost revenue are all a smoke screen for following Big Tobacco's lead and crushing the Native tobacco business. We no longer do the grunt work of pushing Philip Morris' Marlboros or RJ Reynolds' Winstons and Salems. We now have Native brands that threaten their market share. So now what appears to be socially acceptable anti-smoking laws are in fact protectionist measures for Big Tobacco. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out the benefits to these guys. Hell, even a lowly public servant should be able to do it.

British Columbia Olympics to Face Civil Disruptions by Survivors of Canadian Indian Residential schools

2010-01-08T17:33:00.003-05:00

International Media Advisory

Government Given Deadline for Return of Bodies

Vancouver - The group representing survivors of Indian residential schools on Canada's west coast announced today that it will hold civil disobedience actions and disruptions during the February 2010 Olympics near Vancouver if the Canadian government and mainline churches have not announced a timetable for the repatriation of the remains of the thousands of children who died in these schools.
The Friends and Relatives of the Disappeared (FRD), which held high-profile protests and occupations of churches in Vancouver and Toronto during 2007 and 2008 and compelled the Canadian government to issue an apology for the residential schools in July, 2008, has given Canada and the Roman Catholic, Anglican and United Church of Canada until February 15, 2010 to announce when and how they will return for a proper burial the remains of Indian children who died under their care.
As part of this deadline, the FRD has also demanded that the government and churches make public the names of those responsible for the deaths of these children, and indicate by what judicial mechanism the guilty or the responsible institutions will face trial.
Nearly half of the 150,000 children who attended Canadian Indian residential schools died as a result of conditions in the schools. (Globe and Mail, April 24, 2007) In April, 2008, the FRD released to the media and police a list of twenty eight mass graves near former Indian residential schools where many of the children are alleged to be buried.
"We will halt church and government operations during the Olympics if that's what it takes to get the bodies of our relatives back" said Carol Martin, a Nishga native woman and FRD spokesperson.
"The world has to know that our people are still dying from the genocide Canada and the churches inflicted on us. We've waited long enough for justice."
For more information contact the FRD at:
hiddenfromhistory@yahoo.ca or 250-753-3345 (Canada)
And see the website: http://www.hiddenfromhistory.org/

A New Year, Our New Future

2010-01-03T12:10:00.005-05:00

A new year and a new decade. It would be worn out to suggest that we are entering unprecedented times; we are always entering unprecedented times. We have gone in and out of periods of self destruction and have faced the threats from the outside as well. We have struggled to survive as people and as a people.

This is where we are now.

Our battle is much more about our survival as a distinct people than it is about struggling to stay alive. Alcohol and drugs will continue to take its toll, as will the degradation of our families but for the most part we have to accept these as our problems and take the steps to correct them. These issues, as wide spread as they may seem, still only impact a small minority of our people. Most of us will survive our childhood and most of us will survive our partying years. It may take a few tries for some of us but eventually we do settle into some semblance of a family.

My concern is more for our communities, our culture and our Native society as a whole. This is what defines us as a people and this is what is still under siege from the outside. As our people have looked to improve life in our communities and our nations, they have all too often looked to the outside for a path to follow. We sent our best and brightest out to become lawyers, accountants and planners. We adopted regulatory systems, including courts and law enforcement from the outside. We partnered with their financiers and their politicians. We hired their lawyers, their managers, their developers and all the crooks and carpet baggers amongst them. So now the threat is fairly well planted within our communities. Make no mistake about it, it is still an outside threat, but our politicians and "educated" are as much a part of the assimilation and watering down of our identity as those that would "kill the Indian, save the man".

We live in a world that sucks everything out of the Earth and puts very little back. This is done by creating a world order based on consumerism. Create a need and you create the needy. We have to decide whether we want to continue down the path of assimilation and consumerism.

Many will sing the praises of Indian gaming and many of us have seen much financial success. But defining success will be part of the challenge. Sustainability, renewable resources and culture based economy are not just discussion topics. They must become a part of meaningful economic development and personal development. We can insulate ourselves from outside economic forces if we become self sufficient in a sustainable manner. Our future depends on reflecting to our past as we move to the future. The next decade will tell us volumes about our long term existence. Happy New Year and Happy New Decade. Let's keep our Seventh Generation in mind as we go into the future.

Homes in Tonawanda are Getting a Makeover

2009-12-18T14:32:00.005-05:00

By Scott DeSmit
sdesmit@batavianews.com
Thursday, December 17, 2009 10:16 AM EST

TONAWANDA SENECA NATION -- Bloomingdale Road is a wide, two-lane road, paved and well-marked, that runs through the heart of the Tonawanda Nation.
It is not at all representative of life on the reservation.
"When you come down the main road, everything looks nice," Neville Spring said as he drove off Bloomingdale and onto one of the many unmarked side roads that course through the 7,500-acre reservation. "Once you get off, you'll see. This is part of the reservation most people don't see."
Spring owns The Rez, a prosperous smoke shop that has expanded greatly since it first opened and now houses a restaurant, craft shop and gas station.
It is the first business people see when they drive onto the reservation from Route 77. Along the road are well-kept houses, some extravagant and others older and simpler but remodeled, with new cars parked in the driveways.
Most of the reservation's 11 cigarette and gas outlets are located on Bloomingdale so the tens of thousands of people who shop here never see what lies elsewhere.
Abject poverty.
Dilapidated trailers, some hidden by thick groves of trees, dot the landscape. Most don't have skirting and others are propped up by cement blocks.
Portable outhouses sit next to many trailers and orange extension cords run across the snowy yards of some to nearby houses.
"Some of these people have no electric and run cords between houses," Spring said. "They have no running water, no heat."
It has long been this way, Spring said.
That is changing.
Tuesday, crews of laborers were everywhere. Gilbert Ground and Russell Poodry stacked wood in a field near The Rez, adding to what was a row of 100 cords of split hardwood.
In the fire hall, Amie Scrogg and her daughter, Jessica Poodry, painted stain on new doors. A crew of men from the Tuscarora Indian Reservation installed drywall in a remodeled home where Elvira Peters will live.
Contractors used heavy equipment to dig for sewer lines.
Behind a shabby trailer where a family of nine lives is a long shed, in the process of being remodeled into a home.
The efforts are among about 25 projects the Tonawanda Seneca Merchants Association has undertaken since September.
Ten of the 11 merchants joined forces and in January began a mission to set aside money to help those in need on the 600-member reservation.
A single merchant would distribute Seneca-brand cigarettes and for every carton sold, 50 cents would go to the association.
So far about $300,000 has been raised, said Marty Ground, association president and owner of 49 Express.
In July the association decided how to spend the money. Association members would embark on a weatherization program.
Applications were handed out to residents, some who were hesitant to participate, Ground said.
"The elders come first," Ground said. "Some of the houses they live in were built long before me. They have dirt floors and no insulation. We said 'how did they live like this for so many years?'
"The idea is simply, you have haves and have-nots and the have-nots should have something. Some were too proud to come forward. We're a proud people and we're not going to put our hand out. But we know that people are proud, too proud to ask for help. We had to convince some people that they could still be proud and part of being proud is knowing that better conditions do exist."
The association has helped before. About 10 years ago merchants got together for similar projects, including building the fire hall and buying a van for the church.
That association disbanded, in part because donations came from each merchant through an honor system. The new system "has a paper trail and everyone knows exactly how much money is being donated," Spring said.
It's working.
"It has exceed our expectations," Ground said. "A lot of this didn't happen before for a number of different reasons but now, it's evident that we have to do it. It's been a long time coming and it doesn't matter why now. It's being done. That's all that matters."
Residents are thankful.
"We've gotten so many thank-you cards already," Ground said. "Now people know the projects are being done and more people are asking for work to be done, whether it's a furnace or just updating a step."
Stonehorse Gorman is thankful.
Tuesday, Gorman, bundled in a yellow rain slicker and rubber boots, spent Tuesday on his roof, using a long-handled ice scraper to remove old shingles.
Despite a temperature of 23 degrees and a bitter wind whipping across the front of his dilapidated house, Gorman was quite happy to be up there.
"I'm going to have a warm house and running water," Gorman said. "The only people to help were the merchants. Not the Chief's Council but the merchants."
A crew of men worked on all sides of Gorman's house, tearing off the siding and installing new.
Some of the installation was old flour sacks, which lay scattered near a roll-off container.
Gorman has lived here on and off for about 25 years. His nieces used to live with him but he has no running water and little heat and they moved away.
"Now they can move back," he said. "This is my Christmas. I'm finally going to have a warm house."
Spring and Ground know that this is only a beginning. So many houses need work that the task is at first daunting but also full of possibilities.
"It's exciting to see things and make it happen," Spring said. "Our intention was to help the community and we are doing that. We have many future needs. There is no limit but it's exciting and we're proud that in hard times that this is being accomplished."

