Follow
The Seneca or Onödowá’ga:’ (pronounced: Oh-n'own-dough-wahgah) or "Great Hill People" are a group of Indigenous Iroquoian-speaking people who historically lived south of Lake Ontario, one of the five Great Lakes in North America. Their nation was the farthest to the west within the Six Nations or Iroquois League (Haudenosaunee) in New York before the American Revolution.
They were the largest of the original five nations of the Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) Confederacy, in which they were represented by eight chiefs. In the autumn small parties of Seneca men left the villages for the annual hunt, returning about midwinter; spring was the fishing season. Seneca women were responsible for the cultivation of corn (maize) and other vegetables.
The historical Seneca occupied territory throughout the Finger Lakes area in Central New York, and in the Genesee Valley in Western New York, living in longhouses on the riversides. The villages were well fortified with wooden stake fences, just one of the many industrious undertakings.
- https://sni.org/about#
- https://www.britannica.com/topic/Seneca-people
- https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seneca_people
- https://www.senecamuseum.org/
- https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wrBTWqH3Oq0&pp=ygUOc2VuZWNhIGluZGlhbn...
- https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=O4f3L2NScX0
- https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yVoOiP07R70
Territory
In the 21st century, more than 10,000 Seneca live in the United States, which has three federally recognized Seneca tribes. Around 1,000 Seneca live in Canada on crown granted land.
The Seneca Nation of Indians
With three reservations in western New York: Allegany Territory, Cattaraugus Territory, and Oil Springs Reservation; with territory in Buffalo, Niagara Falls, and Warren County Pennsylvania:
Allegany Indian Reservation encompasses most of Cattaraugus County, New York and also contains the city of Salamanca, New York. Allegany Territory headquarters reside in Jimersontown, Cattaraugus, New York.
Cattaraugus Indian Reservation stretches through Erie, Chautauqua and Cattaraugus counties in New York State. The Cattaraugus Territory capital is in Irving, Chautauqua, New York.
Oil Springs Reservation is mostly uninhabited and lays partially across two New York State countries: Allegany and Cattaraugus counties.
Cornplanter Indian Reservation or Cornplanter Tract is located in Warren County, Pennsylvania. It was a land grant to, John "Gaiänt'wakê" Abeel, Seneca War Chief; for him and his descendants in perpetuity. Most of the original 15,000 acres are under water because of the Kinzua Dam Project and further appropriations by the US government for other government projects.
Buffalo Creek and Niagara Falls Territories are developed lands for the Seneca Nation gaming, specifically casinos, enterprises in present day.
Historically, Buffalo Creek was a reservation for the Seneca peoples, but the Treaty of Big Tree forced the Seneca to cede the territory and eventually, the reservation was dissolved. There were attempts to take the other Seneca Reservations mentioned above, but the Seneca fought hard legal battles and in the end, were legally allowed the other reservations.
The Seneca Nation of Indians is one of three Seneca bodies to be be federally recognized. It's government is a republic with elected officials such as: a President, a tribal council, a treasurer and a judicial branch. The Nation still regards the eight clans and clan mothers, however, traditionally and familially. (Clans: Snipe, Heron, Hawk, Deer, Wolf, Beaver, Turtle and Bear)
Tonawanda Seneca Nation (or the Tonawanda Band of Seneca) Ta:nöwö:deʼ Onödowáʼga
Tonawanda Indian Reservation is located mostly in Genesee County, New York; though it does extend into Erie and Niagara counties. They are federally recognized.
The Tonawanda Band of Seneca have kept the traditional government:
The Tonawanda Band consists of eight 'clans': the Snipe, the Heron, the Hawk, the Deer, the Wolf, the Beaver, the Bear, and the Turtle. Each clan appoints a clan mother, who in turn appoints an individual to serve as Chief [from hereditary maternal lines]. The clan mother retains the power to remove a Chief and, in consultation with members of the clan, provides recommendations to the Chief on matters of tribal government. The clan mothers cannot disregard the views of the clan, nor can the Chiefs disregard the recommendations of the clan mothers."
https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-2nd-circuit/1265186.html
The Seneca-Cayuga Nation
The Seneca-Cayuga Nation is located in the Northeast of Oklahoma with Grove, Delaware, Oklahoma as headquarters. The government is election based like the Seneca Nation of Indians in New York State.
