Photo by Jess Cherofsky. Image description: Wetland landscape with bright green vegetation and twisted trees in the foreground, with areas of open water and marsh behind and a gray sky above.
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However, we are solely responsible for the veracity of all content. Any mistakes are our own. Read about Allies of the Tonawanda Seneca Nation by clicking here.)
However, we are solely responsible for the veracity of all content. Any mistakes are our own. Read about Allies of the Tonawanda Seneca Nation by clicking here.)
Table of contents
1. THE TONAWANDA SENECA NATION - A BRIEF INTRODUCTION
2. History of the nation
3. Further Reading
1. THE tonawanda seneca NATION - A brief INTRODUCTIOn
The Tonawanda Seneca Nation, one of the Six Nations of the Haudenosaunee, is currently located on a 7,500-acre reservation situated in western New York, near to the towns of Alabama and Basom and roughly between Buffalo and Rochester. The Tonawanda Seneca Nation is a federally recognized Tribal Nation and is governed by a traditional Haudenosaunee leadership structure consisting of a Council of Chiefs as well as Clan Mothers. Formerly known as the Tonawanda Band of Seneca Indians, the Tonawanda Seneca Nation is separate and distinct from the Seneca Nation of Indians, whose present-day reservations are located at Cattaraugus, Allegheny, and Oil Springs. Roughly 1,200 people are enrolled citizens of the Tonawanda Seneca Nation.
Against all odds, and in spite of decades of effort by the State of New York and the United States to remove the Senecas altogether, the Tonawanda Seneca Nation has successfully fought to preserve its small, biologically diverse reservation territory, to continue to practice its traditional form of government, and to maintain its cultural and spiritual ways in accordance with the Haudenosaunee Great Law of Peace. The Nation views the protection of its homelands as one of its highest responsibilities, and prioritizes its obligation to future generations in all aspects of life.
Tonawanda Seneca Nation homelands
The Big Woods is a primary forest located on the northeast portion of the Territory, and immediately adjacent to the STAMP site, that supports an unusually high diversity of plants and animals of cultural significance, including many species of conservation concern at both the state and federal levels. Neil Patterson, Jr., a member of the Tuscarora Nation and an instructor at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, conducted biological surveys of the Territory in 2019 and 2022 at the invitation of the Tonawanda Seneca Nation. According to Patterson's findings, the Big Woods contain a remarkably low incidence of invasive plant species and a robust population of forest floor herbs along with tree seedlings of various species. The Big Woods also contains a significant population of trees with old-growth or mature forest characteristics, along with vertebrate species such as the Cerulean Warbler (Setophaga cerulea) that are dependent on this increasingly rare forest type.
The Big Woods is shown on the 1890 Map of the Tonawanda Indian Reservation. While much attention has been focused on the Haudenosaunee as horticulturists, subsistence activities such as hunting, fishing and the gathering of wild plants for food have always been important. These activities continue through to the present day. Indeed, the Big Woods and surrounding areas continue to support robust Haudenosaunee cultural practices, including hunting, fishing, and the collection of plants for food and medicine by Nation members as well as other Haudenosaunee Peoples. According to Tonawanda Chief Ken Jonathan, “We call this ‘Big Woods’ as it’s the largest and most pristine woods in all of the Tonawanda Territory and I believe in all the Haudenosaunee Territory. It also seems to me that medicine plants grow faster and in great abundance in the Big Woods. As a result of the pristine condition of the Big Woods, it is a prime area for hunting, fishing, and gathering traditional medicines [and] we have a program for other Haudenosaunee that allows them to hunt and gather in the area.”
Nation citizen Levi Winnie notes that, “One of the main medicines that our people use is located in the Big Woods. I do not know of another location where that medicine is located. We have relied on this medicine for thousands of years. There are trees in the Big Woods that are at least 200 years old and it acts as a wildlife corridor. I have seen black bears in the Big Woods.”
Nation citizens use the Big Woods for subsistence hunting as well as medicine gathering. According to Nation citizen Vance Wyder, “Most of my meat consists of animal harvested from the Big Woods. I also trap on occasion in the Big Woods… The Creator has given us the opportunity to use and harvest medicines form the Big Woods and our elders have taught us how to properly harvest and use these medicines.”
The natural resources gathered from the Big Woods not only provide food and medicine but are also used in traditional craft making. Deer sinew and hickory trees are used by one of nine remaining traditional lacrosse stick makers left in the world. Furs are used in the making of purses, medicine bags and hats. Slippery Elm (Ulmus rubra) is used to make baskets, rattles, and shoes.