Some Simple Facts About the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking (PACT) Act

2009-12-17T23:59:00.001-05:00

As you know, in the past, most senators have been afraid to oppose the PACT Act because it has been characterized by its supporters as an anti-tobacco bill and nobody these days has a desire to be viewed as pro-tobacco.

However, it should be easy for us to defend our stance against this bill because, in reality, it is not a tobacco cessation bill. The PACT Act is not an anti-tobacco bill and it is not a tobacco-related health measure. The PACT Act will not make it illegal to sell cigarettes or smokeless tobacco products. The PACT Act will not cause even a slight reduction in the total number of cigarettes or smokeless tobacco products sold within the United States. The PACT Act has nothing whatsoever to do with tobacco education or awareness. Although PACT Act supporters have made wildly exaggerated claims that the bill is designed protect kids and prevent terrorist organizations from trafficking in illegal cigarettes, the bill is actually about eliminating Indians from the retail tobacco distribution chain and eliminating competition at the manufacturer level from Indian and small, independent tobacco manufacturers. The bill is cloaked by politically-charged claims in an effort to disguise its true intention; that it is, at its core, a measure designed to reallocate and redistribute governmental tobacco revenues from Indian Tribes to the states and to reallocate and redistribute tobacco profits from Indian retailers and small tobacco manufacturers to non-Indian convenience store owners and “Big Tobacco” manufacturers, like Philip Morris USA/Altria.

Thanks again for your assistance – I hope this helps you get the message out. Time is of the essence.

The National Congress of American Indians Issues An Action Alert Broadcast

2009-12-16T08:40:00.003-05:00

NCAI Broadcast #09-082

1. Calls Needed to Your Senators This Week: Oppose the PACT Act
(S.1147) - Bill Requires Tribes to Report Tobacco Sales to States

2. SBA to Host Tribal Consultations on Proposed 8(a) Rulemaking

________________________________

1) Calls Needed to Your Senators This Week: Oppose the PACT Act
(S.1147) - Bill Requires Tribes to Report Tobacco Sales to States

Needed:

* Call your two Senators today
Call the Capitol Switchboard (202) 224-3121
Ask for their "Indian Affairs" or "Judiciary" staffer

* Call Senator Reid's Indian Affairs Staffer

(202) 224-2251 - Ask for Wendy Helgemo

* Call Department of Interior
(202) 208-6682 - Ask for Bryan Newland

* Ask them to oppose the PACT Act (and "hold" any attempt to
"hotline" the bill) until its sponsors address Tribal concerns.

The Bill's Status:

* The PACT Act (S.1147) has passed the House and is ready for a vote in the Senate. (House version is H.R. 1676.)

* It may be moving through the "hotline" process soon, which is a fast track vote that needs every Senator to consent to the bill. We need your Senator to oppose it.

* The sponsor of the bill, Senator Kohl (D-WI), is negotiating with Senators opposing the bill, but is not addressing tribal concerns.

Summary of Tribal Concerns With PACT Act

* The PACT Act purports to stop cigarette trafficking and cigarette sales to minors.

* Tribes also support these goals, and support provisions to address these goals.

* Unfortunately, as currently written, the PACT Act is too broad. It essentially stops all legal internet tobacco sales by banning use of U.S. mail and forces tribes to report to the ttates on their tribal tobacco sales that are "delivery sales."

* Forcing tribes to report their tribal tobacco sales to the states is a direct infringement on sovereignty and treaty rights, and will also dramatically disempower tribal governments in compact negotiations with states.

* In addition, a ban on internet sales will destroy some tribally-regulated private economies, as well as tribal revenues that support tribal health and education programs. It also sets a very bad precedent for other tribal governments whose private economies could also be targeted by Congress.

Attached:

* NCAI resolution #NGF-09-003
<http://www.mmsend1.com/ls.cfm?r=232921355&sid=8183546&m=888458&u=NCAI&s
=http://www.ncai.org/fileadmin/broadcasts/2009/09_082_NCAI%20PACT%20Act%
20Resolution.pdf> opposing PACT Act until it addresses Tribal concerns.

Please contact John Dossett, jdossett@ncai.org, with any additional
questions.

The Kaianerehkowa is Not the Great Law of Peace!

2009-12-02T21:00:00.005-05:00

Somewhere in our history it became common-place to refer to the Kainerehkowa as the "Great Law of Peace". It sounds benign enough but the fact is that it is wrong. Some expressions just don't translate well especially when a culture-specific concept is involved. The best literal translation would be; "a great good way". Doesn't sound quite as impressive as a "Great Law of Peace" now does it? The concept of a "law" and any variation of the word for "peace" is no where in the word. Our concept of a "good way" or a "good path" is tied to the image of a path worn through our lands by those that came before us. A path that served our people well and even if we strayed from that path, we could find our way back to it to right ourselves again. The differences between the concept of a law that must be followed and a path that has been constructed to make life easier is significant and should not be ignored. Dekanawida and Hiawentha did not make up or create the Kaianerehkowa from thin air. It came from those that came before them. They led us back to the path and made it clear to us that this Great Good Way should be maintained and used to ensure our peace and survival. It was never implied that certain areas of our Mother were forbidden to be travelled on; just that a path had been laid down by the feet of all our relatives that have come before us, should we ever find ourselves lost or troubled. The problem is not that we stray from the path but that we forget our way back to it. This Kaianerehkowa is represented by the Hiawentha Wampum Belt and the words that were spoken into those wampums were to be repeated and discussed often enough so that we would always know how to get back on the right path.
Perhaps it was the best way to explain our ways to the white man that got us calling the Kaianerehkowa the Great Law of Peace. We have referred to it as our Constitution, our government and the greatest democracy the world has ever known. But it is much more and much less. The Kaianerehkowa did not dictate our lives. It was not law or set of laws to follow. It was not a standard to judge the lawful from the unlawful. The Kaianerehkowa uses nature and metaphors to create a timeless path or process to solve problems and address the issues of life. It is neither a bible nor is it all that defines us. It does not create governmental authority over the consent of the governed but rather establishes a natural process for people to govern themselves. It is more than good path; it is a Great Good Way.