How did they get from New York to Oklahoma? Basically, these Seneca, along with other Iroquois tribes, were pushed out to what is present day Ohio, during the Indian Removal after the War of 1812 and Treaty of Big Tree. They moved west to escape colonial encroachment on their lands. They "sold" their Ohio lands and moved to Indian Territory in what is today, Oklahoma. They are federally recognized.
"At the start of the American Revolution, a large part of the Cayuga tribe left New York and moved to Canada, where many of their descendants are now living. Other bands of the tribe remained in this country scattered among their neighbors of the Iroquoian Confederacy. Soon after the close of the Revolutionary War, the Cayuga sold their lands to New York, some of the tribal bands moving to Ohio where they joined the remnants of other Iroquoian tribes (Erie, Conestoga, Oneida, Onondaga, and Mohawk) that became known as the Seneca of Sandusky. These people, including the band of Cayuga, moved to the Indian Territory in 1832, soon after concluding a treaty with United States commissioners at Washington (see Seneca). In the records of United States Indian affairs, these remnant Iroquoian tribes that formerly lived in New York are referred to as “New York Indians,” among whom the Cayuga are generally listed.
It was with the idea of joining their tribal kin among the Seneca in the Indian Territory than a band of Cayuga from Canada and a few from New York, something over 100 persons, came to the Quapaw Agency in 1881. Some of these people were adopted by the Seneca, but the late arrivals were finally forced to return to Canada after suffering many hardships. A part of them set out to return on foot from the Indian Territory, a report later stating that 13 of them died on the way. While the Cayuga are not listed as a separate tribe in the Quapaw Agency record, these people were locally well known and have had a part in the history of the Seneca (q.v.) in the Indian Territory. Their name is incorporated in that of the “Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma,” which received a corporate charter in 1937 under the Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act of 1936." https://sctribe.com/history/07-02-2015/guide-indian-tribes-ok-cayuga
The Seneca of the Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation
Approximately 1,000 Seneca live in Canada, near Brantford, Ontario, at the Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation on land granted by the crown:
"Many of the Haudenosaunee people allied with the British during the American Revolutionary War, particularly warriors from the Mohawk, Cayuga, Onondaga and Seneca nations. Some warriors of the Oneida and Tuscarora also allied with them, as warfare was highly decentralized. These nations had longstanding trade relations with the British and hoped they might stop European-American encroachment on their territories. These allies were from the Six Nations of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy."
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_Nations_of_the_Grand_River
The Seneca there are "... the descendants of Seneca who resettled there after the American Revolution, as they had been allies of the British and forced to cede much of their lands." https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seneca_people
History
"The Five Nations, comprised of the Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, and Mohawk, united in confederation about the year A.D. 1200. This unification took place under the "Great Tree of Peace" and each nation gave its pledge not to war with other members of the confederation. Around 1720, the Tuscarora nation was admitted into the league as the sixth member. Confederacy members referred to themselves as "Haudenosaunee," which translates to "The People of the Longhouse." They saw their confederacy as a symbolic version of their traditional longhouse dwellings, stretching across most of what is today New York State. The Mohawks were the guardians of the eastern door in the lower Mohawk Valley area. The Oneidas occupied the upper Mohawk Valley and the area of modern day Oneida, NY. The Onondagas were the keepers of the council fire in the center of the "longhouse," in the modern day greater Syracuse area. The Cayugas occupied the finger-lakes area and the Seneca were the guardians of the western door in the modern Rochester-Buffalo NY area." https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/the-six-nations-confederacy-during...
"'The Peacemaker told us to think of us all living together under one longhouse. Just like a longhouse, every nation will have their own council fire to govern their people. But they will govern their people under one common law, one heart, and one mind. The Peacemaker changed 50 evil thinking men to good thinking men (Hoyane/Chiefs) to lead the path towards peace for the people. The Peacemaker also gave the power to the women (Clan Mothers) to replace and remove the leaders. The Hiawatha belt is comprised of 5 symbols joined together and when reading the nations of the belts, we follow the path of the sun, starting in the East.
