Former Seneca Nation president dead
FILE - Former Seneca Indian President Barry E. Snyder Sr. at the Irving Bingo Hall on the Cattaraugus Reservation, in N.Y. in 2008.
(AP Photo/David Duprey)
A longtime leader of the Seneca Nation has died in New York at the age of 79.
A statement on the Seneca Nation of Indians website says that Barry E. Snyder Sr. died on Tuesday after a brief illness.
His service included five terms as Seneca Nation president. Under his leadership, the Seneca Nation opened three casinos in western New York.
The current president, Rickey Armstrong Sr., says Snyder "elevated the Seneca Nation and the Seneca people" throughout his life.
Survivors include Snyder's wife, Deanna; two of their three sons; 12 grandchildren; 24 great-grandchildren and a great-great grandchild.