Blackbear

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FROM:
_http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/06-15-2006/0004381380&EDATE_
(http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/st...04381380&EDATE)

New York Indian Tribes Rally to Support Native Businesses

MASTIC, N.Y., June 15 /PRNewswire/ -- The Native American Business

Alliance of Long Island today caravanned from the Unkechaug Powwow Grounds

(Mastic, N.Y.) to the Shinnecock territory (Southampton, N.Y.) to support

its new grassroots effort to protect Indian Nations' right to sell tax-free

tobacco products.
"The faces you see here today are the faces of those who depend on

Native American Businesses," Unkechaug tribal chief Harry Wallace said.

"Without our treaty-mandated right to sell tax-free tobacco, these

businesses -- these people -- will suffer. That is why we are here today --

to defend our rights and to defend our economic independence."
Members of Tuscarora, Seneca, Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga, Mohawk, Pequot,

Narragansett and other Nations, along with friends, neighbors and business

colleagues of the Tribes, rallied against the politicians and wealthy

special interest groups that have passed legislation and filed lawsuits

that threaten to terminate centuries-old treaties protecting the right of

New York Tribes to sell tax-free tobacco and other goods on their own

territories. With over 5,000 supporters thus far, the Alliance is demanding

that new legislation be enacted to rescind this unjust act. The Alliance is

also urging New York citizens to call upon the convenience stores and big

chain supermarkets, asking them to drop their lawsuits against these small

Indian smoke shops.
Following the rally, supporters toured a Shinnecock-owned small

business, "Raindrop's Quick Stop" on Montauk Highway.
"The politicians in Albany need to visit native businesses like these

so they can see that executing this legislation will cripple the economy of

New York Tribes," said Rebecca Genia, of the Shinnecock Nation. "Taking

away the rights laid out in these long-standing treaties would take away

many people's livelihood."
Income from Indian smoke shops helps Tribes pay their own way, using

some of the profits to fix schools, churches, playgrounds and housing on

reservations. They also employ hundreds of tribal members with full

healthcare and retirement benefits and generate economic activity for

local, non-Indian businesses that supply their stores.
New Yorkers can join the Alliance by going to

_http://www.supportnativebusiness.com,_
(http://www.supportnativebusiness.com/) where they can sign a petition, write

directly to state officials, and get additional information.
The Native American Business Alliance of Long Island represents the

Nations and the Indian-owned stores of the Unkechaug and Shinnecock

Nations. We have formed this coalition because without help from our

friends, neighbors and business colleagues, these stores will be shut down

-- ending a vital source of economic activity. Visit

SupportNativeBusiness.com for more information.

SOURCE Native American Business Alliance of Long Island

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