We remember his words with the Hiawatha Belt: " is a national belt of the Haudenosaunee. The belt is named after Hiawatha, an Onondaga who was the Peacemaker’s helper in spreading the good words of Peace. In this belt, it records when five warring nations; the Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, and Mohawk, buried their weapons of war to live in peace. Today, the Hiawatha Belt has been fashioned into a flag that has been flown in many places around the world."https://www.onondaganation.org/culture/wampum/hiawatha-belt/
The Seneca are also known as the "Keeper of the Western Door," for the Seneca are the westernmost of the Six Nations. At the time of the formation of the Iroquois League, the original five nations of the Iroquois League occupied large areas of land in the Northeast USA and Southeast Canada.
In the Seneca language we are known as O-non-dowa-gah, (pronounced: Oh-n'own-dough-wahgah) or "Great Hill People."
The people relied heavily on agriculture for food, growing the Three Sisters: corn, beans, and squash, which were known as Deohako,(pronounced: Jo- hay- ko) "the life supporters." In addition to raising crops, the early Seneca were also subsistence hunters and fishers.
The Senecas were also highly skilled at warfare, and were considered fierce adversaries. But the Seneca were also renowned for their sophisticated skills at diplomacy and oratory and their willingness to unite with the other original five nations to form the Iroquois Confederacy of Nations. https://sni.org/culture/history/
The Seneca used kinship to organize their society; extended families linked through the maternal line lived together in longhouses. The tribe had eight clans; these were in turn organized into two equally sized groups, or moieties. The moieties had their own chiefs and served complementary roles in games, funerals, and ceremonies. Kinship rules mandated marriage between, not within, the moieties. Each community had a council of adult males who guided the moiety chiefs.
Warfare with other indigenous nations was frequent; to a greater extent than most other Northeast Indians, the Seneca recovered their losses by adopting whole towns of other tribes. During the 17th century, wars led to the expansion of the original Seneca territory between Seneca Lake and the Genesee River to include all of western New York state from Niagara south along the Allegheny River into Pennsylvania. Remote from colonial contact, secure in game and corn, the Seneca could field 1,000 warriors, equaling the combined strength of the rest of the Iroquois Confederacy.
Because the Seneca were allied with the British during the American Revolution, American Maj. Gen. John Sullivan destroyed their villages in 1779. In 1797, having lost much of their land, the Seneca secured 12 tracts as reservations. In 1848 the incompetence and corruption of the hereditary chiefs, in particular their surrender of tribal land to non-Indians, caused the Seneca to change their form of government to a republic. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Seneca-people
The Seneca historically lived in what is now New York state between the Genesee River and Canandaigua Lake. The dating of an oral tradition mentioning a solar eclipse yields 1142 AD as the year for the Seneca joining the Iroquois (Haudenosaunee). Some recent archaeological evidence indicates their territory eventually extended to the Allegheny River in present-day northwestern Pennsylvania, particularly after the Iroquois destroyed both the Wenrohronon and Erie nations in the 17th century, who were native to the area. The Seneca were by far the most populous of the Haudenosaunee nations, numbering about four thousand by the seventeenth century.
Seneca villages were located as far east as current-day Schuyler County (e.g. Catherine's Town and Kanadaseaga), south into current Tioga and Chemung counties, north and east into Tompkins and Cayuga counties, and west into the Genesee River valley. The villages were the homes and headquarters of the Seneca. While the Seneca maintained substantial permanent settlements and raised agricultural crops in the vicinity of their villages, they also hunted widely through extensive areas. They also executed far-reaching military campaigns. The villages, where hunting and military campaigns were planned and executed, indicate the Seneca had hegemony in these areas.
Major Seneca villages were protected with wooden palisades. Ganondagan, with 150 longhouses, was the largest Seneca village of the 17th century, while Chenussio, with 130 longhouses, was a major village of the 18th century.
