Legislative Specialist
For the Seneca Nations
Tina Abrams has been a voice of leadership in the Seneca Nation for decades. First elected to the Seneca Nation Council in 2001, she was the first woman appointed as the legislative body’s Co-Chair in 2012. As an elected representative of the Seneca people, Abrams plays a leadership role in the oversight of all Nation enterprises, maintains strong contacts with Native organizations across the United States, and monitors and advocates on federal and state legislation and policy that impact Indian Country.
She is a tireless volunteer in her community, serving as chairperson of the Seneca Nation’s annual Veteran’s Powwow, a significant event that celebrates Native culture, and as a member the Remember the Removal Committee, which recognizes the forced removal of hundreds of Seneca families from their ancestral homelands by the United States government in 1966 for the construction of the Kinzua Dam.
Her leadership extends beyond Seneca Territory, including roles on the Cattaraugus County Planning Board since 2003, the Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center Board of Directors since 2021. She is also a fierce advocate for Native issues. In 2019, Abrams was elected to serve as Northeast Region Vice President of the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), the oldest, largest and most representative American Indian and Alaska Native organization serving the interests of tribal governments and communities across the United States. She also served as a member of NCAI’s COVID Task Force, as the global pandemic took a particularly devastating toll on Native communities.
A member of the Seneca Nation’s Wolf Clan, Israel Abrams was raised on the Nation’s Cattaraugus Territory and has lived on the Allegany Territory for more than 40 years. She attended Gowanda Central Schools and later graduated from Jamestown Business College with a degree in Business Management. Abrams and her husband, John, have three children and ten grandchildren.