2. HISTORY OF THE Tonawanda Seneca NATION
The Onöndowa’ga (known as Senecas by English-speaking peoples) have used and occupied the lands that now lie in Western New York for centuries, and our Indigenous ancestors have lived here since time immemorial. In the mid 1600s, the Senecas conquered and absorbed the Neutral, Erie and Wenro peoples of the area, and hunted and fished on lands in the vicinity of Tonawanda.
There is no exact date for the founding of the Seneca community at Tonawanda. Seneca people chose to live at Tonawanda for a range of reasons: in addition to fertile hunting grounds and the rich natural resources of Tonawanda Creek and the surrounding wetlands, Tonawanda is located at the intersection of two well-established foot trails, the 300-mile Seneca Trail/Great Western Turnpike, today’s NY State Route 5, and a 78-mile trail that connected the Seneca communities in the Genesee River Valley to Fort Niagara, today known as Ridge Road. Our ancestral lands also include a portion of the Allegheny Trail, which linked Tonawanda to the Seneca Nation’s Allegheny Territory.
Although little written documentation of early Seneca occupation at Tonawanda exists, missionary reports record a dramatic increase in population following the American Revolution (1775-1783) well into the 1850s. Events that spurred Seneca migration to Tonawanda included the 1779 Sullivan-Clinton invasion that devastated Haudenosaunee villages in the Genesee River Valley, land cession of the Little Beardstown Reservation in a federally ratified treaty in 1802, and the arrival of Ganiodayo (Handsome Lake), the Seneca prophet, and his followers prior to the War of 1812. Another major migration to Tonawanda came after the unratified federal treaty of 1826 forced people to flee their villages along the Genesee River. In 1830, 117 of the 583 Indians at Tonawanda were listed as “Cannewaugus” Senecas (Hauptman 2011:2) for the northernmost of these Genesee Valley villages.
In 1826, the Treaty of Buffalo Creek, which was never ratified by the U.S. Senate or enacted into federal law, purported to reduce the Reservation from the original 46,209 acres to 12,800 acres. This effort was spearheaded by principals of the Ogden Land Company and their allies, who stood to gain fortunes from the sale of Seneca lands. A second failed effort to dispossess the Tonawanda Senecas of their land in 1838 was followed by a “compromise” Treaty of 1842, which pitted Seneca leaders against one another, restoring Seneca reservation lands at Allegheny and Cattaraugus while nominally eliminating the Tonawanda Reservation. The Tonawanda Senecas refused to accede to the 1842 Treaty or to remove from their lands. After a lengthy legal battle, the Tonawanda Seneca community in 1857 succeeded in reaching an agreement with the Federal government to confirm their rights to a portion of their Reservation territory. The U.S. Senate ratified the 1857 treaty on March 31, 1859. The U.S. Tonawanda Seneca Treaty – one of the most important federal-Indian accords in American history – provided a mechanism for the Tonawanda Seneca to “buy back” 7,549 acres of the 12,800 acres, land they had never surrendered. In 1898, the Supreme Court in New York Indians v. U.S. ruled that the Tonawanda Seneca had never left their reservation home and confirmed that New York’s efforts to dispossess them of their land had failed.
The land the Senecas fought so hard to retain at Tonawanda was and remains the seat of traditional governance for the Seneca people. The Tonawanda Senecas traditionally serve as “Keepers of the Western Door” of the Haudenosaunee (People of the Longhouse) governed by a hereditary Council of Chiefs, Clanmothers, and Faithkeepers. The Tonawanda Seneca Council is one of three precontact forms of Indigenous governments governing a land base remaining in the United States.
The Tonawanda Seneca District also gave rise to a significant and intact spiritual way of life among Haudenosaunee People called Gaiwiio, and includes historic sites associated with Handsome Lake (1735–1815), an 18th Century Seneca leader. In June 1799, Handsome Lake, while living on the Cornplanter reservation along the Allegheny River in northern Pennsylvania, had the first of many visions he received from Creator’s messengers. The messengers offered insights as to ways the Onöndowa’ga / Haudenosaunee could adjust to the overwhelming changes taking place in their communities, and how those changes were impacting traditional values. In 1809, Handsome Lake and a number of his followers moved to the Tonawanda Territory due to disagreements with his half-brother, Cornplanter. Handsome Lake used his visions to create a way of life for Haudenosaunee people to follow, attracting Haudenosaunee followers in Seneca territory and beyond. Jemmy Johnson, a Seneca living at Tonawanda and a close relative of Handsome Lake, solidified these teachings in the Gaiwiio within a decade of Handsome Lake’s death.