The Seneca has two branches: the western and the eastern. Each branch was individually incorporated and recognized by the Iroquois Confederacy Council. The western Seneca lived predominantly in and around the Genesee River, gradually moving west and southwest along Lake Erie and the Niagara River, then south along the Allegheny River into Pennsylvania. The eastern Seneca lived predominantly south of Seneca Lake. They moved south and east into Pennsylvania and the western Catskill area. The Seneca used the Genesee and Allegheny rivers, as well as the Great Indian War and Trading Path (the Seneca Trail), to travel from southern Lake Ontario into Pennsylvania and Ohio. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seneca_people
A Tale of Colonial Encroachment: The American Revolution
The Seneca chose to side with the British in the American Revolution. One of the earliest battles the Iroquois were involved in occurred on August 6, 1777, in Oriskany. During the Battle of Oriskany, Native Americans led a brutal attack against the rebel Americans where they "killed, wounded, or captured the majority of patriot soldiers". The Seneca Governor Blacksnake described the battle from the viewpoint of the victorious Indians: "as we approach to a firghting we had preparate to make one fire and Run amongst them we So, while we Doing it, feels no more to Kill the Beast, and killed most all, the americans army, only a few white man Escape from us ... there I have Seen the most Dead Bodies all it over that I neve Did see."
As the war went on, many more brutal attacks and atrocities would be committed by both sides, notably the Sullivan Expedition, which devastated Iroquois and Seneca lands.
During the revolution, the once proud Iroquois were now reduced to conducting brutal acts such as the killing of women and children at the Cherry Valley massacre and the clubbing of surviving American soldiers at Oriskany. Although Seneca like Governor Blacksnake felt sorrow for their brutal actions, the Americans responded in a colder and more brutal fashion. This retaliation came in the Sullivan Expedition.
The planning of the Sullivan Expedition began in 1778 as a way to respond to the Iroquois victories and massacres.This plan came about from the complaints of New Yorkers at the Continental Congress. The New Yorkers had suffered from the massive Iroquois offensives from 1777 to 1778, and they wanted revenge.
George Washington (Hanödaga꞉nyas -"Town Destroyer") called upon Continental Army General John Sullivan (general) to lead this attack upon the Iroquois. He had received anywhere from 3000 to 4500 soldiers to fight the Iroquois.
Overall, the Sullivan Expedition wreaked untold havoc and destruction upon the Iroquois lands, as the soldiers "destroy[ed] not only the homes of the Iroquois but their food stocks as well". Seneca woman Mary Jemison recalled how the Continental soldiers "destroyed every article of the food kind that they could lay their hands on". To make matters worse for the Iroquois, an especially hard winter in 1780 caused additional suffering for the downtrodden Iroquois. The Sullivan Expedition highlighted a period of true total war within the American Revolution. The Americans looked to cripple the Iroquois. They accomplished that, but they instilled a deep hatred in the Iroquois warriors.
After the Sullivan Expedition the recovered Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, and Mohawk, angered by the destruction caused, resumed their raids on American settlements in New York. These Iroquois tribes not only attacked and plundered the American colonists, they also set fire to Oneida and Tuscarora settlements. The Iroquois continued their attacks upon the Americans, even after General Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis had surrendered at Yorktown in 1781.They did not stop until their allies had caved in and surrendered. In 1782, the Iroquois had finally stopped fighting when the British General Frederick Haldimand recalled them "pending the peace the negotiations in Paris".
After the American Revolution
With the Iroquois League dissolved, the nation settled in new villages along Buffalo Creek, Tonawanda Creek, and Cattaraugus Creek in western New York. The Seneca, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Mohawk, as allies of the British, were required to cede all their lands in New York State at the end of the war, as Britain ceded its territory in the Thirteen Colonies to the new United States. The late-war Seneca settlements were assigned to them as their reservations after the Revolutionary War, as part of the Treaty of Fort Stanwix in 1784. Although the Oneida and Tuscarora were allies of the rebels, they were also forced to give up most of their territory.
On July 8, 1788, the Seneca (along with some Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, and Cayuga tribes) sold rights to land east of the Genesee River in New York to Oliver Phelps and Nathaniel Gorham of Massachusetts.
On November 11, 1794, the Seneca (along with the other Haudenosaunee nations) signed the Treaty of Canandaigua with the United States, agreeing to peaceful relations. On September 15, 1797, at the Treaty of Big Tree, the Seneca sold their lands west of the Genesee River, retaining ten reservations for themselves. The sale opened up the rest of Western New York for settlement by European Americans. On January 15, 1838, the US and some Seneca leaders signed the Treaty of Buffalo Creek, by which the Seneca were to relocate to a tract of land west of the state of Missouri, but most refused to go.
