Seneca tribe plans their own tolls

It's not just in Canada where relations between the federal and governments on the one hand and the First Nations on the other are strained even at the best of times.

In New York State, they have been simmering for years, not just with the feds but also the state government, and now are about to explode. The Seneca Nation, one of the tribes of the Haudenasonee, says they're trying to see if there's a way to collect their own tolls on the New York Thruway, the largest toll road in the Northeast, to be imposed on cars that drives partly through Seneca territory on the stretch running from Buffalo to the Pennsylvania state line. And Chief Barry Snyder says that's just one option in his playbook.

The flashpoint? Facing a huge budget crunch, the governor of New York State, David Paterson, is saying that he will put a stop to the shipments of tax free cigarettes to reservations in the state -- or at least force the wholesalers to collect the taxes that would be charged off-reserve.

Even before the casinos opened up in the Buffalo area, the Senecas were actually doing quite well for themselves, especially on tobacco sales. Of course, many of their customers are non-native NYS residents who don't want to pay excise taxes, which add up to several dollars a package. The Senecas say they don't have to demand that someone show ID to prove they're a native to get the native price -- and I think they're absolutely right on that.

The Senecas have revolted before in 1994 and 1997 and both times NYS backed off. But that was when the economy was good and the state was getting a fair share of the revenues, not unlike other tribal casinos in other states. Now with gambling revenues down, the thought by the state is now's a good time to get the money while they can.

Ticking off a sovereign people in the name of fiscal management? The standoff in Caledonia and Oka will be teddy bear picnics compared to what might happen in WNY if Paterson pushes this one. I'm with the natives on this one. While I agree there's no way the Senecas could be smoking 68 packs a day each (based on recent sales) there has to be a better way to raise revenues in hard times without causing provocations.

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