What next?

2009-11-20T10:31:00.005-05:00

Well it took all of about two minutes for law makers in Washington to push the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking Act through committee and on to the full Senate for vote. I have written extensively on the PACT Act already so I won't belabor the point again.

Native People are right to be pissed. The racist attitudes that prevail in Albany and Washington are consistent and historic in their nature. All those Hope and Change Indians who fell in love with Barack Obama will have an opportunity to see their confidence betrayed when he signs the bill into law, eliminating jobs and crushing the Native economies that have depended on the USPS for delivering legal products for their customers. The reality is that this 44th Rahnatakaias should at least make a token gesture and veto this bill. The Senate has enough votes to override it anyway. Failure to do so will demonstrate how meaningless our lives are to him and his agenda.

So where do we go from here? Do we take any lessons away from any of this? I hope as we go forward that our people can set aside our differences to stand together and fight for our issues. This time we saw Philip Morris standing side by side with health organizations to endorse and, in some cases, literally write legislation against us while we couldn't demonstrate enough unity to pull Marlboros from our shelves. To all those who expected someone else to fight for them, whether it was their Nation or tribal council or their richer neighbor down the road, I hope the next battle pulls you in. We don't need leadership, we need participation. A room full of tribal councilors and prominant businessmen can't compare to the 5,000 who marched on Albany in '97 and why not 10,000. The next time I hope that rather than criticizing how the battle was fought by others or anyone thinking that they knew far too much to consult with others, that we can work together for a common cause and recognize who the enemy is.

Shutting Down Native Mail Order Tobacco Sales Is Misguided

2009-11-18T10:07:00.004-05:00

I've read the reports, I've read the testimonies and I've read the studies. It seems to me that the obvious is being missed in the effort to legislate Native businesses out of existence. Neither the US Postal Service nor the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms have the resources or the appetite to make the avoidance of tobacco tax a priority and neither agency considers Native sellers of tobacco to be the criminal element in the contraband tobacco industry. According to the ATF only 1% of their current case load and 2% of their overall budget involves alcohol and tobacco. They are more concerned with violent crimes associated with guns and explosives. The USPS also has higher priorities such as narcotics, child pornography, explosives, exploitation of the elderly and the delivery of malicious substances, including anthrax. The hype over organized crime and revenue loss is made by politicians not by those charged with the responsibility of law enforcement. A study done by the American Wholesale Marketers Association found that the majority of Internet tobacco sales were being done by foreign enterprises. These operations pay no US taxes what so ever and contribute nothing to the US economy. They operate outside the reach of US law enforcement and have no standards for operation. The Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking Act will drive the remote sales to these foreign enterprises. The act provides more prosecutorial tools to shut down operations within the reach of US law enforcement but does little to change things for those operating off shore. The ATF reports do little to associate Native retailers with any organized criminal element, particularly where Native sales are clearly end user sales. Patrick Fleenor with the D.C. based Tax Foundation argues that Native retailers do more to cut out the legs of organized crime and the black market trade than law enforcement. Where black market and foreign sellers operate in the shadows, Native retailers are open and transparent. While respecting the privacy of their customers, their sources and supply are well documented and they operate as legitimate responsible enterprises. Native retailers recognize that there is a criminal element in the tobacco industry at all levels. Over taxing and tax disparity creates the environment for it. Native retailers compete against that element whether it is the criminals at Philip Morris or gangs and street thugs pushing smuggled or counterfeit products. Take our people out of the mix and see what you are left with. Philip Morris pretends to take the high road promoting and writing legislation here in the US for bought and paid for politicians while being called out and fined for smuggling in Europe and laundering drug money in Columbia. When a consumer can't come to a Native retailer anymore, where does he turn? Philip Morris isn't concerned whether their product sell for $10 a pack with $6 or $8 worth of tax applied or for $5 on a street corner as long as they get the sales back that they have been losing to Native sales of Native products. At some point the puppets that sit in Albany and Washington need to recognized the mess they are creating. Not one of them has considered what happens if our legitimate businesses are pulled out of the broad market. Anyone who believes you can pull your hand out of a bucket of dirty water and hope that only clean water will fill in where your hand was, is a fool.

Blog Reader, Pridebourne is Back with Agreement and Dissention

2009-11-13T12:29:00.004-05:00

Pridebourne's defense of the PACT Act and open resentment to Native businesses make for a spirited debate on the subject. While it is disappoiting that someone, who claims to be Native, is so against our own people; I welcome the diverse opinion as an opportunity to provide more information in my response. These are some of the comments from the earilier post; The Feds Continue to Move Against Native Retailers.

Pridebourne said...
I agree with your take on "walk-in" purchases, especially when they are allowed two cartons at a time. The PACT Act does not regulate walk-in purchases. The PACT Act does regulate state to state commerce. The US "Postal Service is required by law to provide delivery service to the American public when mailable matter is properly presented." The mail-order/internet sales are not "walk-in" purchases, purchased made on our territory. Although the operator may be Seneca, and their operation is in Seneca Nation, their mailable matter is not properly presented as such. The operators utilize NY addresses and, possibly, NY/USA based servers to host their site and transactions. (States have been making strides towards recover internet gambling revenue based on the location of the user or server) Besides the advertised Seneca-branding, operators are representing themselves as domestic NY operations shipping to another state. Even under these circumstances i would agree with your take that it's allowed, since, the US postal service is not required to inspect the packages, other foreign countries can do it, and the importers are required to reporting their imports(over two cartons) to the state. I agree that the responsibility is on the consumer, which is why our businesses have to stop crying foul, racism, discrimination, everytime their exploitive models are questioned. Claiming sovereignty than operating as just another domestic business of NY harms legitimately sovereign businesses. Exporters should respect foreign nations policies.
November 13, 2009 11:30 AM

Ohnkwe Ohnwe said...
It is not that consumers are only allowed to purchase two cartons, it is that up to two cartons are exempt from the state use tax (in New York). Whether a purchase is of the "walk-in" variety or a remote or non face-to-face purchase, the point of purchase is still at our retail establishments. Although the definition of "point of purchase" has been batted around, the generally accepted definition is the place where either the funds are collected for the transaction or where the data for payment is collected. It isn't an issue of the use of the mail or internet or phone. It is where the data is physically being collected. Call centers that are not on our land probably cross a defensible line, but server location or definition of cyberspace are irrelevant.

The foul that our businesses and others are crying is the attempt by the state and feds to shift that burden of responsibilty for taxes to our people on our land. There are three issue that never quite get addressed.

1. Why should our businesses be forced to bear the overhead of the state's tax collection on their people.

2. The states and even some federal authorities are trying to claim that all sales to non-natives are taxable. New York does not openly acknowledge that every person in the state can legally use and possess up to two catons at a time with no tax liabilty. New York hides that fact and goes further to imply they have the right to collect taxes on purchases made by out of state consumers as well.

