New York’s Seneca Nation of Indians has launched a campaign to spread awareness of the tribe’s history and contributions to the state economy in a PR push ahead of negotiations to renew its state compact.
Called #StandWithSeneca,” the campaign was announced last week by tribal leaders at a press conference outside the Seneca Buffalo Creek Casino in Buffalo.
“Seneca Buffalo Creek Casino is one example of how the Seneca Nation has helped to reshape and restore the economic landscape in Western New York,” said Seneca Nation President Matthew Pagels. “Historic private investment, jobs for local residents, and business opportunities for local companies are just part of the legacy the Seneca Nation continues to create. We want our neighbors to understand what the Seneca Nation means to Western New York, and how our success is felt in every corner of our region.”
The tribe’s current compact expires in December. Under that agreement, the tribe pays the state 25 percent of the revenues of its three Western New York casinos, in Buffalo, Niagara Falls, and Salamanca, roughly $100 million per year. A dispute over nearly $500 million in revenue sharing payments—the tribe claimed it was no longer obligated to make payments under its original compact as of 2016—was settled by the courts in the state’s favor early this year.
At the press conference, Seneca officials said the tribe has paid nearly $2 billion to the state under the current compact, in addition to employing 5,000 and spending more than $360 million annually with local vendors.
“The economic statistics are impressive, but they only tell part of the story,” said Kevin Nephew, president & CEO Of Seneca Gaming Corporation, at the press event. “Their true impact is felt in the living rooms of the thousands of Western New Yorkers who work in our facilities. For our co-workers, the statistics represent the groceries they buy for their family, the mortgage payment on their home, their children’s tuition, and every other part of life that their paychecks help make possible.”
Along with the economic benefits, the #StandWithSeneca campaign will focus on the Seneca Nation’s history as one of the nations of the Haudenosaunee, or Iroquois Confederacy, and its centuries-long efforts to defend its sovereignty and homelands.
“Tomorrow is 716 Day, a day when Western New Yorkers have come to celebrate the many unique aspects and the spirit of our region,” Pagels said. “The Seneca Nation is Western New York. We want our friends and neighbors to stand with us in our fight for fairness, so that we can continue to deliver for our region and sustain our people for generations. Western New York is our home—always, still and forever.”
