TOWN OF LOCKPORT -- About 30 people picketed outside the new Yahoo! facility this afternoon, where Gov. David A. Paterson is participating in a ceremonial opening for the company's data center.
With signs like "Let Our Six Nations Live in Peace" and "Honor Indian Treaties: No NYS Tax," protesters called on Paterson to stop his push for the state to collect taxes on cigarettes sold by Native Americans to non-Indians.
The tax issue is merely a part of the larger issues of Native American sovereignty, they said, standing in front of a facility entrance on Enterprise Drive.
The event was scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. There are more than a dozen picketers remaining as of 2:30 p.m.