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• NYPD takes on Indians to halt billion-$$ flow 

MOHAWK NATION OF AKWESASNE -- The NYPD has gone on the reservation -- sending its drug czar upstate to try to help cut off a massive pipeline of pot and ecstasy to the city run by Mohawk Indian smugglers on the Canadian border.

"I was astounded at how lenient the border is," said Chief Joseph Resnick, head of the NYPD's narcotics division.

He spoke after a trip six weeks ago to the Akwesasne reservation, which straddles the US-Canadian border and which he said supplies most of the high-potency marijuana and ecstasy sold on city streets.

"Once you cross into the US, you're on the Indian reservation, which is sovereign land. The whole border is the real point of origin. When we bust large numbers of ecstasy and hydroponic pot, most of it comes through there."

The feds say that in the last 10 years, more than $1 billion worth of marijuana has come through the reservation, which stretches five miles along the banks of the St. Lawrence River. . . .

The crossing, featured in last year's Oscar-nominated movie "Frozen River," is also a major route for illegal immigrants as well as huge quantities of untaxed liquor and cigarettes, investigators said. . . .

One self-professed smuggler interviewed by The Post described how easy it was to elude US Border Patrol officers, who oversee the waterways on the US side of the river, and the Mounties' marine patrol on the Canadian side.

"We go at night and run all night. I get on my Jet Ski, put on a helmet and night-vision goggles and just go. The boats we have are way faster than theirs. They can't catch us."

He said he earned about $300,000 in a two-week period last year after delivering a haul of cigarettes, liquor and pot -- and returned with large equipment bags stuffed with stacks of $100 bills, which took all night to count, he said.

"There are about 100 millionaires on the res," . . .

Leaders are proud of their members. Although the Akwesasne reservation suffers from some of the same problems as others -- high unemployment, obesity, alcoholism -- it also has successful industries, including tobacco factories, construction and maple syrup.

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• Survey shows most NZ smokers want to quit 

The 2008 New Zealand Tobacco Use Survey: Quitting Results published today shows overwhelmingly most smokers want to quit, Associate Minister of Health Hon Tariana Turia said.

Minister Turia said that helping smokers to quit was a priority for the Government and was one of the six health targets.

This report presents the quitting results of 15 to 64 year olds from the 2008 New Zealand Tobacco Use Survey, including where possible, in comparison with the previous survey (2006).

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Obama promises Native Americans place on agenda  

President Obama pledged Thursday to redeem broken promises made to American Indians, saying he's empathetic because of his own history as an "outsider."

"Few have been more marginalized and ignored by Washington for as long as Native Americans, our first Americans," Obama said in opening the White House Tribal Nations Conference.

"I know what it means to feel ignored and forgotten, and what it means to struggle," he said. "So you will not be forgotten as long as I'm in this White House."

The administration invited representatives from the 564 federally recognized tribes to participate in the conference, the first White House meeting of its kind since 1994. Leaders from nearly 400 tribes attended. The event came as some American Indians are locked in a long-standing legal battle with the federal government over land royalties.

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• Seneca educates lawmakers on treaty rights, tobacco economy  

State lawmakers at a public hearing heard claims of "lost" tax revenues ranging from tens of millions to billions of dollars from untaxed cigarette sales on Indian reservations.

While none of the witnesses backed up their claims with substantive evidence, the Seneca Nation of Indians presented officials with a three-inch thick document on its treaty rights, legal history, and an economic study by a Harvard economist that pinpointed how - and how much - the nation's tobacco-based economy benefits the state.

The hearing, which was chaired by Sen. Craig Johnson, D-N.Y., was an all day - and sometimes heated - event at Manhattan Community College Oct. 27. The aim was to investigate why the state has failed in its attempts to collect cigarette taxes from reservation cigarette sales to non-Natives.

J.C. Seneca, a Seneca Nation tribal councilor, testifying on behalf of the nation, addressed that question at the beginning of his testimony.

"The answer to that question, put simply, is that your government has no authority to do so,

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• Seneca Nation of Indians president to meet with Obama today  

Seneca President Barry E. Snyder Sr. will travel to Washington, D.C. to participate in a first-of-its-kind national Indian nations conference to be staged by President Barack Obama. The all-day conference will take place today.

"During his 2008 presidential campaign Obama promised to go beyond a government-to-government relationship with Native Americans and create a nation-to-nation relationship. This conference indicates he is interested in giving nations a true voice," President Snyder said. "I look forward to taking part in this critical dialogue."

In October 2008, Obama pledged, if elected, he would appoint an American Indian policy advisor to his senior White House staff and would host an annual tribal leadership conference. . . .

