NEW YORK'S "INDIAN WARS":
SOVEREIGNTY YES, SALES TAXES NO
By Ellie Dorritie
Cattaraugus Reservation, N.Y.
In solidarity with Native nations, hundreds of demonstrators from western
New York and other regions gathered at the Cattaraugus Seneca Reservation
April 13 to demand that New York state stop its threats and blockades
against Indian people.
For an hour, the demonstration shut down the busy New York State Thruway,
a main east-west artery that crosses Seneca Nation land. A lengthy caravan
of Native and non-Native people moved slowly down the Thruway from Buffalo
to the reservation so that other travelers could read the signs on their
cars supporting Native sovereignty rights.
As the caravan came off the Thruway, state troopers pulled some cars over.
They redirected others in a short-lived attempt to keep them away from a
rally on the reservation.
Hundreds of Native people greeted the arriving caravan with cheers.
Seneca Elder Esther Sundown, a Longhouse faithkeeper, told the rally: "We
are a peaceful people. Why are they doing this to us? We are not hurting
anybody. We are just trying to live. These things can lead to the
annihilation of our people. The person who needs to be annihilated is
Pataki."
Min. Halim Muhammed of the Nation of Islam added: "We African-American
people understand what it is like to be oppressed. We also feel a
closeness to Native American people because we remember that generations
ago they sheltered us and helped us during slavery. We must support each
other's struggles."
National People's Campaign spokesperson Bev Hiestand of Buffalo told the
rally, "Native nations are sovereign nations, and this land we are on is
the land of Native Americans. No government, not the United States nor the
state of New York, has the right to dictate here what business can be
conducted nor what economic decisions can be made."
Bill "Grandpa Bear" Swanson, head of the New York state American Indian
Movement, pledged AIM support to the Cattaraugus struggle.
Moonanum James of United American Indians of New England and the NPC
traveled from Boston to attend the rally. "Now more than ever, all of
us--red, black, yellow, white, men and women--need to stand side by side,"
said James, "look the government in the eye, and fight back together."
The entire rally then marched to the Thruway, went down the embankment and
totally blocked traffic in both directions. Cars and trucks were backed up
for miles. About 50 state police in riot gear tried to intimidate the
protesters. They grabbed one Native man, but were forced by the crowd to
let him go.
Seneca Nation President Michael Schindler wrapped up the rally by
declaring that the strength and unity shown were a warning to New York
Gov. George Pataki: "This is just the beginning."
In recent weeks, protesters have also temporarily blocked traffic on the
Southern Tier Expressway--Route 17--with burning tires.
ISSUE IS SOVEREIGNTY
At issue are the Senecas' historic treaty guarantees to be free of
taxation as sovereign nations.
These treaties say that Native nations have an absolute right to defend
their economic and political sovereignty. Yet a 1994 U.S. Supreme Court
decision violated these treaty rights by giving a legal green light to the
states to impose taxes on sales made on reservation land to non-Indians.
Behind Gov. Pataki's decree that Native businesses either be taxed or be
closed were the independent petroleum marketers' associations and huge
retail convenience store groups, which don't want any competition.
The state is attempting to divide Native nations against one another,
coercing some into agreeing to levy taxes on sales of gasoline, cigarettes
and other merchandise. Gasoline stations and tobacco shops located on
reservation lands along the major highways have been attracting non-
Indian customers seeking lower prices. These tax-exempt sales have been a
mainstay of the Native economy.
New York state has seized and impounded gasoline tankers and delivery
trucks, refusing to honor a restraining order from the Seneca Peacemakers
Court.
Without supplies, many stores and gas stations on the Allegany,
Cattaraugus, Tonawanda Seneca and Tuscarora reservations have had to
close, costing Native workers their jobs. The shops employ 1,200 people in
western New York alone. There are few other jobs in these rural areas.
New York state has also blockaded delivery of heating oil and propane
cooking gas to Native nations that have refused to sign tax agreements.
Angry nations of the Haudenosaunee (Six Nations Iroquois Confederacy)
continue to defy New York State's ultimatum to sign or abide by a tax
agreement. The Senecas and others have threatened to close state and city
highways passing through reservation lands or to charge motorists tolls.
State troopers and National Guard troops have been massing around
Haudenosaunee lands, and are looking for pretexts to raid these lands.
There have been warnings from the Indigenous communities that Pataki is
"dangerously close to his first Indian war." Protest organizers say, "We
are not going to go away, and we are not going to give up."
HELP FROM NEIGHBORS
Non-Indian neighbors of the Tonawanda Senecas have been bringing donuts
and sandwiches to Native defenders who keep the roadside protest fires and
promise to stand with them against the state. Letters pour into the
"Buffalo News" demanding that the state leave Native nations alone.
Petitions circulate demanding that Pataki honor Indian treaties.
In Buffalo, the National People's Campaign has taken the lead in
organizing support. The NPC called a press conference April 8 at which
representatives from the African-American, Latino, labor, progressive and
other communities joined with Native people to demand that the threats and
intimidation by New York state end at once and that Gov. Pataki
immediately order the withdrawal of all troopers.
- END -
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