Waubonsee Community College

Honorable nations, produced by Chana Gazit and David Steward

eng

videorecording

For High School; College; Adult audiences

Honorable nations

electronic resource

747797772

produced by Chana Gazit and David Steward

55

Salamanca is the only city in the United States that is situated entirely on land owned by Native Americans. For 99 years, the townspeople have rented the land upon which their homes stand from the Seneca Indians for $1 a year. They have gotten used to their right to live and to do business on Indian property. But on February 19, 1991 the lease expired. The Seneca Nation felt that it has been badly exploited by the old terms, and now insisted on huge increases - or else it would take back the land. Many of the townspeople were outraged at higher rents, especially as the town was suffering from a depressed economy. The film follows the five years of negotiation, as each side heatedly defended their position. Archival footage, historical photographs and interviews help tell the story of two communities caught in a web of historical injustice. Eventually, a landmark agreement was hammered out which enabled the town to survive. Among its terms is $60 million in reparation by the Federal government to the Senecas, the first Native American tribe to receive this acknowledgement of past wrongs

general