Taxes

Another controversy that was very public and involved the sovereignty of the Iroquois nation was the issue of taxing the cigarettes that are sold on the reservations. Because all cigarettes sold on the reservation are not subject to tax and New York State has been going through extremely rough fiscal times one way Governor Patterson decided to make up some revenue was through breaking the treaty regarding the taxation. The state announced that come September 1st, 2010 all non-Indians buying brand name cigarettes would be taxed. With this news came protests to bring awareness to the local people. Both Indians and smokers were highly upset and many people (mostly women) took to the roads outside of the smoke shops and off the reservations and picketed, passed out flyers, and spoke to passersby as they stopped at the red light.

Fortunately, September 1st came and went with not too much issue. The supreme court judge postponed the tax collection for about 2 weeks. People were tense and feared that things might get violent, however, when the time ran out a decision was made to finally allow the tribes to continue selling tobacco without being taxed.

While personally I am not a smoker and think it is a terrible habit I understand the principles behind the fight to keep this non-tax status. So much has been taken away from indigenous peoples of America they figure if Indians continue to allow small things such as a tax-free status to be taken away eventually they will have nothing.
For further reading on the topic please see the following article:

http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/home/content/NY-cigarette-tax-law-stopped-105522053.html

Borders

Border Crossing. Every year in the summer the Indian Nations that make up the Haudenosaunee participate in an event called “border crossing” which signifies not only the fact that the First Nations peoples were here prior to European arrival, the event also represents an agreement/treaty that was ratified by the governments of the United States and Britain in 1794. The Jay Treaty actually states that the First Nations people have the right to cross the northern border between the States and Canada without passports or levies in order to trade or travel. Thus, every year individuals and groups of Indians gather together on alternate sides of the border to do a parade across one of the bridges to the other country. The beginning point of the parade alternates between Canada and the US. After the parade all the people congregate in a close park to celebrate the event and their culture. Crafts are brought out, people sing, people eat, and people chat. It is a very festive time but all to make outsiders, as well as other Indians aware of the fact that Indians have this right as a treaty between the two nations and it should be honored.
Please read more about the treaty: http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/law/lwsch/journals/bciclr/24_2/04_FMS.htm