_{Past News articles}

SOME OF OUR WORLDWIDE SUPPORTERS

Non-natives helping us protest N.Y. STATE. Gov. Pataki's law in 92

T.L. JOHN PHOTO

Click here to see the N.Y. State's Tax Commissioners letter to Indian Tribes of N.Y.S.

Senecas, police clash

The Buffalo News, Thursday, July 16, 1992
by Agnes Palazzetti and Anthony Cardinale

Honorable Governor Pataki's men greet the Native people enthusiastically with a round of clubbing

Two state troopers were injured and 14 people were arrested early today
during a violent protest by about 100 Seneca Indians who set bonfires,
threw rocks and closed a 31-mile stretch of the Thruway for 11 hours to
vent their anger over a recent tax ruling.
Several SENECAS today criticized State Police tactics, which the Senecas said included beatings with clubs. Police officials, at a morning news
conference, denied any unprovoked violence.
The violence broke out on the Cattaraugus Indian Reservation about 1:30
am, when a large firecracker exploded during a confrontation between
SENECAS and state police. The Thruway reopened at about 6:15 am. The blast in the midst of the troopers sparked a melee, during which
officers standing on the closed Thruway stormed the Route 438 bridge over the Thruway, which is on reservation land.
Witnesses said that in the confusion, a civilian truck rushed the
crowded bridge and struck several Indians, including Indian children. The driver of the truck fled the scene and was being sought. Two State Police officials were injured. Maj. Bruce Roloff was struck
in the side of the head with a piece of wood and was undergoing tests in
Erie County Medical Center this morning. Listed in good condition in the emergency room was Zone Sgt. Thomas Warren, who suffered a chest
injury when he was struck by a pickup truck.
Following the rock-throwing that shattered some car windows, troopers advanced some 100 yards onto Seneca land to secure the area. Police dogs were also used, and troopers were seen dragging the occupants out
of one truck. By 2 am, 14 persons had been arrested, 11 on disorderly conduct charges
and three on reckless endangerment charges. There were being arraigned today in the Town of Brant.
Many of the SENECAS later gave firsthand accounts of what they claim were beatings by troopers with their Billy clubs. Capt. R.W. Browning
of Troop A in Batavia, who was on the scene throughout the night, categorically denies that any of the troopers used excess force.
Sally Snow, 32, a Seneca and mother of five, said she was among the demonstrators at the Thruway bridge on Route 438. She said the troopers
"told us to get off the road and go back down to our own land. We told them, 'You can't tell us what to do. We are on our land. "Following the overnight confrontation, the first violent one in the three days of protests, Seneca Nation members said today they would
continue their tax protest.
The violence followed a standoff of several hours, during which scores
of police officers with spotlights stood south of the Route 438 bridge
and surrounded the next bridge to the north, carrying traffic on
Milestrip Road. The site is a mile east of the intersection of Route20, just north of Cattaraugus Creek, which marks the southern boundary
of Erie County.
The Senecas had set a number of bonfires earlier Wednesday night near
and on the Thruway, holding off an earlier assault by the state police.
The third night of the SENECAS' protest -- the most disruptive so far --
was designed to coincide with Gov. Cuomo's speech Wednesday night to the
Democratic National Convention in New York City.
State police, who called in reinforcements from throughout the state,
said the Thruway was closed from Dunkirk to Hamburg about 7:30 pm for
safety reasons and reopened about 6:15 am. In addition to the fires, rocks reportedly were thrown off bridges onto the road below.
The demonstrations protest the state's plan -- affirmed last Thursday by
a state appeals court in Albany -- to levy sales taxes on cigarettes and
gasoline sold to non-Indians on reservations. The issue is whether a treaty between the Indians and the state allows the taxing of goods sold
to non-Indians on Indian land.
The SENECAS, because they live on the land of a sovereign nations, cannot be taxed.  

So the state, in an effort to collect an estimated $50
million in what officials argue are lost taxes, decided to tax those
wholesalers who supply the SENECAS. A hearing on the matter is expected
next week in Buffalo.
"In light of recent effort by New York State to directly or indirectly
tax the Seneca people, events which seriously threaten the economic and
political integrity of the nation and its members, I have concluded the
first step towards a solution of this problem lies within the Seneca
people and its government," Seneca President Calvin "Kelly" John said in
announcing formation of a committee of tribe leaders.