3. The PACT Act clearly is designed to shut down consumers from using the USPS to deliver products purchase from Native retailers. The states have many other mechanisms they could employ to stop non-native remote sales. These tools are not used because they would leave our retailers untouched. The PACT Act specifically makes cigarettes and other tobacco products used predominantly by the middle class non-mailable (products such as cigars and pipe tobbaco that cater to the wealthier clientele would still be mailable). The states need federal legislation to shut us down. It doesn't matter how universal they try to make the law appear, it still is design to disproportionately effect Native business.
November 13, 2009 12:27 PM

"It is important to note that, under current law, cigarettes and tobacco products are legal and mailable"

2009-11-06T11:07:00.007-05:00

STATEMENT OF THE UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE
BEFORE THE
NEW YORK STATE
SENATE STANDING COMMITTEE ON
INVESTIGATIONS AND GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS
October 27, 2009

The United States Postal Service appreciates the opportunity to report to you on the measures we have taken, in cooperation with federal, state, and local law enforcement officials, to address the matter the Committee has advised us about regarding the distribution of cigarettes through the U.S. mail for which state taxes are ultimately not paid. We affirm unequivocally that the Postal Service has no intention of serving as a vehicle to further illegal activity. We also hope to assist the Committee in its important work by providing a more complete picture of the complexities surrounding this matter.
Initially, it is important to note that, under current law, cigarettes and tobacco products are legal and mailable matter and, therefore, the mailing of cigarettes and other tobacco products is not illegal. In general, the Postal Service is required by law to provide delivery service to the American public when mailable matter is properly presented and the appropriate postage is paid. In that regard, the Postal Service is subject to the statutory nondiscrimination principles of Title 39, U.S. Code, which prevent us from unduly discriminating against users of the mails. Thus, the Postal Service simply cannot deny its services to Postal Service customers on a discretionary basis.
The Postal Service is also mindful of the sanctity and security of the mail, upon which all users of the mail place great value. Generally, the contents of a mailpiece can only be determined by opening and inspecting its contents. Mailable matter sent using First-Class Mail, Priority Mail, or Express Mail service is subject to requirements that it be sealed against inspection. A federal search warrant obtained pursuant to Rule 41 of the Federal Rules of Criminal procedure, or the consent of the sender or addressee, is a prerequisite to opening mail sealed against inspection. Therefore, for these types of mail, a federal search warrant or consent of the sender or addressee would be needed to open the mailpiece.
There are also a number of practical limitations on our conduct about which this Committee should be aware. First, as the Jenkins Act has been explained to us, the cigarette excise taxes which are required to be paid are not reported to the destination states at the time the cigarettes are mailed; rather, reports of sales may be reported to the destination states well after the shipment is delivered. The Postal Service respectfully suggests that postal employees have no way of ascertaining whether the required taxes have been or will be paid when the mail is entered, nor do we believe that the Postal Service should have a role in making those determinations.
Further, even assuming that the Postal Service could seek to prevent certain customers from tendering mail containing cigarettes for which taxes will ultimately not be paid, because mail matter is usually entered in the absence of a contractual relationship with the sender, mailers can circumvent any such restrictions by simply tendering mail sealed against inspection and claiming it contains contents other than cigarettes (e.g., cigars, rolling paper, novelties, etc.) or by redirecting the mail through a third-party intermediary.
One additional challenge for the Postal Service concerns the allocation of resources. Nationwide, the Postal Inspection Service, which is the law enforcement arm of the Postal Service, has approximately 1,450 inspectors. Their work involves a broad range of activities such as protecting Postal Service employees and property, narcotics trafficking, child pornography, explosives in the mail, mail theft, and exploitation of the elderly through mail fraud. The Postal Inspection Service also responds to thousands of incidents each year involving unknown substances found in the mailstream, which is not taken lightly in the aftermath of the fatal Anthrax attacks of 2001. While we understand the State of New York has significant concerns with regard to the collection of taxes for cigarettes sold to purchasers within the state, we must balance the Postal Service’s resources directed at this activity in light of many other pressing priorities.
Notwithstanding these complexities, the Postal Service is committed to working with state, local, and federal officials to combat illegal tobacco transactions. The Postal Service has taken several steps using our existing authority to address this issue, such as issuing an internal policy on dealing with business customers who mail cigarettes, information sharing with foreign posts, and collaborating with ongoing law enforcement initiatives to prosecute illegal activity.
Recently, the Postal Service re-issued its internal policy titled, "Dealing with Business Customers Mailing Cigarettes." The document was disseminated to our sales and customer service employees and instructs them to adhere to the policy when dealing with mailers of cigarettes. The policy states that the Postal Service cannot knowingly permit the mails to be used to further activities deemed unlawful by state and federal authorities concerning the distribution of untaxed cigarettes. In that regard, if a Postal Service employee acquires reliable information (such as information from law enforcement, copies of the mailers’ solicitations, or website promotions) that a mailer is using the mails to send cigarettes to consumers for which no destination state excise tax is paid the employee is instructed to do the following:
• Refrain from soliciting new business from the mailer.
• Refrain from placing routine sales calls or making site visits to the mailer.
• Refer any inquiries by the mailer about the acceptability of untaxed or undertaxed cigarettes to the Pricing and Classification Service Center (PCSC).
• Advise the Division of the Inspection Service serving their area if they acquire information about routine shipments of untaxed or undertaxed cigarettes to consumers.
Another step the Postal Service took was to collaborate with experts from the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATFE), Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Customs and Border Protection (CBP), State Department, and Treasury Department in the development of a comprehensive listing of relevant restrictions on the importation of cigarettes into the United States. We led the effort on this initiative because state attorneys general and federal law enforcement officials had previously provided information demonstrating that there had been considerable growth in unlawful cigarette sales and importation practices associated with cigarettes shipped from abroad.
As a result of the collaboration with other agencies, in April 2006, the United States was able to distribute a circular to postal administrations throughout the world to enable them to educate their customers about the requirements for sending cigarettes to the United States. The circular explains that the importation of cigarettes into the United States is generally prohibited, and that imported cigarettes would be subject to forfeiture and destruction. It also contains detailed descriptions of importation requirements.
A permanent record of these restrictions is now contained in our prohibited items country listing, which foreign posts use to identify prohibitions for traffic destined to the United States. We believe that by updating the listing, we may stem some illegal traffic from abroad, thereby aiding law enforcement and tax collection agencies.
On another front, the Postal Service routinely cooperates with federal and state law enforcement officials to reduce illegal cigarette and tobacco sales and facilitate the prosecution of such activity. For several years, we have had a series of meetings and correspondence with the state attorneys general, individually and through the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG), in which we exchanged information on the scope of the problem and discussed ways of working together to address illicit sales of cigarettes.
We have had similar interactions with the Justice Department and have participated in dialogues with U.S. Attorneys, the ATFE, and others to develop strategies for dealing with illegal tobacco sales. The following summaries describe how we have worked with these entities and other officials to facilitate enforcement:
• In 2006, Postal Inspectors worked with the ATFE and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to investigate a scheme involving cigarette taxes. The investigation determined that the scheme ran from 2002–2007. The defendant in the matter defrauded the States of New York, Rhode Island, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Arizona by unlawfully distributing cigarettes that came from the Seneca Nation in New York State. In July 2008, the defendant entered a plea to information in U.S. District Court, Western District of New York, and is scheduled to be sentenced in January 2010. In this case, a list of the cigarette purchasers was provided to New York tax officials. Based on the information shared with State authorities, the City of New York filed a civil complaint in United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against the promoter (City of New York against Lloyd Long, No. 08-CV-9052). On March 12, 2009, a Judgment and Order of Default was entered against the promoter in the amount of $1,311,390.
• In an investigation in New Jersey, Postal Inspectors discovered that individuals had used postal money orders to purchase $4.5 million worth of cigarettes, structuring the transactions to avoid detection by state tax officials. The targets of the investigation purchased cigarettes over the Internet from Indian reservations in New York, transported the cigarettes to New Jersey, and sold them in restaurants and stores in New Jersey without paying the state sales tax. The Postal Inspection Service served as the lead agency on the investigation, cooperating with the ATFE, New Jersey Department of Tax and Finance, New Jersey State Police, and IRS. In 2007, five individuals were arrested and charged with money laundering, as well as violations of the Jenkins Act.
• The Postal Inspection Service referred the activities of three members of one family to the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office which ultimately led to a Grand Jury indictment in September 2009. The family members allegedly evaded paying Massachusetts excise tax by illegally selling unstamped cigarettes. The Postal Inspection Service had tracked a shipment from a Seneca Nation tobacco distributor to one of the family members. The joint investigation in this case also involved assistance from the Massachusetts Department of Revenue (MDOR) and ATFE. In August 2008, the joint investigation executed search warrants that seized more than 12,000 cigarettes in packs that were not properly marked with state excise tax stamps. It is estimated that the alleged activities defrauded Massachusetts of nearly $163,000 in unpaid cigarette excise taxes.
• In another case, the Postal Inspection Service along with ATFE and MDOR, provided assistance to the Massachusetts State Police assigned to the Attorney’s General’s office by executing search warrants in January of 2009. This resulted in seizure of a shipment of unstamped cigarettes that were sent to a convenience store retailer from the Seneca Nation. In September 2009, the retailer was indicted by a Grand Jury for knowingly selling cigarettes that were not properly stamped with the Massachusetts excise tax between September 2007 and January 2009. It is estimated that the retailer defrauded Massachusetts of over $150,000 in unpaid taxes.
The Postal Inspection Service has provided similar assistance to law enforcement agencies on other cases in New York and New Jersey, which are the two busiest states for these activities, as well as in Alaska, Pennsylvania, and Texas. The Postal Inspection Service has a number of other ongoing investigations that involve untaxed cigarettes obtained from Native American reservations as well as counterfeit cigarettes being imported into the United States.
In closing, be assured the Postal Service remains committed to collaborating with law enforcement to deal with the problem of distribution of untaxed cigarettes through the mail. Within our existing authority and resources, we have taken steps to assist ongoing law enforcement efforts and will continue to do our part.

