OK Governor threatens the state's more than 40 Native American tribes.

[wnylib]

31. You are correct on all points, except.........

Sometimes a tribal nation enters into a contract with a state government, as the Seneca Nation did with New York State on casino gambling. That has created a sore point with the Seneca because the state did not hold up its side of the contract. The Seneca Nation then withheld the percentage of profits that it had agreed in the contract to pay NY, in order to use it as leverage for the state to eitherr honor its side of the contract or negotiate a new one.

But, Governor Kathy Hochul ended the standoff by freezing Seneca government bank accounts until they agreed to pay. They had no choice. The Seneca Nation needed those funds for their healthcare agencies, food to the needy, etc. To add insult to injury, Hochul then gave the millions paid by the Seneca to a fund for a Buffalo Bills stadium. Non Native people in the state are also dissatisfied with the use of those funds to support a private, billionaire-owned sports team.

She permanently lost support among all of the Seneca and among non Native people who disapprove of her strong arm tactic.

I will never vote for a Republican, but I will have to hold my nose in voting for Hochul this year. If a winning Dem alternative existed, I would vote for him/her in a heartbeat.

There is still some legal wrangling over it between state, federal, and Seneca governments. A previous federal ruling had required the Seneca to make the payment, based on their contract with the state. But the Seneca position is that the state invalidated the contract by not living up to its side of it. Meantime, Hochul's name is worse than mud among the Seneca and their supporters.