When authorities closed the Thruway, westbound traffic was detoured off
the Thruway at Exit 59 at Dunkirk. Eastbound traffic was leaving the
Thruway at Exit 59 and returning to the highway at the Angola Exit 37A
in Evans.
A protester named Michael Tome, who wore a feather in his headband,
hoisted a red Indian flag from the bridge early today, while recorded
Indian music blared from a car radio and Indians shook their fists at police.
"It's just pow-wow music," one of them explained. "America is watching!" a protester shouted. 
"I came up from the Allegany Reservation," Tome said later, "I don't
know any of these people, but they're all my family".  "Together we stand our ground, because we shall overcome," said Gerald
Jimerson, 18, who wore his baseball cap backwards with an eagle feather
in it "for good luck." The young Seneca also had come from the Allegany
Reservation. "I hope the Great Spirit is with us," he said. "We have
to stand by our brothers -- all night if we have to." Below the protesters, a pile of tires burned in the southbound lane of
the Thruway. From time to time, someone would throw another tire onto
the blaze. Asked whether the Indian protest could cause resentment
among the travelers forced off the Thruway, one young man said" "Some of
them are pleased to stop to buy cheap gas on the reservation. I work
for the Seneca Mini-Mart in Salamanca, and I got laid off because we ran
out of gas."

   T.L JOHN PHOTO

As the night wore on, smoke from the tire fire curled up from both sides
of the Milestrip Road bridge, rising into the dense sky, where it was
illuminated by State Police searchlights. From time to time a vehicle
from the Cattaraugus Indian Reservation Volunteer Fire Dept. stopped on
the bridge, only to depart without attempting to put out the fire.
"We were telling the coppers that maybe this is our property," said Josh
Maybee, 19, a Seneca. "They know it's our land. We told them nothing
violent is going to go on here. They said they were here to keep the
peace and all that. We told them to go home."
His brother, Jeremiah Maybee, 16, said taxing Indian sales to
non-Indians would be like New York State trying to collect sales tax
from New Yorkers who travel to Pennsylvania to shop. "They're
two-headed," he concluded. "It's not right at all," agreed Julie Schindler, 16, who works at the JR
Smoke Shop on Old Lake Shore Rd. "Our customers got mad about this, and
400 of them signed a petition against the taxes. We're going to send
the petitions to Albany." The first fires on the Cattaraugus Reservation in Brant were reported at about 7 pm, and the Reservation Volunteer Fire Dept. was dispatched at 7:06 pm, according to Helmuth Fire Control. Shortly after midnight, it became apparent that the troopers stationed to the north had crept
closer to the Milestrip Rd. bridge. Earlier Wednesday, in an effort to head off growing unrest, John said he would establish a committee to ensure tribal sovereignty. "For 200 years, New York has attempted to infringe upon our
sovereignty," John said. "It is my hope this committee will begin
uniting the Seneca people in our effort to resist this most recent
attempt by New York to undermine our existence. We have to work
together and look at this situation in a cooperative way."
Senecas disagree on how to fight the state's plan to tax cigarette and
gasoline sold on reservations to non-Indians. When word of the trouble
spread through the western New York Indian country, Indians from the
Seneca, Allegany, Tonawanda, Tuscarora, and Five nations reservations
soon were arriving at the Cattaraugus reservation to lend their support.
The Indians also received support from volunteer firemen from both
Cattaraugus and Chautauqua counties, who refused to answer fire calls on
the Thruway. Both tribal-operated gas stations at Irving and Salamanca were back in business Wednesday after reaching an agreement to obtain gasoline. Dennis Lay, Seneca treasurer, plans to hold an information meeting for Senecas at 1 pm today on the Cattaraugus Reservation near Irving. Another meeting, led by John, is scheduled for 2 pm at the Genevieve Plummer Building in Jimersontown.

+ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - +
| David Yarrow (turtle) Econet:<danwinter> 716-992-9307 |
| Crystal Hill Institute, 9411 Sandrock Road, Eden, NY 14057 |
| "be earthwise, not clockwise" |
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Here's another one...

SARAH METZGAR Capitol bureau 

ALBANY -- Seneca Indians, claiming the Pataki administration backed out of a
tax agreement, rallied Thursday on the steps of the Capitol. 
``It is our right to regulate our own commerce on our own land,'' Michael
Schindler yelled into a bullhorn. ``We are a sovereign nation!'' 
For Schindler, president and chief executive officer of the Seneca Nation of
Indians, the protest was an opportunity to meet with statehouse reporters and
put pressure on Republican Gov. George Pataki. Reports of a Seneca pact with
the state were premature, Schindler said, and talks fell apart late Wednesday. 
Schindler led about 250 Native Americans at the Capitol fighting Pataki's April 1
order to impose taxes on Indian gas and cigarette sales. Some wore traditional
headdress and sang peaceful Indian dance songs. Others wore T-shirts saying
``George Custer Pataki: Hater of Indians with dishonor of treaties.'' 
The demonstrators called Pataki's tax order ``economic genocide,'' and said
reservation shops -- with deliveries halted by state and federal officials --
have been forced to close or lay off Indian workers. 

The Senecas claim that as a sovereign nation, they are exempt from taxes --and shouldn't have to disclose revenue figures to state officials. 

   T.L. JOHN PHOTO

If the Indians give in, Schindler claimed, ``it will lead to the termination of
our federal status of a tribe and assimilation of our people in the white society,
which is nothing short of genocide.'' 
Brandon White, a 17-year-old resident of the Cattaraugus Indian Reservation,
carried an American flag superimposed with an Indian head. He has missed two
days of school since the dispute began, he said, because his school bus was
detained by violence at his reservation, 30 miles southwest of Buffalo. 
``I know all about the treaties,'' White said. ``Other governors knew about
our treaty rights.'' 

The dispute has
raged for years, and came to a head this month. 
The New York Association of Convenience Stores, representing hundreds of shops
that have lost business to the lower-priced, non-taxed Indian stores,
successfully sued the state. Pataki, as a result, ordered state officials to start
collecting sales tax from wholesalers April 1 on goods sold to non-Indians along
reservations across New York. 
Senecas have protested by blocking the New York State Thruway at various
times over the last three weeks. A dozen state troopers and several protesters
were injured Sunday at a Cattaraugus demonstration. 
The regulations effective April 1 require wholesalers to prepay sales and excise
taxes to the state for fuel and cigarettes sold by to non-Indians by Indian
retailers, who register with the state Department of Taxation and Finance for
coupons for tax-exempt sale to Indians living on reservations. 
Under agreements with six of nine nations, Native Americans pay no sales tax,
but prices are increased to parity with off-reservation retailers. 
In each of those agreements, Pataki spokesman Michael McKeon said, the
nations are moving toward price-parity of gasoline and cigarettes and
retaining the extra revenue for themselves. 
Pataki made the pacts with the Onondagas, Oneidas, Tuscaroras, Tonowanda
Senecas, Cayugas and Shinnecocks. Three nations are holding out -- the
Senecas, the Mohawks and the Poospatucks of Long Island -- and talks will
continue, McKeon said. 
State, city and capital police, prepared for more than 1,000 protesters, lined the
inside and outside perimeter of the Capitol on Thursday. In addition to the
Cattaraugus violence, police also were investigating a Thursday morning
firebombing at the home of Tuscarora chief Leo Henry, who recently signed a
tax agreement with state officials.

By AGNES PALAZZETTI -Buffalo News Staff Reporter

The Seneca Nation's Tribal Council this week refused to support Gov. Pataki's

revised tax agreement for reservation sales of tax free cigarettes and gasoline

to non-Indians, an official said Tuesday.

"The Seneca Nation is free and clear to run their own affairs without having

to deal with the state," said Pataki spokesman Michael McKeon,

NEWS BULLETIN - 2000: We have long since WON our legal battle against NEW YORK State! The Supreme court has ruled once again that N.Y.S. & Gov Pataki cannot stop our sales of  Tax Free tobacco to US citizens.