Liars, Thieves and Ingrates, Welcome to New York!

So New York State Governor, Andrew Cuomo admits that he has been lying since he took office when characterizing the Senecas as refusing to pay what they owe and insisting that it was the Senecas that were not upholding their end of the deal on exclusivity payments to the State. Of course, this admission comes only after he beats the Senecas into submission to accept the three facilities in direct competition with Seneca Gaming and still continue to pay in spite of the clear breach of the exclusivity provision of the State/SNI gaming compact. This "grand bargain" also has the Senecas giving up most of the funds that have been held because of the breach.

On the day after this revelation, Niagara Falls Mayor, Paul Dyster, flat out lies about threats he has made to the Senecas over the last few years and gets pissed at the suggestion that he owes the Seneca People an apology. This after getting promised $89 million from payments held back from the State and a promise for $30 million a year going forward. He called the suggestion "Outrageous" on live radio and denied his half dozen threats to deny fire department protection to the patrons, employees and facilities of the Seneca Niagara Casino.

When anyone asks how this dispute could rage on for so long, one only has to look at the integrity of these two at the center of the controversy.

What many fail or refuse to realize is that the State is entitled to no revenue from Native gaming. They can charge for services, and do. But these facilities are neither beholding to the State nor do they exist because of the State. The State could no more grant or authorize Native gaming than they could for State gaming. New York State law prohibits casinos. Seneca Gaming exists because the Senecas are a sovereign People. The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA), a federal law, only authorizes the states to be involved in the regulations by calling for a gaming compact to be worked out between the states and Native peoples. The states cannot prohibit gaming nor shut down existing facilities operating on expired compacts.

What states can do is offer something of value to a Native gaming operators in exchange for some consideration, including the possibility of revenue sharing. Among those "somethings of value" are non-compete agreements or exclusivity zones. When NYS saw millions of gaming dollars fleeing the State and country across the the Niagara River gorge into Canada, there was a strong mutual interest in the Senecas doing what the State could not; open casinos in Western New York. The State wanted the flow of WNY dollars into Canada to stop and hoped to pull some of those dollars directly into the State's coffers. The State ultimately wanted 25%, a number unheard of in State-Native gaming agreements. For such a large piece of the action the State offer an exclusivity zone from Lake Erie to East of Rochester. A smaller percentage would be paid to the State in the beginning but would ramp up to 25% as the gaming was developed.

The problem is that as the State was trying to create loopholes around its laws prohibiting State run casinos, someone decided these loopholes could circumvent the Seneca exclusivity provision as well. The bottom line was that NYS believed they could compete directly against Seneca Gaming in the non-compete zone and still squeeze them for exclusivity payments.

The Senecas protested and ultimately began withholding the payments. Now of the 25% that the State was to get from this exclusivity provision, 25% of that was to come back to the municipalities in the area of the Seneca gaming sites. In total, $630 million dollars have been withheld to date. The three host communities have been denied over $150 million by the State even though the State was still raking in dollars from its own facilities. The City of Niagara Falls has missed out on almost $90 million dollars over the last four years.

The current State Governor and the Mayor of Niagara Falls have called down the Senecas on almost a weekly basis over this dispute, never once acknowledging any validity to the Seneca position. They have threatened to drive them out of business, take more market share and even allow their facility to burn down while they watch.

Some of this changed last week when in an upset victory for Andrew Cuomo, the Senecas offered to give up over $400 million of what they have held, pocketing a little over $200 million for the State's breach, but agreeing to concede the breach going forward while paying the full 25%, all so the governor would be nicer to them going forward. The host communities of Niagara Falls, Buffalo and Salamanca would get the full shot the State had cost them and never look back at what was said or done during the conflict.

While many Seneca people feel betrayed by their elected officials, those same officials have said sure we gave into the State but we got to keep almost a third of our money and if we quietly pay the 25% going forward and ignore the market share loss to the State facilities that operate in breach of our exclusivity provision they won't steal anymore than what they are currently stealing.

Is this a good "deal" for the Senecas? If paying $200 million a year to Albany while they still compete, still interfere with Native to Native trade, still tie up Native businesses in frivolous law suits and continue to suggest they are entitled to gaming revenue, for a promise, the likes of which that are never kept, is "good"; then, Yes. Yes, it is a good deal.

Is it a good deal for Western New York? Well, if $200 million per year is sucked out of the region to Albany and only $50 million comes back, that is still a net loss of $150 million to the region. If the Senecas kept that money, it most certainly would be spent in Western New York if not invested in more and diversified economic development. Do we ever really know what happens to money that goes to Albany? Keep in mind that this is not "free" money. It is money from the people of WNY. It is not from international tourists or "high rollers" or investment bankers. It is from the common guy who lives within a 50 mile radius of these facilities that buy into the "dollar and a dream" campaign but justify their losses as entertainment. No, this one is a farther stretch than the previous question. No, its a bad deal for the region but if you are hater of Native people or just don't like the idea of "uppity Injuns", then maybe it's worth it. Especially if you only have to appear gracious at press conferences.    

