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. In a statement Friday, Seneca Nation President J. Conrad Seneca called for Trump’s executive order to be rescinded. He says the Lake Ontario name should remain as a reflection of the Indigenous people in the U.S. and Canada who lived in territory around and along the lake long before the creation of either nation. Trump this week signed an order directing the Interior Department to update the lake’s name as part of his escalating trade war with Canada.
FILE - Dennis Willard, of Bellevue, Wash., carries a sign that reads "Where Is She" as he marches in support of missing and murdered indigenous women during a rally to mark Indigenous Peoples' Day in downtown Seattle, on Oct. 14, 2019. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)
FILE - Seraphine Warren, center left, is embraced by state Sen. Shannon Pinto outside the state capitol building on Feb. 4, 2022, in Santa Fe, N.M. (AP Photo/Cedar Attanasio, File)
Navajo Code Talker Thomas Begay waves to the cheering crowd during a ceremony on Navajo Code Talkers Day, Friday, Aug. 14, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Navajo Code Talker Thomas Begay salutes during the national anthem during a ceremony on Navajo Code Talkers Day, Friday, Aug. 14, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Navajo Code Talker Thomas Begay, right, talks with his son, Ron Begay, prior to a ceremony on Navajo Code Talkers Day, Friday, Aug. 14, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
FILE - A monument to the Navajo Code Talkers stands in front of the red sandstone arch of Window Rock, Ariz., outside the Navajo Nation government headquarters, Oct. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd, File)
FILE - WWII veteran and Navajo Code Talker Peter MacDonald Sr. is photographed at his home on the Navajo reservation in Tuba City, Ariz., April 28, 2020. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
An Indigenous youth holds a candle during a protest calling for the protection of Indigenous land rights and demarcations outside the Supreme Court in Brasilia, Brazil, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
The Bald Range wildfire, that has forced people out of their homes in the south Okanagan region, burns in Summerland, B.C., late Saturday, Aug.8, 2026. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)
