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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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