"Do you think it is time for Native Americans to move off their lands and join the rest of us full-fledged Americans in getting on with life in the 21st century?

If so, we believe from what he has written that the newly elected president of the Seneca Nation of Indians sees you as proof of how thoroughly U.S. government policies of assimilation have undermined the notion of the sovereignty of Indian nations.

And while he understands the historic roots of this view, Robert Odawi Porter - Harvard graduate, Syracuse University law professor and the new president of the Senecas - rejects it from the inner core of his being.

Porter was, in fact, elected last month on the pledge to fight aggressively all threats to the Seneca's sovereignty. That's no surprise nor does the vow represent any new direction for the Seneca governing body.

However, if his two-year term is not too short a time to leave a deep imprint, Porter's election holds the possibility that during his presidency, issues that long have been like dead weights sapping the Senecas' attention and emotional energy may finally be moved to resolution - perhaps in a direction no one has yet imagined."

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Editorial: Seneca President Has Big Ideas (The Jamestown Post-Journal 12/5)