In recent weeks, the Seneca Nation has made a strong stance against renewed efforts by some New York State elected officials to collect taxes on tribal tobacco sales. The Senecas have reiterated their position that long-standing federal treaties prohibit states and other governments from taxing Indian nations. The Senecas are also looking for federal assistance to overturn the Kempthorne policy which prohibits off-reservation gaming.

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Smokes trade might finance terror: RCMP 

The black market cross-country tobacco trade has created an underground economy Canadian authorities fear could be used to finance overseas terrorism, internal RCMP intelligence documents obtained by Canwest News Service show.

The materials also indicate RCMP intelligence predicted the expansion of the underground tobacco trade shortly after the federal government shelved plans in the early 1990s to invade several Mohawk reserves. The government chose instead to lower tobacco taxes to undercut the financial incentive for smuggling.

The underground tobacco trade now spans the country, with authorities finding Mohawk-made cigarettes from Newfoundland to Vancouver Island, according to an RCMP intelligence analysis from 2008.

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Seneca Nation members board bus to Manhattan  

In a show of support, nearly 100 Seneca Nation members boarded charter buses Monday afternoon en route to Manhattan. The purpose of their trip is to attend a hearing on collection of cigarette taxes from reservation retailers. The hearings will be held on the campus of the Borough of Manhattan Community College.

Representatives of the Seneca Nation will testify on the treaty-protected right to free trade and commerce. Tribal Councillor J. Conrad Seneca is one of the representatives who will speak at the hearing. He said in the 10 to 12 minutes he will have the floor, he plans to give a presentation explaining the Seneca's situation, economic impact, treaties, viewpoints, and beliefs.

"I think the more opportunities we have to do that, the more people will learn and understand why we're so upset when New York state tries to impose these laws or these rules upon us," he said.

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• NY Indians Descend on NYC Cigarette Hearing | Long Island Press  

The New York State Senate hearing on the state’s non-collection of taxes on cigarettes sold to non-Native Americans on Indian Reservations brought representatives from Indian nations from all over New York State into a highly charged arena at the Borough of Manhattan Community College on Tuesday.

The hearing was chaired by state Sen. Craig Johnson (D-Port Washington) and had several other senators on the committee in attendance throughout the day. Though the hearing was scheduled to end at 2:30 p.m., the full slate of witnesses and complexity of the testimony being given extended to just after 4:30 p.m., with only two brief breaks in between.

Sen. Craig Johnson (D-Port Washington), chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Investigations and Government Operations, will be leading the hearing at Manhattan Community College.

Johnson had to call for order on a couple of occasions during heated exchanges between Sen. Martin Golden (R-Brooklyn) and JC Seneca of the Seneca Nation of Indians that prompted mocking rebukes from Indians in the auditorium. Golden implored the Seneca nation to help New York State given the $4 billion budget deficit the state is facing claiming that New York State will soon be in the same position as California and issuing IOU’s to contractors, vendors and employees. This was met with calls from the crowd, many of whom were yelling out “That’s not our problem” and taunting the senator as he walked out midway through the proceedings.

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Hearing focuses on cigarette sales on Indian reservations 

As state lawmakers Tuesday bemoaned losses from untaxed cigarette sales on Indian reservations, an attorney for Gov. David A. Paterson raised the prospect of violence if New York enforces laws aimed at recovering the funds.

Citing State Police, Peter J. Kiernan, counsel to the governor, said it was possible the cost to police of guarding collectors on reservations could surpass the taxes collected.

Native Americans testifying at the all-day hearing at Borough of Manhattan Community College Tuesday, most notably the Seneca Nation, strongly resisted the notion of paying state taxes on the sales to nontribal members. Violent confrontations accompanied two attempts at tax collection by the state in the 1990s.

"A police problem could quickly elevate to a military one," Kiernan said, adding Paterson is still considering how to move forward. He said the state favors a policy of negotiating a peaceful settlement.

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• New smoking ban a bit hazy on Flathead Reservation 

Here on the Flathead Indian Reservation, the Montana Clean Indoor Air Act has run into some hazy skies.

Tribally owned bars and casinos are exempt from the state's smoking ban. That means the Grey Wolf Peak Casino north of Evaro and the Kwa Taq Nuk Resort in Polson, owned by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, still offer both smoking and nonsmoking casino areas.

But here on the Flathead Reservation, some enrolled tribal members who own liquor licenses also allow smoking in their bars.

"The way I understand it, the state and health department won't pursue it if we allow it, because they have nowhere to take it," says Lori Peterson, an enrolled member of the tribes and owner of the Pheasant Lounge in Ronan.

