Sylvia Smith, a member of the Seneca Nation of the Iroquois Confederacy, is honored this weekend for her strength and spirit in the face of the degradation of her people at the hands of the New York State government. In an effort to tax the Native Americans on Sovereign Lands, the New York State government created a new deal with the local chiefs of the tribes without first gaining the consent of the Clan Mothers— who are the rightful leaders of the Nation as written in their constitution. The people of the Tonawanda Nation Territory struggled to make their voices heard, protesting the violation of their civil and human rights. After a confrontation with the State police on May 18, 1997, Ms. Smith invited Jackie Ashton, Rochester NOW president, to talk to an assembled group of forty women and men about starting a NOW chapter on the Territory.
Ms. Smith, who serves as the chapter president, graduated in 1979 from the University of California system and worked extensively on Native issues out west. Later, she returned to the East Coast to work with the Tonawanda people. Although retired, Ms. Smith is actively using her expertise and fortitude for the Seneca. It is our privilege to honor the activists of the Tonawanda Nation Territory this weekend.
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