On Tuesday, Nov. 10, the Seneca Nation swore in Tina Abrams as President, marking the first time in history the tribe has elected a woman to its highest office.
Abrams was sworn in during the Nation’s Canvass Day ceremony, along with several other Executive, Council, and other candidates who won office in last week’s Seneca Nation elections.
“Our people went to the polls to choose a leader you believe in, a leader you can trust to lead our Nation with strength, honesty, vision and conviction,” Abrams told the large crowd gathered at Seneca Allegany Resort & Casino. “I am honored beyond words to stand before you as your choice, your President, and as the first woman to receive and accept that responsibility.”
“I know that I bear a great responsibility to you – to all of you, all 8,500 Senecas,” she continued. “I will work every day to honor that responsibility and to live the words of the oath I take today. Yours will always be the voice that guides me.”
Abrams was first elected to the Seneca Nation Council in 2001 and was the first woman appointed co-chair in 2012. Earlier this year, she became the first Native American woman to be honored with the New York State Senate Woman of Distinction Award.
At Monday’s swearing-in ceremony, Abrams spoke of the many people who influenced her. She spoke of the Seneca Clan Mothers who, before the Nation adopted an elected form of government in 1848, chose the Nation’s chiefs. She also spoke of her family’s historic involvement with the Nation, including her grandfather, Morris Jimerson, and her father, Walden Jimerson, who both served on the Nation Council and fought to give women the right to vote in Nation elections.
The right to vote was secured in a 1964 referendum, followed by the right to hold elected office in 1966. President Abrams’ grandmother, Sybil Eels, was the fourth Seneca woman ever elected to a government position.
“Now, the same little girl from Cattaraugus who used to go to meetings with her father and fall asleep in the Council House; a proud mother and grandmother who raised her family here in Allegany; and a longtime voice for the Seneca people on Council, will lead our Nation for the next two years,” Abrams said.