Seneca Nation Frustrated with NY’s Recent Actions

Recently, the Seneca Nation of Indians expressed its discontent over New York State’s latest actions of serving the tribe a subpoena. On Saturday, President of the Nation, Matthew Pagels, described the Empire State’s actions as overreaching and revealed that they have had an impact on the tribe’s bank accounts and on its undergoing business.

The conflict between the state and the tribe has been a prolonged one, as it began after the Nation refused to pay its gaming allocations to the state a few years ago. In January this year, the Senecas agreed to honor its dues, but members of the Nation claimed that the payments have not been approved, which led to the tribe putting the payments on hold once more.

Impact on All Activities

Due to the stall of the payments, recently, New York State has opted to serve a subpoena to the Native American tribe. This has impacted the Nation and Seneca Gaming Corporation’s bank accounts, meaning that they cannot conduct business. In a recent statement, President Pagels shared that individuals or organizations should not attempt to cash their Nation-issued checks until the situation is resolved.

The Nation informed that this has affected its ability to provide basic services. In the statement, Mr. Pagels said that the actions by the state are purposeful, malicious, and politically motivated. In light of those events, on Monday, the Seneca Nation Council had a meeting to discuss the banking situation, with some members of the tribe, while hoping for a bolder action in their dispute with the state.

In Sunday’s statement, the Nation has commented that the state has demonstrated with willful indifference to thousands of people the type of business partner it opts to be. The statement has also read that tribe has suffered many wounds and wrongs from Albany in their long partnerships. However, the state refused to comment on the situation.

Leslie Logan, a member of the Mothers of The Nation advocacy group, commented that the Empire State has completely violated the court action and chose to free the nation’s account. In her words, the action is economically devastating for the nation, and it impacts virtually every one of its members. She even described the state’s decision as economic terrorism.

Seneca’s Mothers of the Nations is one of the parties that has opposed the January agreement from the tribe to issue its multi-million payments to NYS. The group, which is recognized under the Seneca constitution of 1848 treaties, launched a petition to gather signatures of Seneca women who consider the agreement with the state unacceptable. The petition has also been filed with the Department of the Interior.

Deadline Given

A few weeks ago, the state sent a letter to the Seneca Nation giving it a deadline for the payments worth more than US$500 million of gaming revenue. Spokesperson for Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office commented that the state has been patiently waiting for the payments for almost three years and that now it was time for the state to protect its own interests.

Source: “Seneca Nation upset with ‘overreaching’ actions by New York State”, WGRZ, March 26, 2022