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Darlene Miller announces.
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ALLEGANY TERRITORY, SALAMANCA, N. Y. - Darlene Miller, a Seneca Nation Council member and former Acting CEO of its health services, is the first person to announce a candidacy for Seneca Nation president, with the election set for November.
Miller, 66, said she is running because "the Nation is divided and we need to unify and get back to our traditional ways and values."
Seneca presidents serve two-year terms in rotation from their two main territories, Cattaraugus and Allegany. Current President Barry E. Snyder Sr. is from Cattaraugus, so the next president will be from Allegany, Miller's home.
Miller, a member of the Hawk Clan of the Seneca Nation of Indians, is a lifelong resident of the Allegany Territory and a major part of her platform she said prevention and treatment of drug and alcohol addiction.
For 20 years, she's been a faithkeeper with the Cold Spring Longhouse, teaching traditional customs, ceremonial protocol and "life ways" of the Haudenosaunee Longhouse people.
Her name, translated into her native language, means "she picks leaves."
She is a fifth generation Seneca mother and grandmother.
The largest of six Native American nations in New York State which comprised the Iroquois Confederacy or Six Nations, known as the "Keeper of the Western Door," the Seneca are the westernmost of the Six Nations. The Seneca Nation of Indians has a population of over 8,000 enrolled members.
They have been granted the Western New York monopoly on casino gaming and operate three casinos.
Sources close to the Reporter said that Maurice "Moe" John will soon announce he is running for president.
John, a member of the Seneca Party, served as Seneca president from 2006 to 2008 and ran unsuccessfully for Seneca president against Robert Porter in 2010.
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