The PACT Act Debate is Back

2009-11-05T22:06:00.008-05:00

This is a comment I posted back in May in response to a comment that challenged whether the PACT Act was anti-Indian legislation. When is a Fight Worth Fighting?

Any legislation that disproportionately targets the avtivity of Indians is anti-Indian. Every city, county, state or country with a distinct regulatory advantage markets that advantage. The point of sale for mail order and internet sales is where the payment is made or information is gathered for payment. The Native retailers conduct these sales on our own sovereign land. These sales are not taxable. Whether there is a tax liability for where and by whom the product is consumed is an issue for those consumers and the states they live in. Interestingly, every state has a forebearance or allowance policy toward a limited amount of untaxed product being consumed in their jurisdiction. Native retailers are no longer just selling the same product as the non-native convenient stores. They are marketing Native produced and branded products available for sale only from Native stores. The prime commercial markets in the US and Canada were essentially stolen from our people. The internet and mail leveled the playing field for market access. In spite of the fact that our people were pushed to remote, out of the way territories, our people managed to move from retail of established tobacco products to marketing, distribution, manufacturing, importing and the elevation of internet and direct marketing sales. Direct to consumer sales eliminates black market, including organized crime and of course those dreaded terrorists. Mail order tobacco sales is also one of the few positive blips on the US Postal Service radar. Delivery, marketing and payment have all provided a much needed boost in revenue for the USPS. The PACT Act will not only strip this revenue away but it will add expense to the USPS due to enforcement of the act. Current resources used on such issues as pornography (including child porn) and hazardous materials (including biological weapons) will be stretched to prevent the mailing of legal products like cigarettes and chew. No one seems to be interested in taking a look at what happens when tobacco becomes illegal to mail. Some would have you believe that a few rich Indians will just be less rich and that the states will make up huge revenue shortfalls with the additional taxes collected. Here are some of the things not being considered: the sucking sound from the revenue lost to the economies around Native land, a thousand lost jobs, opportunities for a resurgents in the black market, domestic and foreign enterprises that will mail anyway, the straw that breaks the back of the USPS and more resentment and hostility by those of us who have plenty to be pissed about.

The Feds Continue to Move Against Native Retailers

2009-11-05T09:12:00.003-05:00

View the post from May 22, 2009 and the comments that follow.
The PACT Act Will Not Necessarily End the Native Tobacco Business, It Will Criminalize It!
The side bar has a link to a Call to Action flier and information sheet. Mail it, email it and hand it out to all customers of our Native retail outlets.

Testimony of Jed Morey, of the Long Island Press, to the New York State Senate Committee on Investigations and Government Operations

2009-11-02T08:23:00.004-05:00

October 27, 2009

New York is in dire financial straits and its politicians are seeking refuge through taxation to cover up their own negligence. They claim that the sale of cigarettes to non-natives from the reservation is unjustly enriching Native Americans and is contrary to established law in New York. Of course none of this was a real issue until our government ran out of money. So while the state is struggling to maintain solvency, several reservations are gaining economic momentum. In essence, you tolerate them so long as they’re poor but now that the tables have turned your true colors are showing.

When billions of dollars from the landmark tobacco settlements were dispersed among the 46 states enjoined in the lawsuit, New York did what it does best: took the funds in a one shot, wrapped them up in a fancy Wall Street financial instruments and bonded out our future. To make up for the further budget shortfalls the state hiked taxes on cigarettes and artificially inflated the price of tobacco thereby creating a disparity in pricing on and off the reservation and causing a rift between retailers and the tribes. New York continued to maintain its pattern of reckless spending and found itself on the wrong side of this recession.

Long before the cigarette industry was booming on reservations, Indian nations sold cigarettes as a means of basic survival. Now they are being persecuted for succeeding. Unfortunately, the very unsympathetic status cigarettes hold in our society casts a dark cloud over the critical issues of taxation and jurisdiction and places in doubt the immutable right of self determination these tribes enjoy.

Instead of working with tribal leaders the government inquires about the possibility of obtaining federal law enforcement support against these nations and crafts unilateral policies that directly affect tribal lands. But without tribal consent these unilateral policies are unenforceable and exist in a vacuum; no different than attempting to legislate activities within France or Canada.

