Feature President

A message from President Rickey L. Armstrong, Sr.

Greetings!

I am pleased to announce Kerry J. John (turtle clan) has joined the President’s Office as the new Chief of Staff, effective March 2nd, 2020. A lifelong resident of the Allegany Territory, Kerry is a graduate of Salamanca High School, and has been an active member on the Salamanca City Central School District Board of Education for five years. His professional background includes several years as a union carpenter and managing his own construction company. Kerry’s most recent post was at the Seneca Nation Capital Projects Management, as Owner’s Representative. While in that position, he oversaw construction of the Onöhsagwë:de’ Cultural Center, the Jimersontown Firehall and the renovations of the Steamburg Community Center. Through these assignments and his professional background, Kerry has demonstrated the ability to successfully manage staff whom drive projects from beginning to completion. He is a valuable addition to our team and a great fit as our Chief of Staff. Welcome aboard to your new position, Kerry!

Welcome Kerry J. John, Chief of Staff

Congratulations go out to Franky Brown, who was recently traded to the Buffalo Bandits Lacrosse team! His lacrosse career includes his 2018-2019 season with the Philadelphia Wings and time with the Iroquois Nationals, where he won a silver medal at the 2019 World Indoor Lacrosse Championship. Most recently, he played with the Rochester Knighthawks. Franky is the son of Gordon Brown and Tracie (Heron) Brown, both from the Allegany territory. Keep up the good work Franky and nya:wëh for representing our Seneca communities!

In celebration of Youth Art Month, the Seneca Iroquois National Museum is hosting the 1st Annual Youth Art Show at the Onöhsagwë:de’ Cultural Center, in Salamanca, on Saturday, March 28th, from 10am to 5pm. The purpose for the art show is to give our emerging young Hodinöhsö:ni’ artists a professional experience and professional venue to show their work. The show is divided into five main categories, to provide our young artists with several opportunities to showcase their art. For more information, please call the museum at: (716) 945-1760.

The Seneca-Iroquois National Museum is hosting an event on May 11th, 2020, in honor of our Seneca mothers. They are seeking nominations of any past or present Seneca mothers. To nominate an exceptional Seneca mother that you know, you can fill out a nomination form and return it to the museum by April 15th, 2020. The nomination forms may be picked up at the museum, or at either of our Allegany or Cattaraugus Clerk Offices. Please contact Jennifer Jimerson at (716) 945-1760 or j.jimerson@sni.org, to find out more details.

I see our Environmental Protection staff and DPW staff has scheduled the 2020 Annual Spring Clean-up for Allegany and Cattaraugus territories. That’s always a good sign that spring will be here soon. Cattaraugus will hold their clean-up from April 18th to April 25th; while Allegany will hold their clean-up from April 27th to May 1st. Don’t forget, you may be required to show Seneca Nation I.D., when dropping off large items and/or hazardous waste. In addition to the drop-off and pick-up schedules, Cattaraugus and Allegany Environmental Protection departments are hosting Community Clean-up Team Contests. This year, Allegany will hold theirs on April 14th; and Cattaraugus will hold theirs on April 16th, both from 9am to 2pm. The contest is for 3-person teams (or individuals) to go out into the community and bag up garbage. Prizes are awarded to the teams who fill up the most bags with garbage. For more detailed information about these community events, please see the flyers posted at SNI.ORG.

Last, but not least, the Allegany DPW announced they will be delivering holiday hams to all Allegany territory enrolled Seneca Elders, sixty years old and up, starting at 9:00am on Tuesday, March 31st, 2020.

Respectfully,
Rickey L. Armstrong, Sr.