City September 1, 2012 12:00 AM

North Buffalo Move by Seneca Nation President Draws Criticism

Buffalo Rising 19

Barry E. Snyder, Sr., candidate for president of the Seneca Nation, is denouncing the actions of current Nation President Rob Porter for "abandoning his people, purchasing a nearly half million dollar home in an exclusive North Buffalo neighborhood and enrolling his children in the most expensive private school in Buffalo." Porter is currently running for treasurer of the Seneca Nation and supporting Richard Nephew's presidential bid. The Nation's general election is on November 6.

"It is clear by these actions that President Porter has abandoned his people and that his priorities are not representative of the needs of each and every Seneca," said Snyder. "He is more interested in fulfilling his own personal goals and aspirations moving his residence to an elite Buffalo neighborhood and sending his children to an elite private school."

The property is located at 194 Morris Avenue, Buffalo and was sold for $490,000. Closing papers were filed with the Erie County Clerk's office on August 3, 2012. Porter's wife, Odie Porter, is president of the Seneca Construction Management Corporation; a Seneca Nation owned enterprise business.

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19 Comments Leave a comment

LouisTully

September 1, 2012 12:25 AM

not representative of the needs of each and every Seneca," said Porter.

Should that read: "said Snyder"?

[ Reply ]

Score: 1 ( 1 votes )

TheRepatformerlyknownasosirisascending

September 1, 2012 12:45 AM

I was hoping I wasn't the only one who caught that.

[ Reply ]

replied to LouisTully

Score: 1 ( 1 votes )

paulsobo

September 1, 2012 1:36 AM

The Indian sovereignty thing is a sham

[ Reply ]

Score: 4 ( 28 votes )

pampiniform

September 1, 2012 2:57 AM

How do you come by a statement like that? They preceded European settlement in this area by centuries. From even before the advent of the United States they were treated as sovereign nations, which is why the treaties that were always being broken were constantly being drawn up. If you are familiar with any constitutional law, you'll remember that treaties fall under the domain of the legislative branch, specifically Congress. That's one of the reasons some Indian tribes will refuse to work with any state in favor of the federal government.
The whole concept of sovereignty has been constantly held up by the courts and by legislative/ judicial tradition for hundreds of years. It is categorically not a sham. They do enjoy rights to self - government.
The best I can guess why you would say something like that is that you are unhappy with the whole concept of Indians offering services which you are not happy with.

[ Reply ]

replied to paulsobo

Score: 4 ( 18 votes )

NBuffguy

September 1, 2012 9:56 AM

Maybe because if they were sovereign, they wouldn't have to pay taxes to our government. They also wouldn't enjoy benefits from our government. They do both, and that doesn't really seem "sovereign" to me. I do believe that Indian tribes got screwed by the Europeans who settled in the Americas, which eventually led to the creation of our country. Because of that, I think we do owe them some extra help. But let's call it what it is.

[ Reply ]

replied to pampiniform

Score: 8 ( 18 votes )

pampiniform

September 1, 2012 1:26 PM

> But let's call it what it is

And what is that?

[ Reply ]

replied to NBuffguy

Score: -3 ( 5 votes )

biniszkiewicz

September 1, 2012 9:59 PM

The tribes have to obey our laws, from assaults to white collar infractions. The state police arrest those accused of criminal behavior. The accused are tried in our courts. As NBuff points out, none of that is the behavioral template of a sovereign state. They are clearly not sovereign in the commonly held sense of what 'sovereign' means, regardless of legal interpretations. After all, they are subject to our laws, and our laws supersede theirs. Nothing else gets to the heart of the matter of just what independence and sovereignty mean than to whose laws one is subject. The Soviet Union forever extolled the independence and sovereignty of the Eastern Block nations. Czechoslovakia and Poland begged to differ.

As to "calling it what it is": call it apartheid that morphed into welfare, primarily via gaming.

Apartheid is how it all started. Push the tribes away to that patch of land over there that we don't care about yet. Keep those dirt worshipers separate from us.

Some native tribes adopted the white man's culture and succeeded in farming and other trades and for their participation in the American dream, they got screwed just as much as those who rejected our ways. In Georgia, native Americans who had long lived among whites and adopted our culture were rounded up and shipped out west on the Trail of Tears. Most tribes got screwed by racist Europeans conquering the land, American politicians forever broke treaties solemnly sworn to by Congress, American armies forever kicked natives off whatever land we had banished them to as soon as we found something located there that we coveted.

But all of history is tainted by ugly conquest. And conquer the continent we did. We played dirty, we didn't play fair. All true. But the truth is also that the tribes lost the battle for sovereignty many moons ago.

The truth of the matter is that Native Americans are Americans. They should no longer be sequestered on 'Reservations'. Those vestiges from the era of American apartheid are really no longer appropriate. Native Americans should be Native-Americans, or Native-Canadians, or Native-Mexicans, etc. They're already subject to our laws. It's no longer just a WASP culture. Now it's a salad bowl where even Asians and Africans are treated as the equals they are, and everyone's culture adds to the notion of just what being 'American' means. Let the native tribes contribute to that general culture, rather than living largely sequestered in ghettos of joblessness, poor education and minimal economic prospects outside of serving as our gambling midwives.

