by Jeremy Boyer
Syracuse, N.Y. — In addition to repeating what governors do every year by coming to the New York State Fair, Gov. Kathy Hochul made some history Wednesday by visiting the Onondaga Nation.
Hochul met with nation leaders to discuss health care and education issues in what both governments said was the first visit by a sitting New York governor to Onondaga Nation territory in at least a half century and perhaps longer. The meeting follows the 2022 announcement by the state and federal governments that they were facilitating the transfer of 1,000 acres of forested land in Tully back to the nation.
Onondaga Nation attorney Joseph Heath said the visit was initiated by the governor, and that elders in the nation could not recall the last time one had come to their land. Hochul’s stay lasted about an hour, and at her request, she toured the nation longhouse as well as a health clinic and school.
“People were relieved to finally have this level of interaction,” Heath said.-
Specific discussions focused on how the nation and state can work together on education and health care for nation citizens, Health said. After 13 years of state funding for the nation health clinic being kept at $1.3 million, this year’s budget provided $5 million. Officials talked Wednesday about how that money will be distributed, and about establishing a way for the nation and the state Department of Health to connect regarding future budget needs.