Scanned: Case Number 308925

Tracy #308925, HO IN HAUDENOSAUNEE MOHAWK - ONEIDA - ONONDAGA - CAYUGA - SENECA - TUSCARORA TONAWANDA BAND OF SENECAS NATION 7027 MEADVILLE ROAD BASOM, NEW YORK 14013 PHONE/FAX (716) 542-4244 Pls. file 9/16 June 15, 1999 Issued handled President William Clinton 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW by Interior Washington, DC 20500 -TS ] Dear President Clinton, The Tonawanda Seneca Nation Council of Chiefs hereby issue, on this fifteenth day of June, a formal complaint to the government of the United States, on behalf of the injured citizens of the Tonawanda Seneca Nation, a member nation of the Haudenosaunee, as per Article VII of the Treaty of Canandaigua. The complaint encompasses the discovery and desecration of the human remains of our ancestors at an ancient Seneca burial site at Hampton Corners, Groveland, New York. Presently, Hampton Corners is the location of a mining site of the American Rock Salt Company (ARS). In November 1998, human remains had been uncovered, therefore desecrated, within this mining site which had been declared, by way of testimony in the administrative hearings of the Department of Environmental Conservation, to be of great historical significance and likely contained burial remains. To this date, eleven human remains have been discovered, disturbed, and desecrated. As had been stated and reaffirmed numerous times to various New York State officials and its agencies, it is our religious and moral duty to protect our ancestors' remains. Furthermore, our law and custom forbids any disturbance of such sacred remains. The Tonawanda Seneca Nation declared a stance of non-removal and non-disturbance of the remains, particularly when a reburial ceremony or procedure does not exist. There was the belief the dead would never be disturbed from their resting place. It was inconceivable that there would ever be a threat to their burial ground. Consequently, a violation of the promise not to disturb the Haudenosaunee in the free use and enjoyment of our lands, under the terms of the 1794 Treaty of Canandaigua, has occurred. The desecration of our dead violates the mutual respect promised by the United States to form a permanent friendship between our peoples. The procedure to handle a complaint, by either the Haudenosaunee or the United States, is to remove the cause of the complaint to preserve the peace. At this time, there is no peace for our ancestors or the citizens of the Tonawanda Seneca Nation, as well as the other member nations of the Haudenosaunee. We call upon you, Mr. President, to utilize the powers of your office to halt any further construction in the area of the known burial sites. We need a moratorium on the removal of any remains. The NYS Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation has given authorization to ARS to continue the further desecration of historic Seneca Indian graves. The blatant disrespect and disregard for Haudenosaunee JUN 21 1999