Seneca Nation President J. Conrad Seneca called on President Trump to rescind an executive order renaming Lake Ontario, arguing the move breaches a 1794 treaty and disrespects Indigenous naming and history.
Seneca Nation President J. Conrad Seneca demands rescission of Trump’s order to rename Lake Ontario “Lake America.”
The Nation says the change violates the 1794 Treaty of Canandaigua, signed by George Washington and the Haudenosaunee confederacy.
The order is part of an escalating trade dispute between the U.S. and Canada and applies only to U.S. geographic naming services.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing the Interior Department to change the U.S. federal geographic name for Lake Ontario to "Lake America." The order instructed an update to the U.S. geographic naming service within 30 days.
Seneca Nation President J. Conrad Seneca issued a public statement calling for the order to be rescinded. He said the renaming violates the 1794 Treaty of Canandaigua, a treaty signed by President George Washington and the Haudenosaunee confederacy that the Seneca Nation says guarantees certain protections and relationships. The Seneca described the move as a "blatant disrespect" for Indigenous people who gave the lake its name long before the U.S. and Canadian states existed.
Names and origins cited by the Seneca Nation
The renaming was announced amid an escalation in trade tensions between the United States and Canada. The White House action was tied to newly imposed U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods after bilateral talks failed. Canada responded with retaliatory tariffs and criticized the idea of changing the lake's name. The Canadian prime minister rejected the move, citing the lake's Indigenous roots and its existence before Canadian Confederation and the U.S. Declaration of Independence.
The order affects the U.S. geographic naming database and cannot compel Canada to adopt the new name. The article notes that President Trump has argued publicly that Canada has disadvantaged the U.S. on trade and security, and he has suggested extreme measures such as absorbing Canada as a U.S. state, but the renaming applies only to U.S. federal naming records.
Trump to rescind the executive order and allow Lake Ontario's established name to remain in U.S. records as a recognition of Indigenous presence and history in the region.
The dispute touches on legal and symbolic issues: treaty commitments dating back more than two centuries, the protection of Indigenous place names, and how executive actions intersect with international and cross-border recognition. It also forms part of a broader set of trade and diplomatic tensions between the two countries.
Seneca Nation President J. Conrad Seneca says it violates a more than 225-year-old treaty and shows a "blatant disrespect" for Indigenous people.
The leader of the Seneca Nation in upstate New York is criticizing President Donald Trump's decision to rename Lake Ontario as “Lake America,” saying it violates a more than 225-year-old treaty and shows a “blatant disrespect” for the Indigenous people who gave it its name in the first place.
Seneca Nation President J. Conrad Seneca called Friday for President Trump to rescind his order to rename Lake Ontario as “Lake America,” citing a 225-year-old treaty between Native Americans and the U.S. government. Seneca said in a statement that this name change, which President Trump authorized in a Thursday execut
Seneca Nation President J. Conrad Seneca called Friday for President Trump to rescind his order to rename Lake Ontario as “Lake America,†citing a 225-year-old treaty between Native Americans and the U.S. government. Seneca said in a statement that this name change, which President Trump authorized in a Thurs
Seneca Nation President J. Conrad Seneca called Friday for President Trump to rescind his order to rename Lake Ontario as “Lake America,” citing a 225-year-old treaty between Native Americans and the U.S. government. Seneca said in a statement that this name change, which President Trump authorized in a Thursday execut
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