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Appellate court rules against Seneca Nation

By Eileen Buckley

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wbfo/local-wbfo-974451.mp3

Rochester, NY – A state court of appeals in Rochester has ruled against the Seneca Nation of Indians in its attempt to block the State can collect taxes of tobacco sold on Indian reservations to non-Indians.

The court's one-page ruling, issued Tuesday, denies a request by the Seneca's for a preliminary injunction. It also drops a temporary restraining order issued June 10th.

Seneca Nation president Robert Odawi Porter said they will review the Appeals Court ruling. Porter said Seneca people are now making their own cigarettes in Nation territories and will continue to work to block the state's long-standing effort to collect the taxes.

Seneca business owner JC Seneca said they already manufacture their own products and plan to step it up to avoid the state's attempt to collect the taxes.

The following statement was issued by Porter Tuesday afternoon:

"The Seneca Nation will of course seek review of this decision by the state Court of Appeals.

"For more than 200 years, the Seneca Nation has thwarted New York State's efforts to steal our land, destroy our sovereignty, and tax commerce in our territories. In our treaties with the United States, we gave up most of our land to retain the free use and enjoyment' to conduct business in our remaining territories free from the state's taxes. New York will never collect a cent of revenue from tobacco sales occurring in our territories, and revenue projections so indicating are foolishness.

"Instead, today marks the beginning of a new era in the Nation's tobacco trade and exercise of our sovereignty. Seneca people are now manufacturing cigarettes in our territories and our Nation's government will work with them to ensure that our tobacco economy is sustained and regulated.

"We will continue to block the state's long-standing crusade to confiscate our national wealth, sacrifice native and non-native jobs and interfere with our way-of-life. While the state may be able to embargo through taxation premium brands from entering our territory, it cannot tax the brands made in our territory or any of the Six Nations. We will never stop fighting the state's predatory actions."