"Big Indian" along thruway vandalized

IRVING, N.Y. (WIVB) - Someone desecrated the iconic, giant Native American statue along the thruway on the Cattaraugus Indian Reservation.

Drivers on the thruway know it as the landmark for the Silver Creek exit and Seneca Indian Territory. But now the "Big Indian" is in a ditch.

Statue owner Cyrus Schindler said, "Hands broken, the feet are broken. The headdress, I haven't really seen it, but I see parts of it up here. That's broke off."

Schindler and State Police suspect the 30-foot statue was vandalized overnight, or early in the morning. The fiberglass icon was removed from its supports and a wrecking crew tied a rope to it and tried to haul it away.

But Schindler told News 4, in his mind this was more than vandalism. The "Big Indian" it worth about $60,000 and he believes the culprits were actually trying to steal it.

"They took the time to take all the bolts out of it. And there must have been one bolt they couldn't get out, so they had a saws-all or something, and they cut the angle off. They had a shovel to dig out the stake that was holding the two gates out here," he noted.

While the "Big Indian" has been standing its ground along the thruway, the statue has been around. The symbol of western New York's Native Americans was originally the marker for the old Iroquois Brewing Company on Pratt Street in Buffalo until the company folded 40 years ago.

Schindler bought it at an auction to mark his Big Indian Smoke Shop, nearby, and moved its spot along the Thruway more than 10 years ago. He believes it is one of only five "Big Indian" statues in the country.

"I have two, and there is three more out there. There is one in North Carolina, one in Texas, and one in New Jersey," Schindler said.

This might not be the best of times between the Senecas and the state, but Schindler, his staff, and State Police are working together in the investigation.