Citation:
Hauptman, Laurence. (2011). The Tonawanda Senecas’ Heroic Battle Against Removal: Conservative Activist Indians. Albany: SUNY Press.
There is no exact date for the founding of the Seneca community at Tonawanda. Seneca people chose to live at Tonawanda for a range of reasons: in addition to fertile hunting grounds and the rich natural resources of Tonawanda Creek and the surrounding wetlands, Tonawanda is located at the intersection of two well-established foot trails, the 300-mile Seneca Trail/Great Western Turnpike, today’s NY State Route 5, and a 78-mile trail that connected the Seneca communities in the Genesee River Valley to Fort Niagara, today known as Ridge Road. Our ancestral lands also include a portion of the Allegheny Trail, which linked Tonawanda to the Seneca Nation’s Allegheny Territory.
Although little written documentation of early Seneca occupation at Tonawanda exists, missionary reports record a dramatic increase in population following the American Revolution (1775-1783) well into the 1850s. Events that spurred Seneca migration to Tonawanda included the 1779 Sullivan-Clinton invasion that devastated Haudenosaunee villages in the Genesee River Valley, land cession of the Little Beardstown Reservation in a federally ratified treaty in 1802, and the arrival of Ganiodayo (Handsome Lake), the Seneca prophet, and his followers prior to the War of 1812. Another major migration to Tonawanda came after the unratified federal treaty of 1826 forced people to flee their villages along the Genesee River. In 1830, 117 of the 583 Indians at Tonawanda were listed as “Cannewaugus” Senecas (Hauptman 2011:2) for the northernmost of these Genesee Valley villages.
In 1826, the Treaty of Buffalo Creek, which was never ratified by the U.S. Senate or enacted into federal law, purported to reduce the Reservation from the original 46,209 acres to 12,800 acres. This effort was spearheaded by principals of the Ogden Land Company and their allies, who stood to gain fortunes from the sale of Seneca lands. A second failed effort to dispossess the Tonawanda Senecas of their land in 1838 was followed by a “compromise” Treaty of 1842, which pitted Seneca leaders against one another, restoring Seneca reservation lands at Allegheny and Cattaraugus while nominally eliminating the Tonawanda Reservation. The Tonawanda Senecas refused to accede to the 1842 Treaty or to remove from their lands. After a lengthy legal battle, the Tonawanda Seneca community in 1857 succeeded in reaching an agreement with the Federal government to confirm their rights to a portion of their Reservation territory. The U.S. Senate ratified the 1857 treaty on March 31, 1859. The U.S. Tonawanda Seneca Treaty – one of the most important federal-Indian accords in American history – provided a mechanism for the Tonawanda Seneca to “buy back” 7,549 acres of the 12,800 acres, land they had never surrendered. In 1898, the Supreme Court in New York Indians v. U.S. ruled that the Tonawanda Seneca had never left their reservation home and confirmed that New York’s efforts to dispossess them of their land had failed.
The land the Senecas fought so hard to retain at Tonawanda was and remains the seat of traditional governance for the Seneca people. The Tonawanda Senecas traditionally serve as “Keepers of the Western Door” of the Haudenosaunee (People of the Longhouse) governed by a hereditary Council of Chiefs, Clanmothers, and Faithkeepers. The Tonawanda Seneca Council is one of three precontact forms of Indigenous governments governing a land base remaining in the United States.
The Tonawanda Seneca District also gave rise to a significant and intact spiritual way of life among Haudenosaunee People called Gaiwiio, and includes historic sites associated with Handsome Lake (1735–1815), an 18th Century Seneca leader. In June 1799, Handsome Lake, while living on the Cornplanter reservation along the Allegheny River in northern Pennsylvania, had the first of many visions he received from Creator’s messengers. The messengers offered insights as to ways the Onöndowa’ga / Haudenosaunee could adjust to the overwhelming changes taking place in their communities, and how those changes were impacting traditional values. In 1809, Handsome Lake and a number of his followers moved to the Tonawanda Territory due to disagreements with his half-brother, Cornplanter. Handsome Lake used his visions to create a way of life for Haudenosaunee people to follow, attracting Haudenosaunee followers in Seneca territory and beyond. Jemmy Johnson, a Seneca living at Tonawanda and a close relative of Handsome Lake, solidified these teachings in the Gaiwiio within a decade of Handsome Lake’s death.
Citation:
Hauptman, Laurence. (2011). The Tonawanda Senecas’ Heroic Battle Against Removal: Conservative Activist Indians. Albany: SUNY Press.
3. Further Reading
For more on the Tonawanda Seneca Nation and the Haudenosaunee, visit our Resources page.