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Seneca President Has Big Ideas

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Tuesday, 07 December 2010

Seneca President Has Big Ideas December 5, 2010 Do you think it is time for Native Americans to move off their lands and join the rest of us full-fledged Americans in getting on with life in the 21st century? If so, we believe from what he has written that the newly elected president of the Seneca Nation of Indians sees you as proof of how thoroughly U.S. government policies of assimilation have undermined the notion of the sovereignty of Indian nations. And while he understands the historic roots of this view, Robert Odawi Porter - Harvard graduate, Syracuse University law professor and the new president of the Senecas - rejects it from the inner core of his being. Porter was, in fact, elected last month on the pledge to fight aggressively all threats to the Seneca's sovereignty. That's no surprise nor does the vow represent any new direction for the Seneca governing body. However, if his two-year term is not too short a time to leave a deep imprint, Porter's election holds the possibility that during his presidency, issues that long have been like dead weights sapping the Senecas' attention and emotional energy may finally be moved to resolution - perhaps in a direction no one has yet imagined. Porter, 47, grew up in the Allegany Territory. He graduated from Salamanca High School and then went off Syracuse University and, ultimately, Harvard Law School. He practiced law in Washington, D.C., for a time and then became a law school professor, finally settling into Syracuse University, which he good-naturedly has called his second tribe. In other words, Porter comes to the job with a worldview and sophistication that is rooted in the 20th century and is coming to fruition in the 21st. The Seneca Nation has never had a president with such an extensive education and broad experience. Porter sees his term of office intersecting an apogee of challenges. "Whether it be private lawsuits to stop our casino construction in Buffalo, the Congress targeting Seneca mail-order businesses, New York state efforts to tax our territory commerce and violate our treaty rights or federal agencies trying to interfere with our internal self-governance, the nation is experiencing multiple attacks on our very existence like we haven't seen in over 200 years,'' Porter has said. But he does not see outside forces controlling the agenda for his presidency. Porter brought into office with him a phalanx of like-minded, highly educated Senecas to create an apogee of growth and prosperity for the Senecas. ''Despite all the challenges that face the nation, I continue to be inspired by the opportunities that lie ahead. We are a strong and vibrant people who have survived repeated efforts to extinguish us. Our responsibilities have grown, our people have gratefully come back into some degree of prosperity, and we have to keep that going ...'' Porter has said. Yes, the new Seneca Nation of Indians president has also been clear and deliberate in saying his job, and that of the tribal councilors, includes being a peacekeeper in trying to work with neighbors - meaning the outside world - to solve problems. But for all of that, Porter is first, foremost and firmly a Seneca. It creates the framework of how he sees and reacts to the challenges that his people face. It will be a grave mistake when, as we know they will, state government leaders underestimate that facet of the man. http://post-journal.com/page/content.detail/id/576021/Seneca-President-Has-Big-Ideas.html

 

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