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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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