Mr. Benjamin who testified today actually introduced legislation to abolish the Poospatuck reservation writing that it “seems to be nothing more than a criminal enterprise.” Mr. Benjamin would exile a people who Judge Matsumoto, in her October 8th decision of this year, found to have “met its burden of establishing, by a preponderance of the evidence” that they are recognized as belonging to a sovereign nation. What Mr. Benjamin and this panel don’t understand is that the very nature of sovereignty, by definition, holds that no legislative decision, judicial decision or executive decision outside reservation land has any bearing on activity conducted on reservation territory. The Supreme Court of the United State of America has repeatedly ruled that Indian Nations are sovereign nations recognized by, but not governed by, the Constitution of the United States.

In the end this is not about taxes, bootlegging or the black market. This is an issue of sovereignty and you are out of your jurisdiction, out of your league and out of your mind if you think these nations or its leaders will give up their rights with respect to it.

So before you examine the operations of the Longhouse, I suggest you turn your attention to cleaning up your own house.

The Hearing

2009-11-01T12:25:00.012-05:00

On October 27, 2009 the New York State Senate Committee on Investigations and Government Operations held a hearing in New York City to discuss enforcement of State taxes on Native sales of tobacco products.

OK then. That was interesting. Without question the Senecas stole the show. JC Seneca did a fair enough job delivering the message that we would neither be forced to collect State tax nor pay it. A few opportunities were missed, but by and large the ignorance and racism demonstrated by those that assemble in Albany was illuminated and pushed back. I think we were hurt in the areas of unity with other Native communities both by the words that were said and the fact that the Seneca entourage only stayed for the SNI testimony. Everyone knew the SNI would put a major emphasis on their regulatory system. In doing so it was clear that the SNI representatives would be trying to draw a distinction from the other Native communities. That could not have been made more obvious with the their boasting of their prohibition against conducting business with non federally recognized tribes. This was particularly offensive given the fact that the hearing was in New York City which is in the back yard of those Native communities on Long Island that do not have BIA recognition and, as a city, has been leading the fight against all of us. I am sure that I am not alone in my concern over the Seneca Nation participating in joint sting operations with State and federal regulators against our own and then bragging about it here.

Another opportunity was missed in addressing the Attea case. The SNI practically stipulated that the case supported the State's position rather than challenging its interpretation. See Attea is Not a Landmark Case Against Indians posted here back on April 21st.

The State senators seemed to be obsessed with the absence of court interpretations of treaties and indeed the SNI representatives also seemed too focused on treaties as the source of our rights and liberties. While the State tries to challenge any right or freedom that is not explicitly defined in treaty, the voices from our side failed to turn the table and assert that our sovereignty is not established in treaties and that it is the State that cannot establish any legal foundation for taxing us. These are not "Indian" treaties. They are US treaties. They were concocted by them, they were drafted by them and they were ratified by them. While all of these US treaties went to lengths defining what would remain of our lands, they merely affirmed and acknowledged our inherent and obviously pre-existing rights to and on our lands. They gave us nothing that could remotely be defined as "treaty rights", rather they defined the obligations that the US would incur for the transfers of lands. Included in those obligations were health and education services, certain payments and security against foreign and domestic oppression. Our right to trade and commerce as well as any other activity commercial or otherwise was never surrendered to anyone. It apparently never occurred to the State Senate committee members that the reason there is no New York State court cases relating to these issues is because, ultimately the State knows it can't win and we wouldn't concede if they did. There seems to be no sense by those who cannot understand that we don't just choose to rely on our rights as they are handed down through generations rather than relying on a white man in a black robe to tell us, but that it is our obligation. This obligation is to those that will come after us and it is to keep others from imposing their will on our people.

In an effort to appear cooperative at some level there also seemed to be too much concession on other tax issues. When pressed about income and other taxes there was no mention of those that challenge those tax obligations. It is not a broadly accepted notion that some taxes apply while others don't. Even many of those that pay certain taxes, do it under protest and look to the day that we are better situated to fight those as well. I think it is difficult to find any Native person who actually believes that any State of federal taxes should ever be levied against us.

It was encouraging to hear a few State senators go on the record supporting our position. It was not missed by anyone that the clearest and most unequivocal support came from one of the only black Senators, Senator Adams, at the hearing. Senator George Maziarz should also be commended for clarifying several points that were being mischaracterized and for standing up to a fellow Republican Senator (Golden) with his ignorant rants that demonstates some of the arrogance and racism that gathers in Albany. Senator Maziarz was also clear in his support and, as a Senator, offered the only first hand knowledge and genuine concern for the Native people living near the district he represents (WNY). I was also impressed by the comments of Jed Morey, a writer from the Long Island Press. Everyone should take the opportunity to review his brief statement. It is worthy of sharing and most of the Native people that attended left before his opportunity to speak.

It should be noted that while some travelled from Seneca territory to New York, a small dedicated group of predominantly young men tended a fire beside the New York State Thruway where it passes through the Seneca territory of Cattaraugus. Signs, placards and flags, including several Warrior flags were displayed for motorist and passersby to observe. The number of horns blown in support of the Native position on this issue indicated the support is wide. The fire was maintained through the night as were the constant sounding of support from the Thruway motorists. It is an easy judgement to make that far more people witnessed the demonstration on the side of the Thruway than will ever hear the rhetoric espoused at the hearing. All those who put in time at the fire should be commended.

Can They Really Be That Stupid?

2009-10-23T21:06:00.025-04:00

It is amazing how many times you can hear a tribal, state or federal official say something stupid without anyone ever challenging their ignorance. A case in point was US Senator Charles, "Chuck", Schumer (D-NY) spitting out the old tired comments on the news about how Indians have no right to sell their products to non-Indians and that the state is losing millions, perhaps even billions to our illegal sales. Oh yeah, and there is the one about how the US Supreme Court ruled in 1994 that the state could collect taxes from our sales. The worse part about false comments like these is that they are not just said by state and federal officials, they are repeated by tribal councilors and their legal counsel as well.

My question is: are they really that stupid? After all these guys are educated, in fact most of them are lawyers. So why do they misquote and misinterpret laws, court rulings and basic social, political and legal points all the time. I honestly believe that they know what they are saying is wrong.

Chuck can't really believe it is illegal for us to market our regulatory advantages to consumers out of our territories. Every town, city, county, state and country work to develop and market trade and commerce advantages. He can't possibly be saying that his people can sell to our people, but we can't sell to them. Something else must be at play here.

The Governor can't be so stupid to suggest that the state law that allows everyone in New York to have in their possession up to 2 cartons of untaxed and unstamped cigarettes, allows those people the opportunity to buy those unstamped cigarettes anywhere available but from Native retailers. The State's first black governor can't be that racist.

