ROCHESTER (AP) -- Gov. George Pataki sought to reassure a Seneca leader that New York state is committed to passing a law to halt attempts at taxation on Indian reservations.

After a half-hour meeting Thursday, Seneca Nation of Indians President Michael Schindler said he and Pataki pledged to work together on amending the tax law to stop the state from collecting taxes on reservations sales.

"This is definitely a step in the right direction," he told reporters.

"The Seneca Nation is coming out on the right end of this deal, I think," he added. "We were asking for this and this is what we're getting, so I have no problem with it."

Schindler told the Buffalo News, "Other Indian nations should also look at this legislation and help to get it passed. If this legislation goes through, we will never be subject to state taxes. It is a good deal for all the Indian nations, not just the Senecas."

After months of bitter confrontation, Pataki backed down on efforts to tax Indian Sales of cigarette and gasoline to non-indians and asked state lawmakers to consider changes in the law settle the feud.

Pataki wants to quell complaints by off-reservation merchants who have trouble competing against tax-free Indian businesses, but the Senecas and other tribes say any intervention undermines their sovereign rights.

"There's no question that the (federal) treaties clearly have established for some time the sovereignty of the Seneca and the other Indian nations -- the state of New York has to respect that," the governor said.

Pataki said he could not predict how soon the legislation might be enacted, but "certainly the best solution ... would be to pass the legislation this session and get it done," he said.

The dispute became so heated in April that roads leading into the Senecas' Cattaraugus reservation in western New York were blockaded by state troopers to prevent deliveries of gas and cigarettes.

Roadblocks were removed last month when a Buffalo judge ruled the state had overstepped its boundaries in stopping the deliveries. Pataki said the state intends still to appeal the ruling merely to clarify the law.

"There are legal determinations in that court decision that we think are completely wrong," he said, adding that he did not believe the move to be inconsistent with efforts to change the law.

Seneca Nation President Michael Schindler said his meeting with Gov. George Pataki Thursday was a positive step forward in settling the tax dispute between the Nation and New York State.

Gov. Pataki arranged the meeting to reassure the Seneca president that the state is committed to passing a law to halt attempts to tax sales to non-Indians on reservations.

President Schindler told the Times Herald today that he plans to meet with the governor again to also discuss other issues concerning the Seneca's reservations in Salamanca and Irving. The two leaders did talk some about the Seneca's request to have lottery sales removed from both reservations and for the state to prove it has right-of-way agreements with the Nation for all state roads that cross the reservations.

The governor told the Seneca leader he would have answers in about a week concerning the right-of-way and easement issues and promised to remove lottery sales from the reservations soon, the Seneca president said.

"We're going to sit down again. We even talked about that," he said. "But I went there to listen to what the governor had to say" about efforts to change the state's law concerning taxation on the reservations.

The meeting at the Monroe County Executive Building lasted about 45 minutes.

Gov. Pataki told Seneca leader it was going to be a hard fight to get the tax law changed, but that he was committed to doing it, President Schindler said. He said the legislation is now being reviewed by the state Ways and Means Committee.

"I'm hoping the governor will be helpful and lobby on our part on this." he said. And the Seneca leader hopes to organize lobbying efforts with the other eight Indian nations in the state.

"We need to do that with all the other tribes, we need to do a lot of lobbying because it affects everyone in the state," he said.

After months of bitter confrontation, Pataki backed down on efforts to tax Indian sales of cigarette and gasoline to non-Indians and asked state lawmakers to consider changes in the law to settle the feud.

Pataki wants to quell complaints by off-reservation merchants who have trouble competing against tax-free Indian businesses, but the Senecas and other tribes believe any intervention undermines their sovereign rights.

"There's no question that the (federal) treaties clearly have established for some time the sovereignty of the Seneca and the other Indian nations--the state of New York has to respect that," the governor said.

Pataki said he could not predict how soon the legislation might be enacted, but "certainly the best solution...would be to pass the legislation this session and get it done."

The dispute became so heated in April that roads leading into the Senecas' Cattaraugus reservation were blockaded by state troopers to prevent deliveries of gas and cigarettes.

Roadblocks were removed last month when a Buffalo judge ruled the state had overstepped its boundaries in stopping the deliveries. Pataki said the state intends still to appeal the ruling merely to clarify the law.

(The Associated Press contributed to this story)