Letter from Lloyd Jacobs, Chairman,
Senecas for Justice and Preservation

11/7/03

Does it really matter?

Once again the Seneca people are being asked to sacrifice our freedom so the Big Business owners running the Seneca Nation of Indians can continue to enjoy their free ride on the backs of the Haudenosaunee. The Seneca Nation Corporation was founded in 1982 by the top three elected officials of the Seneca Nation, as a non-profit organization. This action was necessary to establish Bingo Halls on our territories with the promises of great prosperity for the Seneca People. The articles of incorporation listed only three people who would be paid from this endeavor. No provisions to share with the people. Twenty years later a Class III gaming compact with the state of New York was presented to the people with promises of big monthly checks and many other promises. The people have repeatedly asked for accountability from our representatives but still no answers as of this writing. Requested meetings with the treasurer were canceled after we mentioned we wanted to see records of gaming income and spending. Our calls for such information are still ignored.

The entire council and department heads of all Seneca Nation facilities are all in private business using Haudenosaunee Sovereignty to avoid paying taxes to the Seneca Nation or any other government. Now they expect the people to go out and burn tires in protest and put their lives on the line for minimum wage jobs while they make millions. The National Guard has received orders to shoot to kill if the Indians have another uprising that jeopardizes highway travel and other means of commerce on U.S. highways. Is it worth your life?

A decent future for the Seneca People was sold on May 14, 2002, Nov. 5, 2002, and Sept 9, 2003. What an atrocity that in a country priding itself on democratic principles, voting is given so little regard. What should be as sacred as any religious ceremony is profaned by business interest and trampled on by such carelessness.

The Traditional People and the followers of the Code of Handsome Lake are of the belief that if they do not engage in the political process, they are not part of the wrong doing by elected officials, therefore the voter and election discrepancies provide the elected officials with many opportunities to proceed without answering to anyone for their misdeeds. The chances of a fair and true election are dwindling and perhaps gone. The people are under siege by the purchase of government.

Now we are asked to vote on extending the length of terms for our four top executives to four years. An attempt to solidify their grip on the throats of the people. The usual pay off places will be open for business again on November 4, 2003.

The “Official” newsletter will not give us all the facts even though we must all bear the burden for cost of one sided political persecution provided for the Seneca Party. Our lack of access to local newspapers, due to suppression by the administration, makes it even more difficult to get the truth to the people enabling them to make informed decisions at the voting booth.

The choice may be yours, maybe not.

Henry Lloyd Jacobs

39 Lincoln Ave. Salamanca, N.Y. 14779-1609

Ph. (716) 945-4202