Surely out of all those people who keep suggesting that there exists some landmark Supreme Court decision that allows New York State to interfere with Native commerce, that someone would actually read the case (DEPARTMENT OF TAXATION AND FINANCE OF NEW YORK et al. v. MILHELM ATTEA & BROS.). If just one of the television or print journalist that keeps referring to this case would read it then perhaps he would offer the correct interpretation which is that the non-native wholesaler, Attea, lost his challenge against the State where he claimed his license to do business with Indians, issued by the BIA, superceded State law. Sorry folks, nothing to see here. No "we got those damn Mohawks and Senecas" ruling here. Just another case where a bunch of overly assimilated Indians out west were beat up in their state courts and had their cases cited in a case that, at best, references us.(See the post; Attea is Not a Landmark Case Against Indians)

The bottom line is that while NY State may tax the purchases made by its residents for use in the state, it still can't tax our sales. Let's try saying it together. The State may be able to regulate the actions of its people (the purchase or use), but not the actions of our people (the sale). But again, let's be clear; the State allows all its people to purchase up to 2 cartons of unstamped cigarettes for use in the State. The burden to remit a tax for purchases beyond 2 cartons is and always has been on the consumer. The State even has a form for it (Form CG-15). Now a logical person would assume that if a New York resident could buy 2 cartons from North Carolina or the Philippines that he could certainly stop by the nearest Native retailer for that purchase as well.

So what about that Billion dollars the State wants and needs so desperately? Well as the governor's request to the US Attorneys for a threat assessment will reveal, it doesn't matter how much they inflate a revenue leakage number. Any attempt to shut down the Native cigarette business will cost money, not make it. There is neither a guarantee nor a likelihood that even if the State eliminated reservation sales all together without a fight that any thing close to the numbers the State claims to be losing would be realized. Driving consumers to out-of-state and black market sales will surely have a much bigger negative impact to the State than anything they imagine happens on our territories. Oh how the State must long for the days when only the Mob could deliver cheap cigarettes to consumers.

Getting back to the gullibility or complicity of tribal leaders. Just as I don't think the non-native voices weighing in on this subject are that stupid, I don't think the Native ones are either. Of course the only Native voices we are allowed to be heard are the tribal government voices. These guys are so conflicted they can't help but come across as ignorant. On one hand they want to kiss ass for a Casino in the Catskills. On the other they are trying to validate their existence as legitimate government officials by proving they can assert authority over their people. Their own self loathing will not allow them to admit the obvious; that they are powerless. The beauty of our sovereignty is that we are born with it. We don't win it in an election or have it granted to us by the federal or state government. Not one of these tribal councilors has the courage to say that every business on our land is a Nation business. Every Native retailer operates as a sovereign entity because our sovereignty is not vested in the state nor does it exist as a common right but rather an individual birthright. This simply doesn't seem sophisticated enough for tribal officials. They want to be just an Indian version of those who are trying to harm us. But the reality is that all the rhetoric from these guys means nothing. It is the People that the State is scared of. It is the People that will shut the Thruway down. It is the People that will block bridges. And it will be the People that will stand toe to toe with the police if the State tries to force its will on our territories. I doubt Jim Ransom or Barry Snyder will rank very high as a threat to the State. And certainly their attorneys, Dale White and Rob Porter will be looked at more as assets and team players of the State, definitely not a risk to them.

So what is going on here? Is it really just a case of these guys trying to repeat something enough times to make it appear true or is it all just posturing for something else? The other thing that Chuck mentioned the other night was how so many other "tribes" have entered into agreements with the states. If the States really had the right to shut us down why would they want a compact? I think it is too easy to jump to the conclusion that a Catskill casino is at the root of much of this. Gaming certainly has played a role in shifting control of our land and people to the states, but gaming isn't the end game; the control is. I believe that the Mohawk and Seneca People have been the symbol of resistance, not only for Native people in the US and Canada, but world wide. The fact that neither US law nor their enforcers can reconcile our existence is a significant thorn for them. There are plenty of those "tribes" that drank the Kool-aid and entered all kinds of compacts. While they spent the last few years regretting that decision our territories continued to fight and maintain a strong private sector economy. Perhaps they should be asked how things have worked out for them. In spite of the fact that gaming compacts were leapt at in Mohawk and Seneca territories, the State still has not been able to control the people, not even by proxy through the tribal councils. For those of us that have been at this for a long time we see a constant effort by the State and their tribal counter parts (although I question how counter they really are to the State) to wheel and deal. By doing so the tribal councils get more authority and power over Native People and their land(and often more wealth) and the people lose more distinction as Native people. The State gets revenue and that control they so desperately seek, albeit through the tribal councils. I have no use for any so-called tribal leader that would suggest to the people to let them handle it. That this is a Nation to Nation issue. Or that these compacts are proof or some kind of expression of the "Nation's" sovereignty. This is about our freedom. The Mohawk and Seneca People can't allow themselves to be manipulated into becoming a symbol for concession. Too many others count on us. There is a reason why New York hasn't been able to get tax compacts agreed to. Because we never gave authority to anyone to sell us out. We need to keep it that way! I don't think any of these guys are stupid enough to believe what they are saying is true, but I do believe they are stupid enough to think they know what they are doing.

Is the "Mohawk Council of Kahnawake" trying to Hijack the Longhouse?

2009-10-13T19:21:00.022-04:00

Last year when 60 Minutes exposed a cheating scandal that involved Mohawk Internet Technologies, an IT/gaming company that is licensed and regulated by the band council of Kahnawake (the MCK), Steve Kroft of 60 Minutes asked band councilor, Mike Delisle, if internet gambling was illegal in Canada. Delisle said Internet gambling is illegal in Canada, but told Kroft, "We're not Canadians. We're a member of the Haudenosaunee Five Nation Confederacy. And we're Mohawk, Kanienkehaka, people. We're not Canadian."

What Delisle failed to mention is that the band councils exist as a function of Canadian law. The MCK is not the Kanienkehaka. It is not Haudenosaune. It is an administrator for the Canadian government. They are funded by Canada, they are regulated by Canada, their police and courts uphold Canadian law and they administer Canadian ID cards. And although I'll admit I have never seen it, I'll bet there are more than a few Canadian flags flying around their offices and chambers. But when push comes to shove the MCK cannot defend itself on its own existence, all of a sudden they are Haudenosaune; People of the Longhouse.

These guys are realizing, like Jim Ransom did of the Saint Regis tribal council, that these tribal and band councils ain't shit. When Saint Regis tried to fight OSHA violations by the US Department of Labor against their casino in Akwesasne (which bears the name, "Akwesasne Mohawk Casino"; no mention of Saint Regis) they received a slap in US Federal court when they were ruled against with the court telling them they could not use Mohawk treaties because they were not the party to them. The court literally said that the Saint Regis Tribe could not claim to be the Mohawk Nation.

This kick in the groin to tribal and band councils did not get much attention, but some noticed. The MCK noticed, so inch by inch the band council tries to reshape itself into the Kanonhsesne; the Longhouse. When a Mike Delisle or a Joe Norton hide behind the sovereignty of the Kanienkehaka in this public manner it is fairly easy to call them out. But what is going on behind the scenes?

Even this judicial reform nonense is a concern. There has been a big push to incorporate concepts from the Kaianerehkowa in the tribal court system that will be uniquely "Mohawk", although the court's authority will come from Canada. The Kaianerehkowa could not possibly be bastardized enough to accommodate creating individuals or a panel to sit in judgement of others. And for what, so property can be "legally" seized from individuals as judgements? No way! Band councilors have been quoted as claiming that the Great Law is theirs too. I say "bullshit!" These band and tribal councils have abandoned the Kaianerehkowa as well as their birthright as Kanienkehaka. They get their authority from Ottawa and Washington, not from our history, not from our ancestors and not from the instructions handed down over time immemorial. Just like the rest of Canada and the United States, these tribal and band councils know where true sovereignty lies.