Member of Native American community warns of possible Thruway demonstration

Eileen Buckley WBFO News

"This isn't just a function of annoying the Seneca leadership.  The Seneca people are very angered by this," said John Kane, host of Let's Talk Native. 

As a Native American, Kane has close connections with those in the Seneca Nation Community. 

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John Kane, host of Let's Talk Native

Kane said New York State has been stacking up too many issues against Native Americas, from gaming issues to lawsuits against native brands, taxes and seizures. 

"There is talk of a Thruway event because if the governor is going to try to interfere with their national commerce, in terms of gaming, and their private sector commerce, in terms of tobacco...you're going to see reaction and there is a lot of talk of a Thruway event," said Kane.

WBFO News asked Kane when this demonstration could occur and what members of the Senecas are planning.

"What I'm hearing is there is a plan to close the Thruway from a demonstration standpoint.  I don't think anybody is talking tire fires or bulldozing the Thruway.  But I think there is talk about doing an event that is going to spill out on the Thruway and clearly grab the attention of the media and grab the attention of Governor Cuomo," said Kane.

In 1997, the Senecas demonstrated against the states sales tax on native lands shutting down a section of the Thruway. Protestors lit fires and got into scuffles with state police. 

Kane said Cuomo continues to threaten the Seneca's for failure to provide casino revenue payments. But Kane noted that this issue remains in arbitration.  Kane claims the governor is failing to follow a gag order recommended by the arbitration hearing officer.

Hear the audio at: http://news.wbfo.org/post/member-native-american-community-warns-possible-thruway-demonstration

Federal Agents Raid a Seneca Business

Wednesday, shortly before 11am, 20-30 federal agents moved on to the Seneca territory of Cataraugus to arrest Will Parry and to search his home and business. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives came in en masse after a long undercover investigation that spanned from Kansas City, Missouri to the Native lands of the Seneca. Whether it is a coincidence that Parry was singled out in what many would perceive as a pretty brazen assault on a strong community of Senecas remains to be seen. Parry has had an on-going dispute with the Seneca Nation of Indians (SNI) business regulators and challenges the authority of their Import-Export Commission to tax and regulate Seneca businesses. With or without SNI approval or involvement the ATFE asserted federal authority/aggression over a Seneca man on Seneca soil. Will Parry is accused of violating a federal wire fraud and telecommunications statute in the purchase of cigarettes; not drug, guns or bombs: cigarettes. 

This raid constitutes the second armed act of aggression this year by federal authorities within sovereign Native lands of the Western Door of the Haudenosaunee. Early this year almost 100 federal agents raided several businesses on the territory of the Tonawanda Senecas. Most in this area can not remember a time when the federal government has taken such aggressive actions against Native people. Add to this heavy handed attempts by the IRS and the Treasury Department's Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) agents to impose and collect income and "floor" taxes against individuals and tribal governments and the atmosphere is clearly unprecedented. 

A US President who spends millions on photo ops with "real Indians" and even has a Crow Indian name has signed several bills into law that killed thousands of jobs and businesses on Native lands and has TTB agents adding insult to that injury by attempting to impose millions of dollars in "floor tax" on those very businesses and others. There are some "BIA Indians" out west that will swear that Mr. Obama is the best president "Indians" have ever seen (of course that includes the Crow). In the lands of the Haudenosaunee the president is called Ranahtakaias. This name started with Washington and has been used for the 43 since. The "Town Destroyer" that now sits in the White House will almost certainly serve a second term before the 45th Rahnatakaias is served up and as such the question is: will he continue to violate the sovereignty of Native people?

This year also saw this Rahnatakaias tepidly endorse the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). It wasn't a full endorsement but rather an endorsement for the "aspirations" of the Declaration (provided, of course, it doesn't conflict with US laws or undermine the current remedy for Native conflicts; US courts). So tepid or not, what does a Declaration signed by every nation of the UN mean? And  how can it be reconciled with the actions of this administration in DC? The question is not for the US courts but for the World. 

Many would offer a complete disconnect between this Rahnatakaias and the US Attorneys and federal agencies directly involved in the aggression. But that simply can't fly around here. This guy even has a Senior Policy Advisor for Native American Affairs in the White House. In fact, he is on his second one; Jodi Gillette was appointed this year after Kimberly Teehee left the post. Surely White House Indians gotta help close that gap.

All said and done, Will Parry sits in chains today not sure what the future holds. These things never go well in court (that's their plan). Can it be pulled out? Perhaps. The two raids this year cannot be erased but the next one does not have to happen and the current charges don't need to be pursued. 

What is to make this stop? Time to get Jodi to put a bug in the ear of the 44th Rahnatakaias.