Seneca Indians
Historic New York
The Seneca Indians, “Keepers of the Western Door,” occupied this area since the formation of the Iroquois confederacy about 1550. Most numerous and most warlike of the Six Nations, they for a time dominated the tribes northward into Canada and southward into Pennsylvania. Although the Confederacy was allied with the English, the Senecas turned against them in Pontiac’s uprising of 1763, During the Revolution they sided with British and joined in Tory raids on the New York frontier. For this they were punished and driven back by the Sullivan-Clinton Expedition of 1779.
After the Revolution the Senecas were dispersed; some settled in Canada, while others remained later to occupy Allegany and Cattaraugus reservations. Land speculators had carved up Western New New York, and by the treaties of Fort Stanwix 1784 and Big Tree (Geneseo) 1797, Indian claims were extinguished. Chiefs Cornplanter (1732-1836), Red Jacket (1758-1830) and Farmer’s Brother (1730-1814) obtained reservations for their people, where Indian society and culture continued. Handsome Lake (1735-1815), the half-brother of Cornplanter, became the prophet of a regenerated Indian “religion,” which still has many followers.
Marker can be reached from Governor Thomas E. Dewey Thruway (Interstate 90 at milepost 353), 9.2 miles east of Genesee Expressway (Interstate 390), on the right when traveling east.
Courtesy hmdb.org
