Like other Indian nations, the Haudenosaunee people have over the years been stripped of many of their ancient ways. Yet it is one of their traditional strengths, the art of diplomacy, that has allowed them to retain both their strong sense of identity and their commitment to the welfare of the seventh generation to come.
Faced with relentless pressure from New York state to concede on issues involving sale tax collection, casino revenue sharing and land claims, the people that the French called “Iroquois” are standing their ground, while at the same time looking for a diplomatic resolution.
“The legacy of our common Haudenosaunee ancestors is that we were diplomats, using the power of the good mind,” said Brian Patterson, member of the Oneida Nation Men’s Council. “I think that’s what we have to resort back to.”
On Jan. 9, representatives from four of the six Haudenosaunee nations met at the Oneida Nation’s Turning Stone Casino Resort to discuss possible united responses to Albany’s pressure.
“It revived the ancient tradition of nation-to-nation meeting, much as our alliance was hundreds of years ago,” Patterson told Indian Country Today. “We all realize that one nation can’t tell another nation what to do or how to pursue its interests. We all agreed that we could disagree [but] we all are going to protect our inherent sovereign interests.”
During colonial times, competing European nations played tribes against each other for political and economic gain. The tactics employed today by New York are almost identical, according to Patterson.
“The state is trying to use tactics against us to play one nation against another, to ‘divide and conquer’,” Patterson explained, citing Pataki’s threats last fall to negotiate with “out-of-state” tribes if compact agreements couldn’t be reached with those in New York. [A delegation of Wisconsin Oneidas traveled to Albany on Jan. 7 for Pataki’s State of the State speech. None of the New York Oneidas attended.]
Patterson also took exception to what he called “veiled threats” by state officials to close down Turning Stone if the nation refuses to renegotiate its compact.
“We want to sit down at the table [with the state] and have reasonable discussion and reach reasonable solutions,” said Patterson. “That benefits not only Oneida people, but all residents of Central New York to bring finality to these issues. We’ve been willing to sit and discuss these issues. But we’re not willing to be pressured by heavy-handed tactics.”
Patterson declined to get into the specifics of the closed-door discussions. He spoke highly of the strength and unity that characterized the gathering, but would only elaborate that the nations didn’t want to lose the momentum this one generated and “agreed to meet again to continue to discuss and pursue our common interests.”
Two of the six Haudenosaunee governments in New York, the Onondagas and Tuscaroras, follow traditional beliefs that oppose involvement in gambling activities. They did not participate in the Jan. 9 conference.
Three of the four participant nations, the Seneca, Oneida and Akwesasne Mohawk all operate casinos while the Cayugas seek to obtain one. The tribes have land claims against the state in varying stages of resolution. They differ on the sales tax collection issue, with the Senecas staunchly opposed and the others willing to consider tax parity.
Such differences and others may not allow for a completely united front. But efforts among the Haudenosaunee nations to discuss common goals are always commendable, as is their willingness to use diplomacy in tribal-state negotiations to secure the future for their descendants.
“Having economic resources allows us to assert our sovereign rights and still take care of the future seven generations,” Patterson explained. “That’s what this fight ultimately goes to. We are the seventh generation.”
He noted that representatives at the meeting talked about the 1794 Treaty of Canandaigua (a document signed by George Washington explicitly recognizing Haudenosaunee sovereignty over their lands) and pointed out that the treaty secured Haudenosaunee rights for seven generations.
“Now, it’s up to us as leaders to secure the future seven generations,” Patterson concluded. “That’s our responsibility. That’s a mandate we have as Haudenosaunee people.”
Senecas share
The Seneca Nation has opted not to use a potentially huge piece of leverage against New York. On Jan. 9, the nation transferred $38 million in slot machine revenue to the state treasury. The money represents 18 percent of the total slot win at the Seneca-Niagara Casino, the state’s annual cut for 2003 as mandated by the compact under which the casino operates.
“We took the high road,” Seneca Nation President Rickey L. Armstrong Sr. told the Buffalo News on Jan. 11. “We want to preserve the Seneca Nation’s integrity.”
Tribal Councilor Barry E. Snyder Sr. and others had sought to withhold the funds until Albany agreed to back off on forcing state sales tax collection on reservation fuel and tobacco sales to non-Indians. This group felt that the revenue sharing money was the best leverage they’d ever have against Albany.
The Senecas believe that treaty rights obtained in the early 1800s guarantee no state taxation on Indian lands. What better way to command respect for the older treaties than by heeding the requirements of the new compact? Gaming compacts, like treaties, are negotiated between sovereign governments and govern certain relations between those entities. The compact is, in a sense, a modern form of treaty.
Failing to pay the revenue sharing funds could well have backfired for the Senecas by fostering ill will against the tribe. Hats off to the Seneca Nation for living up to its end of the compact agreement and not resorting to heavy-handed tactics.
Mohawks, Caesars sued
Meanwhile, the St. Regis Mohawks are the target of a $20-million legal action by a group of 30 banks and investors, who filed suit in the state Supreme Court to recoup money they invested in the tribe’s Akwesasne Casino.
Caesars Entertainment Inc., the Las Vegas-based casino operator in partnership with the Mohawks to build a Catskill casino, also faces a $375-million lawsuit in federal court by the same group of plaintiffs. The plaintiffs alleged that Caesars conspired to coerce the tribe into reneging on its commitment to them.
On Jan. 6, Caesars formally changed its name from Park Place Entertainment. The company recently began negotiations with the Pauma-Yuima Band of Mission Indians to develop and manage a casino on reservation land near Pauma Valley in northern San Diego County, Calif.
