First woman President in Seneca Nation History
November 10, 2026
ALLEGANY TERRITORY, SALAMANCA, N.Y. – Tina Abrams forever etched her name into Seneca Nation history today when she took the oath of office as Seneca Nation President. She is the first woman ever elected to the Seneca Nation’s highest office.
President Abrams was sworn in during the Nation’s Canvass Day ceremony, along with several other Executive, Council and other candidates who won office in last week’s Seneca Nation elections.
“Our people went to the polls to choose a leader you believe in, a leader you can trust to lead our Nation with strength, honesty, vision and conviction,” President Abrams told the large crowd gathered at Seneca Allegany Resort & Casino. “I am honored beyond words to stand before you as your choice, your President, and as the first woman to receive and accept that responsibility.”
“I know that I bear a great responsibility to you – to all of you, all 8,500 Senecas,” she continued. “I will work every day to honor that responsibility and to live the words of the oath I take today. Yours will always be the voice that guides me.”
Joining President Abrams as part of the first all-woman Executive branch of government are Treasurer Lenith Waterman and Clerk Bethany Johnson. They were each elected to serve two-year terms. Eight new Councilors – four each from the Allegany and Cattaraugus territories – were also sworn in and will join the 16-member Council for four-year terms.
President Abrams has been a voice of leadership in the Seneca Nation for decades. First elected to the Seneca Nation Council in 2001, she was the first woman appointed as the legislative body’s Co-Chair in 2012. Earlier this year, she became the first Native American woman to be honored with the New York State Senate Woman of Distinction Award, which was created to honor women whose achievements, leadership, and dedication have enriched the quality of life in their communities and across the state.
Throughout her address today, President Abrams spoke of the many people who influenced her and made her historic victory possible. She spoke of the Seneca Clan Mothers who, before the Nation adopted an elected form of government in 1848, chose the Nation’s chiefs. She also spoke of her family’s historic involvement with the Nation, including her grandfather, Morris Jimerson, and her father, Walden Jimerson, who both served on the Nation Council fought to give women the right to vote in Nation elections.
The right to vote was secured in a 1964 referendum, followed by the right to hold elected office in 1966. President Abrams’ grandmother, Sybil Eels, was the fourth Seneca woman ever elected to a government position.
“Now, the same little girl from Cattaraugus who used to go to meetings with her father and fall asleep in the Council House; a proud mother and grandmother who raised her family here in Allegany; and a longtime voice for the Seneca people on Council, will lead our Nation for the next two years,” she said.
President Abrams also spoke of the challenges that lie ahead for the Nation and its people, as well as the Nation’s long history of resilience.
“Look at what our people have endured and fought against for generations. Now, the fight is ours to lead,” she said. “We have to deal with hostile governments who want to take from us, but they don’t want to deal fairly with us. Outside leaders want to challenge our sovereignty without understanding or respecting our history. They want to force their laws upon us while they ignore our treaties, and, again, they want to take our land.
“That is a lesson as old as the United States itself – take the Indians’ land. Take their way of life. Take their identity,” she continued. “We have seen it throughout our history. We have seen it at Buffalo Creek. We have seen it at Kinzua, and now they want to keep attacking, keep trying to get rid of us.
“They can try, but they will fail,” she said. “We will never let history repeat itself. They are all going to get a lesson in Seneca strength and Seneca unity that is 178 years in the making.”
In closing, President Abrams implored the Nation’s elected officials to remember that today’s celebration is not the final destination, but rather a launch point.
“We cannot let the history we make today and the weight of this moment define us,” she said. “History will not judge us on the election that we won. It is the work that we do with the opportunity our people have given us that matters most.”