A resolution directing the transfer of funds to resolve the Nation’s outstanding gaming Compact dispute with New York state as soon as practicable has been approved by the Seneca Nation Council. In the meantime, not all are happy with how the action has played out.

The council resolution Monday calls for transferring $564,842,625.20 from a restricted escrow account in which Compact-related funds have been held throughout the five-year dispute. The amount covers the period of 2017 to 2021.

In addition, the Council’s action will allow for restrictions placed on several bank accounts held by the Seneca Nation and its businesses to be lifted. The accounts were unjustly targeted and frozen by in act of blatant aggression by New York state late last week, despite the state’s knowledge that the Nation’s secured account held more than sufficient funds to satisfy any Compact-related matters.

Seneca officials said the state’s actions threatened the delivery of services, including healthcare and education, to the Seneca people, as well as the lives and livelihoods of thousands of Seneca and non-Seneca individuals and families across Western New York.

“The Seneca Nation simply could not stand by while New York state intentionally attempted to hold the Seneca people and thousands of Western New Yorkers hostage,” said Seneca Nation President Matthew Pagels. “The state may think it’s appropriate to force an Elder to go without their diabetes medication or a family, already dealing with the financial impacts of the pandemic, to go without a paycheck. The Seneca Nation won’t let that happen. We will not let New York State strangle the people of Western New York.”

Along with the transfer of funds, Pagels issued a clear demand for New York state to now begin Compact discussions with the Seneca Nation. “Don’t use the people of Western New York as pawns in your obvious desire to destroy the Seneca Nation,” he said. “You have an obligation under federal law to negotiate a Compact with the Seneca Nation in good faith. Honor it.”

The Seneca Nation’s current gaming Compact went into effect in December 2002, granting the Nation the exclusive right to offer casino gaming in Western New York. Today, the Nation’s three casinos – Seneca Niagara Resort & Casino in Niagara Falls, Seneca Allegany Resort & Casino in Salamanca, and Seneca Buffalo Creek Casino in downtown Buffalo – employ approximately 3,000 workers, generating hundreds of millions of dollars in annual payroll and millions more in the purchase of goods and services from vendors and suppliers in Western New York, throughout the state and across the country.

Pagels has said repeatedly that the gaming Compact is the Seneca Nation’s highest economic priority, and reiterated his call for New York State to begin discussions without any further delay. The current Compact expires in December 2023.

“The Seneca Nation will not rest until we have a Compact in place that secures the future of our gaming business in Western New York – for our Seneca people, for our thousands of dedicated employees, for our business partners, and for our neighbors. We are not going anywhere and we will not tolerate a governor and a state hell bent on crushing us,” he said. “If that’s what the state expects, they couldn’t be more wrong.”

In addition, the Mothers of the Seneca Nation issued a statement regarding the actions. “The state used strong-arm coercive tactics, forcing a freeze of the Nation’s bank accounts over the weekend,” the statement noted. “These overly aggressive actions were in violation of a federal court order, as the Seneca Nation was given until April 8, 2022, in line with an established court schedule. Instead, Governor (Kathy) Hochul froze Seneca Nation accounts, beyond the disputed gaming funds in the restricted escrow account, and inflicted economic harm, crippling the Nation’s business operations.

“The Mothers of the Seneca Nation fought tirelessly in fierce opposition against the prevailing tide of attacks by a Goliath New York state in an effort to protect the assets of the Nation for the benefit of the people and our children’s future.”