So how do you regain a birthright you have surrendered? These guys either think they can just repackage themselves as Kanienkehaka or worse yet can earn brownie points from their custodians by undermining the Kanonhsesne.

Let's be clear the Kaianerehkowa does not create authority or institutions. It provides a process for sovereignty to stay where it belongs, with the people. Band councils are for people that do not want to accept responsibility and simply want someone else to do the work that they are too lazy or too useless to do themselves. Abuse of authority comes from delegation of authority. Our Longhouses need to become more active and they need to resist any incursion from these imposers and impostors.

The Apology is a Joke

2009-10-13T11:15:00.012-04:00

There are so many problems with the US Senate's "Apology" that it is hard to know where to start. I guess I'll start with how it was even passed. They had to attach it to a defense appropriations bill. This is where law makers jam in a bill that otherwise can't survive on its own. Makes for a real sincere apology. Add to that all the disclaimers for use in law suits (since we are being so polite, we'll thank the Supreme Court for that one and we'll apologized once again to the Hawaiians). Then we add to the hypocrisy by considering the work in congress to kill the Native tobacco business. States have been putting the squeeze on our nontaxable commerce for decades if not centuries. Congress and the Supreme Court provide them with backhanded ammo and then want to apologize.

An apology is little more than putting something on the record to ease "white guilt". They are as meaningless to us as they are to Black people, Hispanics, Hawaiians, Asians or anyone else in line for an apology.

Hey, Congress, want to do something meaningful? Try wiping out a few of your acts instead of attempting more. Get out of our Casino businesses, our tobacco businesses and every other area of commerce we have or will be in. Stop interfering with Native to Native trade and our international commerce. Get out of our politics. Stop trying to tag us with your ID's. Stop trying interfere with our travel; stick your homeland security where it belongs. Fulfill your financial obligations with education and health care and stop fighting us on reacquiring lands that you were complicate in stealing. This should keep you busy for a while.

Oh yeah, I apologize if I seem less than grateful for all the work that is done on our behalf.

The Smoke-Shop Signals of the Unkechaug

2009-10-05T09:35:00.004-04:00

Mayor Bloomberg has declared war on a tiny Long Island Indian Tribe over cigarette taxes. Their chief says it’s merely a chapter in a sad 400-year story.

By Spencer Morgan - NewYork Magazine

When Thomas Jefferson visited the “Unquachog Indians,” in June 1791, he noted that the tribe “constitute the Pufspatock Settlement in the town of Brookhaven, South Side of Long Island.” The settlement was conveniently located in the backyard of his friend William Floyd’s plantation, where Jefferson and his longtime wingman James Madison happened to be crashing. Jefferson made an effort to document the language of the tribe, many of whose members tilled his host’s fields: “Cow … Cowsen; Horse … Hofses; Sheep … Sheeps; to cut with an axe … poquetahaman; handsome … worecco; ugly … nechowuchayuk.” He concluded: “There remain but three persons of this tribe who can speak its language: They are old women, from two of these, brought together, this vocabulary was taken, a young woman of the same tribe was also present who knew something of the language.”
Harry Wallace, the current chief of the Unkechaug Indian Nation, trying to learn at least an approximation of his native tongue, has an Algonquian-language app on his iPhone. “I’m gettin’ there,” he said from behind a large cluttered desk in his office, a small cedar-paneled lodge set behind Poospatuck Smoke Shop and Trading Company in Mastic, Long Island. It was early August; 65 miles away on Manhattan Island, Mike Bloomberg—modern-day equivalent of the Great White Father—was not happy with Chief Wallace and the Unkechaug. This is because the chief and his tribe were making big bucks selling millions of packs of cigarettes tax-free, many of these to residents of New York City, which imposes a $1.50-per-pack tax of its own. Exactly how many New Yorkers were getting smokes under cover of the Unkechaug is not easy to answer. An Independent Budget Office report estimated that in 2006, around 207 million packs were bought by city smokers. No tax was paid on a quarter of these (only a fraction of the untaxed smokes were bought on Indian reservations). But Bloomberg has declared war on smoking, and wherever there is smoke, he wants his cut. So last September, the city filed a motion in federal court against a group of Unkechaug retailers, claiming hundreds of millions in lost city tax revenue.
Wallace was still recovering from last night’s “sweat”—several important dudes, dome-shaped lodge, a pit of hot rocks in the middle, much perspiration, a prayer song or two—at an undisclosed location. It was the culmination of a week of mourning for Benny Miller, a 22-year-old tribe member who died in a motorcycle accident. His death mobilized Unkechaug near and far to return to the reservation, to mourn and sing: the honor song during the wake, the various burial and prayer songs throughout.
Geronimo’s refrain, “They’re not satisfied until they get all of it,” is never far from Chief Wallace’s mind. But signals were still pointing toward victory for the Unkechaug: Only weeks prior, a New York State Appellate Court ruled that the Cayuga Indian Nation could continue selling untaxed cigarettes to non-Indians. He pushed a button on a speakerphone connected to the smoke shop. “Can I get two cups of coffee in here?” he said in a baritone. The chief is 55, broad-shouldered, and has long thick salt-and-pepper hair, which he wears in a tight ponytail. Various New York State Bar plaques line the walls. It was Wallace who opened the first smoke shop back in 1991, with the intention of making a little money, sure, but as a declaration too—the Unkechaug’s sovereign right to exploit whatever economic advantages the Indians’ sovereignty affords.
The Unkechaugs, like all recognized tribes, are exempt from state and many federal taxes, but beyond this their economic status is murkier, based on whatever arrangement the state and the Indians can agree on. In 1994, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that New York is entitled to collect taxes on Indian sales of cigarettes and motor fuel to non-Indians. Coming up with a way of enforcing that tax has been the trouble.
Their tribal rights have been questioned before, in various ways. Among the papers on the chief’s cluttered desk was a folded-up family tree. In 2006, Gristedes Food Inc. filed a suit—almost all of it since dismissed—questioning the legitimacy of the residents’ native heritage. Gristedes claimed that Unkechaug vendors, located some 65 miles from their nearest supermarket, were unfairly cutting into their profits. Fortunately, the tribe keeps excellent records. The first time such an accusation was made was back in 1935, when publishing scion and notorious cad William Shepherd Dana bought the Floyd estate and claimed that the tribe were, essentially, squatters.
The chief laid out the genealogy for me. “So you start with me, Harry Wallace,” he said, consulting the family tree before him. “Then it went to my mother, Lydia Anne Davis, and then it went to her parents, Charles Davis and Lydia Anne Davis. My grandmother has the same name.” He paused and looked up over his reading glasses, then rattled through a few more names. “Now, Sylvie Hicks and Jerusha Lott were sisters. Their mother was Sybel Lott, and Sybel Lott—we have historical documents—was from a very prominent Indian family.” She was a direct descendant of Chief Nowedonah, and Wallace believes it’s a good bet she was one of the elderly women Jefferson spoke to.

Complete story at: http://nymag.com/news/features/59665/