[ Reply ]

replied to pampiniform

Score: 8 ( 10 votes )

grad94

September 3, 2012 2:31 PM

well-written and well-argued, as is most everything you post, bini.

yet i would hesitate to use poverty as a reason to strip the seneca (or any other tribe/nation) from whatever self-determination they have left. it's kind of like using the fact of anti-indian bias, discrimination, or oppression (whatever you prefer to call it) to justify continued or additional oppression.

[ Reply ]

replied to biniszkiewicz

Score: 1 ( 1 votes )

Buffalogni

September 2, 2012 2:15 PM

A scam. A tax exemption on a 1040 form.
I am offended by people like Barry Snyder who live in a luxurious house in North Buffalo and pass themselves off as a Seneca tribe member to make a tax-free fortune. It is shameful.

Can someone tell me what percentage of the tribe can still claim to be at least 50% Native American? Is there even a way to tell after 500 years of interbreeding?

[ Reply ]

replied to pampiniform

Score: 1 ( 5 votes )

Tim

September 1, 2012 7:39 AM

Now I understand natives are generally poor, but does he expect the president to live in a mobile home? 'half million dollar,' 'elite neighborhood,' 'elite private school,' 'most expensive,' 'exclusive,'... Please. Quit the class warfare and find an actual issue to rally behind.

[ Reply ]

Score: 8 ( 16 votes )

grad94

September 1, 2012 7:49 AM

how strange. it would be like obama moving to canada while still presuming to conduct the nation's business. if i was seneca, i'd be annoyed.

maybe the seneca nation should build or buy its own version of the white house, an official presidential residence, and institute a residency requirement.

[ Reply ]

Score: 8 ( 12 votes )

brownteeth

September 4, 2012 4:17 PM

Puerto Rico would be a better comparison

[ Reply ]

replied to grad94

Score: 0 ( 2 votes )

joey d

September 1, 2012 8:23 AM

C'MON.....Dont do what I do....DO WHAT I SAY!!

[ Reply ]

Score: 0 ( 2 votes )

MJW

September 1, 2012 2:50 PM

Barry Snyder doesn't live on the Rez either. Hypocrite!

[ Reply ]

Score: 3 ( 5 votes )

RaChaCha

September 1, 2012 7:06 PM

While I disagree with Porter's stances on many things, most notably moving forward on the casino project, I must say that of all the Seneca Nation leaders I'm familiar with he is the most concerned with economic development for the Nation. For example, he attended some of the Accelerate Upstate conference a year ago (which I covered for Artvoice) and seemed genuinely engaged. He has also had discussions with Jordan Levy -- not just about waterfront stuff related to the casino, but also about economic development projects for the Nation.

In light of that, it should be noted that Porter's new residence is very close to that of Howard Zemsky, one of the most important (if not the most important) figures in economic development in western New York today. I doubt that's a coincidence. It also may be a sign that he has a project or projects in the works.

Barry Snyder can fulminate all he wants -- that's what he does, has always done, and I wouldn't expect anything different. He's like an old-time, puffy-faced, politburo apparatchik banging his rhetorical shoe on the table.

[ Reply ]

Score: 1 ( 7 votes )

biniszkiewicz

September 1, 2012 9:23 PM

Astute, Ra. Locating his residence in the neighborhood of other movers and shakers might indeed benefit the nation. It's surprising how much business gets conducted between friends and acquaintances.

I don't know which I like better: Grad's suggestion of a Seneca official residence, down on the reservation . . . or living near and networking among the powerful for the benefit of the nation.

[ Reply ]

replied to RaChaCha

Score: 1 ( 3 votes )

RaChaCha

September 2, 2012 5:57 PM

Thank you!

[ Reply ]

replied to biniszkiewicz

Score: 1 ( 3 votes )

Pegger

September 3, 2012 4:01 AM

Did anyone really doubt the inevitability of this? Just look at California where Indian gaming has negatively impacted communities despite their "generous" contributions to local causes. This is merely an outward manifestation of the excesses this nation-wide movement borne from collective guilt has created. I spend much of the winters in one of these fsmous desert resorts and have seen how 7 casinos in a radius of 25 miles have negatively impacted a once beautiful valley.

Has anyone here done anything to measure the cultural and economic impact locally? Be prepared to see more of this! Perhaps it takes something like this to open the minds of the public and despite the shrinking nature of Buffalo aside, it is a larger venue than the little California towns where the impact is more readily obvious.

[ Reply ]

Score: 0 ( 4 votes )

Buffalo_Resurrection

September 3, 2012 1:06 PM

Why is this an issue or even being reported on Buffalo Rising other than the location being North Buffalo?

If Rob Porter chooses to buy a home in North Buffalo and decides to send his children to a private school than, quite frankly, that is no one’s business except his own.

WTF?

[ Reply ]

Score: 2 ( 6 votes )

North Buffalo Move by Seneca Nation President Draws Criticism

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