STATE PROPOSAL: Chief promises tribes 'will defend ourselves'
Jump to full article: Watertown (NY) Daily Times, 2009-10-28
Author: LORI SHULL TIMES STAFF WRITER
Intro: The St. Regis Mohawk Tribe is getting ready to show some muscle if the state goes through with its idea to collect taxes on tribally-sold cigarettes.
Gov. David A. Paterson has been floating the idea of collecting the taxes to help cover the state's massive budget deficit and recently asked the state attorney general to help assess the risk of violent demonstrations should the tax-collectors come knocking on American Indian reservation doors.
In a speech Tuesday at a state Senate public hearing in New York City, Chief James W. Ransom told the governor what kind of resistance may come his way.
"My response is that anytime someone attempts to infringe on the rights of Mohawks and the Haudenosaunee, we will defend ourselves," he said in the speech. "New York state should expect no less."
If the state moves to consult with the tribes and consider their rights, a "peaceful resolution of state concerns can be found," Mr. Ransom said.
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