Senecas denounce Hochul’s veto of unmarked burial protection act

of the families of lineal descendants and other groups.” blatant disregard for Native issues and priorities coming from New York’s Executive Chamber is disturbing,” Armstrong said. “For more than two centuries, our governments, our people and our priorities have been greeted with a deafening silence and contempt from New York governors. We see little hope for change based on recent actions.”

The Seneca Nation plans to submit a resolution further condemning Governor Hochul’s veto to the National Congress of American Indians and the United South and Eastern Tribes for their consideration and support.

Armstrong said the Legislature acted to protect the many sacred Natives sites and to extend to Native nations the dignity and respect they deserve. With every vote cast in support of the bill, he said Hochul’s signature was the only thing needed.

SALAMANCA

— The Seneca Nation has denounced Gov. Kathy Hochul’s veto of a bill that would have protected unmarked Native American burial sites in New York state.

Seneca officials called the Dec. 30 veto a “continued pattern in Albany of turning a deaf ear to Native priorities.”

At its first official meeting of 2023 on Saturday, the Seneca Nation Council unanimously approved a resolution formally voicing the Nation’s opposition to the governor’s action.

“The importance of the Unmarked Burial Site Protection Act to Native people cannot be overstated, and its rejection by the governor was an affront to Native nations, our people and our ancestors,” said Seneca Nation President Rickey Armstrong, Sr. Hochul’s veto keeps New York as one of only four states without protective measures in place. The act was passed by both the state Senate and Assembly in late May and early June of 2022, respectively. Prior versions of the bill had been first introduced in 2009.

“The Seneca people have lived, raised our families and been laid to rest in our ancestral lands from time immemorial,” Armstrong said. “Because of our forced relocation from our expansive ancestral lands to our presentday territories over hundreds of years, the final resting places of all of our ancestors is likely unknowable.”

The Act would have required the “cessation of all ground-disturbing activities upon the discovery of a burial ground, human remains or funerary objects” and would have further required a determination of whether the remains were of Native American origin and, if so, the remains would have been returned to the Native Nation from which they likely originated.

Armstrong said the act would have finally given Native communities “a true voice in honoring our moral and ethical obligation to protect those most sacred sites from destruction and desecration.”

In her veto memo, Hochul wrote that the bill fails to “balance the rights of property owners with the interests

“Instead, New York decided to remain on the sidelines, allowing property and development interests to maintain their priority position over people,” he continued. “The governor’s decision demonstrates an utter disregard for the fundamental rights of Native nations, Native people and all New Yorkers.”

Seneca Nation officials accuse Hochul’s veto as the latest action in a long pattern of disrespect in Albany for the rights of Native nations and people.

“The continued

New York, New Jersey and Wyoming are among the four states that do not have a process when burials are unearthed on private property through unintentional excavation. Unmarked grave protection legislation was drafted in Ohio but failed to meet the threshold for introduction in the Ohio General Assembly.

In addition to vetoing the Unmarked Burial Site Protection Act, Hochul previously vetoed another bill that would have given the Montaukett Indian Nation on Long Island state recognition, which also passed the state assembly. A third bill that would have established an office of Native American affairs never made it out of committee.

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