Heyhey Nya:wëh Sgë:nö’,
I hope everyone enjoyed a happy Thanksgiving with your loved ones and friends. We have so much to be thankful for in our community.
It is hard to believe that 2025 is almost finished and that I have reached the halfway point of my term as Seneca Nation President. The past 12 months have gone by very quickly and I am incredibly proud of what we have done on behalf of our people since I came into office.
When I was elected, I promised to make sure that our people’s voice was heard. Over the past year, we have actively engaged with our community and encouraged your input and feedback on important issues that impact all of us. We have heard you, we have listened to you, and we will continue to engage with you in the year ahead to make sure that your voice helps direct the future path of our Nation.
In the coming weeks, I will begin having Listening Sessions in our community to continue important direct dialogue with you. The Listening Sessions will be opportunities to discuss a wide range of issues that are on your mind and important to our community. This is another opportunity for us to have important back-and-forth dialogue where we listen and learn from one another. I hope to have the first session sometime before Christmas, so stay tuned for more information.
We have also been advocating for our Nation and making our voice heard far and wide – from Western New York to Albany and Washington.
In just this calendar year, we secured a long-awaited and long overdue apology from New York State for the atrocities at the Thomas Indian School, successfully pushed New York State and the City of Olean to finally move forward in addressing the City’s longstanding destruction of Ohi:yo’ and stop the dangerous overflows from the City’s wastewater treatment infrastructure into the river, won a major legal victory in our ongoing lawsuit over the illegal operation of the New York State Thruway in Cattaraugus, saw important improvements on our territories, like the expansion at the Lionel R. John Health Center in Allegany, celebrated the acquisition of the Rochester Knighthawks lacrosse franchise, and made several successful and impactful visits to the capitals in Albany and Washington.
One area of particular focus for me and my administration continues to be public safety and law enforcement measures to protect our people. We are fighting illegal drug activity on our territories and forging strong partnerships with the Erie County and Cattaraugus County Sheriffs Departments, as well as federal, state and local law enforcement leaders. We also took a strong and vocal stand against the City of Salamanca Police Chief and Cattaraugus County District Attorney for contemplating hostility toward our Seneca Nation Marshals in carrying out Nation Executive Orders seeking to remove and exclude known drug dealers and users from Nation lands.
We are making it clear that outside law enforcement should be working with us to keep our people and territories safe, not standing in our way.
One major boost in that effort would be for Governor Hochul to sign into law a bill that we lobbied for this year and that was passed by both the New York State Senate and Assembly. The bill amends Section 8 of New York Indian Law and is aimed at strengthening state laws authorizing the removal of non-Native intruders from Nation lands. With each day that the Governor doesn’t sign the bill, our people remain a target for bad actors who prey on our people and use our territories as a haven for illegal activity. We are going to keep fighting to make sure the Seneca people are prioritized and protected.
I want to express my gratitude and appreciation for your continued support and the hard work of so many who commit themselves every day to serving our Nation and the Seneca people.
Until next time,
J.C.