Rick Wheeler's bar sits a block away, on the other side of Ronan's Main Street.

"Ninety percent of my customers smoke," says Wheeler, who is not a tribal member. If he enforces the smoking ban, Wheeler says, virtually all of them will simply cross the street to a bar where they can light up inside, and the business he's owned for 20 years will go belly-up.

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Turia commends Bay council on smoking ban 

Tariana Turia has commended a move by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council to ban smoking on 30 beaches in its district.

“Banning smoking in public spaces not only makes it harder for smokers to light up but it helps reduce youth uptake of smoking,” Mrs Turia said.

“The district council’s unanimous decision to introduce the smoking bans is a reflection of its good community leadership and role modelling,” Mrs Turia said.

Popular holiday spots including Waihi, Maketu and Athenree beaches will now become smokefree under the council’s decision along with public halls, land around the halls, playgrounds, parks, sports fields, skate parks and reserves in the western Bay of Plenty area which covers Waihi, Katikati, Kaimai, Te Puke and Maketu.

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• Quebec to crack down on contraband tobacco 

The Quebec government on Wednesday unveiled a push to stop trade in illicit cigarettes, including stiffer fines and a moratorium on manufacturing permits.

The bill, introduced by provincial Revenue Minister Robert Dutil also gives more power to police, notably municipal organizations, to arrest, fine or charge producers, distributors and consumers of illegal cigarettes.

"This is probably the most important element," Dutil told reporters Wednesday.

About 30 per cent of cigarettes smoked in Quebec are contraband and the Quebec government is losing about $300 million a year in taxes, Dutil said.

He blamed organized crime for most of the illicit trade, but noted natives also are involved.

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Stating Their Case 

While the New York State Police are worried about a confrontation if the state tries to block the sale of tax-free cigarettes on New York's Indian reservations, local Seneca Nation of Indian officials say the ongoing discussion could be an opening to establish a lasting peace.

The state held a hearing Tuesday called by state Sen. Craig Johnson, D-Nassau, to discuss tax collections on sales made to non-Indians on reservations and why they have not been collected, and busloads of Seneca Nation residents attended to discuss why they oppose such collections.

Previous attempts to collect state taxes on reservation commerce drew protests from Senecas, who said further attempts will lead to them defending treaties the nation has made with the federal government.

"We will never allow the state to tax our commerce," said Tribal Councilor J.C. Seneca during the hearings. "No other government has the right to interfere. We will fight to uphold these rights now and forever.''

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Leaders Fear Civil Unrest If State Taxes Seneca-Sold Cigarettes 

With the state four billion dollars in the red, some are hoping to trim the deficit by collecting taxes on cigarettes sold on Indian Reservations.

But some elected leaders fear any attempt to do so could cause history to repeat itself. In July of 1992, as a form of protest, members of the Seneca Tribe tossed burning tires onto Interstate 90, forcing state police to shut down the highway.

They were trying to send a message to the state that it had no right to tax cigarettes on sovereign territory. More than 17 years later, with the state in desperate need of revenue, some worry it could happen again.

"Everybody thinks that there would be a repeat of what happened several years ago," State Senator Michael Ranzenhofer (R-Amherst) said.

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• Seneca Nation Leaders, Members Testify at Cigarette Tax Collection Hearing 

J.C. Seneca, a tribal councilor and co-chairman of the Seneca Nation Foreign Relations Committee, and Robert Odawi Porter, Senior Policy Advisor and Counsel, appeared today before the State Senate Committee on Investigations and Government Operations. The hearing, held at Borough of Manhattan Community College, focused on the issue of whether New York State has the right to collect taxes on Native American tobacco sales within its borders.

Addressing the hearing panel, Councilor Seneca said the recurrent question of 'Why doesn't the State collect taxes on commerce taking place on Indian lands?' has a simple and definitive answer: It lacks authority to do so.

"For over 200 years, New York State has tried to steal our lands, assert jurisdiction over what lands we have left, and impose its taxes on us and our activities. In response, and in our defense, the United States promised to protect us from any effort by the State to impose its taxes in our territories," Councilor Seneca told the hearing panel.

"Your oaths of office require you to uphold American laws and treaties. Whether you do so or not is up to you, but I assure you that we have no intention of compromising any of our treaty right that have already been bought and paid for through the relinquishment of most of our aboriginal rights," Councilor Seneca said.

The Seneca leader detailed the Seneca Nation's effort to build its economy across its five Western New York sovereign territories, which has contributed over $1.1 billion to the state-wide economy in the past decade.

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