Governor Hochul! Drop Your Land Grab Against the Seneca Nation
New York is suing to take control of Seneca land. On Friday, November 6, the state filed federal lawsuits against the Interior Department over two Seneca Nation parcels, one in Buffalo and one on Grand Island, WGRZ reported. Governor Kathy Hochul wants the parcels stripped of their restricted fee status. That status keeps the land under Seneca and federal authority.
What Seneca Nation Restricted Fee Status Means
Restricted fee land is exempt from many taxes and from state and local land-use rules, and any sale or lease needs Interior approval, Buffalo Toronto Public Media explained. Interior granted that status in 2023 to the Miami Street parcel in Buffalo, site of the Nation’s Seneca One Stop, and in February 2026 to about 207 acres on Grand Island. The state argues the Seneca Nation Settlement Act of 1990 never qualified either parcel and that the federal funding authority used to buy the land expired years ago.
Courts Have Already Backed Seneca Nation Sovereignty
Judges keep reaching the same answer. In 2015, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld federal findings that Congress intended the Nation’s Buffalo casino parcel to fall under tribal jurisdiction. In October 2026, State Supreme Court Justice Donna Siwek denied the City of Buffalo’s second attempt to halt the Seneca One Stop, ruling that “the city currently has no regulatory jurisdiction over the project,” Spectrum News reported. Seneca Nation President J. Conrad Seneca called the suits “Governor Hochul’s latest attempt to extinguish us and our economic ability to serve our people.”
Common Sense Says Negotiate with the Seneca Nation
These lawsuits directly test Interior’s authority under a law Congress passed more than three decades ago. Endless litigation drains both governments and leaves neighbors waiting for answers. New York should sit down with the Seneca Nation, government to government, and leave the courtroom behind! Learn why tribal sovereignty matters for every Native nation. A promise kept is worth defending.
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