Seneca Nation of New York
[3] An additional territory de facto governed by the nation, the Cornplanter Tract in Pennsylvania, officially expired in 1957 and was submerged by the construction of the Allegheny Reservoir in 1965.
The Seneca Nation of Indians Constitution established a tri-partite governing structure based on general elections of 16 Councilors, three Executives (President, Treasurer, and Clerk), and Court Justices (Surrogates and Peacemakers).
Off-territory residents, who often work in remote urban areas that provide more jobs, comprise nearly half of the enrolled citizens.
That band of the Seneca retained its traditional government of hereditary chiefs chosen by clan mothers from the maternal lines responsible for such leadership.
In 2011, the Seneca Party was reported by The Buffalo News as having bribed people for votes and bussed voters in from out of state during elections.
In years past, the nation has used lever-action voting machines, a process that will be replaced as of 2016 by scanned paper ballots, If a poll worker heard a voter depress more than one lever, or take too long to complete their ballot, they could report this back to the Seneca Party bosses, who could then punish the voter by denying them jobs or seizing their homes.
[8] There have been numerous factions and disputes within the Seneca Party; tensions increased during the presidency of attorney Robert Odawi Porter in 2010–2012.
[6] Diane Kennedy, Tribal Clerk and a Porter ally, invalidated this vote under conflict of interest statutes.
[9] Barry E. Snyder Sr., a John ally who had previously served several other terms as President (including the one immediately before Porter), was re-elected to the post in 2012.
Tina Abrams, Rickey Armstrong, William "Billy" Canella and Stephen Gordon were elected to the Council from the Allegany Territory.
Elected to Council were Linda "Soupy" Doxtator, Jeffrey Gill, Arlene Bova Michael Williams, Presley Redeye, Keith White, Al E. George and Timothy Waterman.
The Seneca Party won all Seneca Nation offices, Councilors elected were Tina Abrams, William Canella, Josh Jimerson, Angie Kennedy, Llona LeRoy, Robert W. Jones, Ross John Sr., and John Adlai Williams Jr. Andrew Keyes and Brandon Crouse were elected Chief Marshals; Darby LeRoy, Cheyne Jimerson, Rory Wheeler, Josh Becker, Christopher Bova, and Randy White were elected Marshals.
Outgoing Allegany Councilor Al E. George was elected Treasurer, bringing his experience to the role after serving on the Council.
From the Cattaraugus Territory, the newly elected Council members included Klint Nephew, Eliot Jimerson, Lisa Maybee, and Jonathan D. Williams.
Issues related to these excise taxes have been a source of controversy between the tribes and the state government and non-Seneca convenience store operators in the vicinity for several decades.
This was related to asserting sovereignty as part of a general Native American activism in this period and, specifically, to try to defeat proposals by the United States Army Corps of Engineers to take thousands of acres of reservation land as part of construction of Kinzua Dam, a flood-control project on the River.
The project caused huge losses for the tribe, taking 10,000 acres of their reservation, nearly one third of their total property and much of it the most fertile farmland.
That this compensation was largely considered insufficient was made worse by the fact that the government' violated a 1794 treaty- that guaranteed the tribe control of this reservation- in order to accomplish the building of the dam.
[19] As the tribe used some compensation monies to support higher education for its members, the 1960s crisis indirectly resulted in a "college-educated generation, some of whom now work in tribal government making major contributions to the nation’s present and future.
"[20] In a major action, in 2010 the Nation filed an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to take over operations of the hydropower works, the Seneca Pumped Storage Project at Kinzua Dam.
[22] President Porter has noted that, when the federal dam was proposed, tribal leaders were told only that it was needed for flood control, not that a hydroelectric project would be run there.
"[23] The Nation was required to work with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to obtain documents relevant to adding new generation infrastructure to its dam.
[22] In November 2013, FERC approved FirstEnergy's sale of 11 hydro plants, including that at Kinzua Dam, which was the biggest project, to a unit of independent developer LS Power Group.
[24] President Porter noted that the dam has generated hundreds of millions of dollars in profits for operators since it started in 1970, but the Seneca have not received any of that money.
[25] On July 22, 2015, the Commission issued a new 50-year license to Seneca Generation to continue operation of the Kinzua Project, effective December 1, 2015.
That year, Seneca Generation sought relief from requirements by federal resource agencies related to measures to protect rare and endangered species below the dam.
In the 1990s, the Seneca won a prolonged court battle to assume ownership of all land on their reservation, including that owned by private non-Seneca.
In a similar case in 2012, the Seneca ordered an eviction of 80 residents of summer cottages at Snyder Beach on the Cattaraugus Reservation, a location near Sunset Bay.
At the time of the formation of the Iroquois League, the original five nations occupied large areas of land in Northeast North America, particularly present-day New York, Pennsylvania, and Southeast Canada.
A Faithkeepers' School supports and ensures the ongoing practice of traditional teachings, arts, knowledge and the living culture of the Longhouse ways.