The majority of the Seneca in New York formed a modern elected government, the Seneca Nation of Indians, in 1848. The Tonawanda Seneca Nation split off, choosing to keep a traditional form of tribal government. Both tribes are federally recognized in the United States. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seneca_people
Treaties
Treaty of Big Tree
"The Treaty of Big Tree (1797) was a treaty between the Native American tribe of the Senecas and the United States. They sold almost all their lands in New York State. In exchange, they got an annual income. The treaty created reservations for the Seneca people in Western New York. Reservations included the Allegany, Cattaraugus, Buffalo Creek, and the Tonwanda. The Oil Spring Reservation was only added in 1801. The treaty caused unrest and division in the Seneca tribe. Notable Native American signers include Cornplanter, Red Jacket, Young King, Little Billy, Farmer's Brother, Handsome Lake, Tall Chief and Little Beard. Americans included Jeremiah Wadsworth, Captain Charles Williamson and Thomas Morris, Robert Morris; General William Shepard, William Bayard, Theophilus Cazenove and Paolo Busti and Captain Israel Chapin." https://simple.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Big_Tree#:~:text=The%....
"In 1790 Congress prohibited states and individuals from negotiating land cession treaties with Indian Nations. Yet from the 1780s to the 1840s, New York State officials and private citizens continued to acquire Iroquois, or Six Nations, land through treaties and other agreements. Sometimes Federal commissioners even presided.
This treaty was negotiated on behalf of Robert Morris, a Philadelphia speculator who claimed four million acres of Seneca land in western New York. Known to the Seneca as “the great eater, with the big belly,” Morris was facing bankruptcy and needed to sell his claims. But first, he needed a treaty that extinguished Seneca title to the tracts.
At the treaty council, held at Big Tree, near the present-day town of Geneseo, New York, U.S. treaty commissioners, along with Morris’s brother, convinced Seneca leaders to cede all but 200,000 acres of land in exchange for $100,000. Henceforth the Seneca would live in 10 scattered enclaves surrounded by Euro-Americans." https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/treaty-big-tree
Today
The Seneca people were pushed to reservations by the newly formed United States government, which started to chip away at these lands through treaties the Indians were forced to sign: The Treaty of Canandaigua and the Treaty of Big Tree. The Great Hill People weathered these setbacks and held their ground in the white courts. Though some Seneca were forced off their lands, the majority were able to retain ground in a white man's world.
The railroads, Interstates 86 & 90, the Kinzua Dam Project, Native American Boarding Schools, the Grand Islands stripped away - all called "progress" by the government, progressively took lands, culture, language and identity from the Onödowá’ga:’.
Seneca Progress
In 1992, the Seneca were once again allowed the teaching and use of their own language. This had been stripped from them in native boarding schools.
Today the Seneca Nation currently has a total enrolled population of over 8,000 citizens. The Seneca Nation supports its own people and benefits surrounding communities with a variety of cultural, educational and economic efforts.
Industry: Tax-free cigarettes and gasoline, cigarette manufacturing, Highbanks Campground, Medical Marijuana Initiative and multiple casinos and hotels have given the Seneca independence and pride in ownership. Even though these advances are not without trouble from the state and federal governments, the First Peoples still navigate their canoes through these treacherous waters and support their familial clans and nations with their hard work and long memory.
Culture: Seneca children are able to learn their language, history and culture without fear of reprisal. The Onödowá’ga:’ share their daily lives and those of their ancestors through classes, museums, cultural centers, the arts and libraries on their territories.
Notable Seneca
- Lewis Deerfoot "Hut-geh-so-do-neh" Bennett, Seneca/Snipe Clan - Hut-geh-so-do-neh "He peeks through the door"; known as Deerfoot, The Famous Seneca Indian Runner
- DuWayne "Duce" Leslie Bowen (1946-2006) Seneca Historian, speaker and published author of Seneca religion (Longhouse), folklore and history.
- Bucktooth "Soh-so-wa" Bucktooth (1752-1851), "The original settlement at West Salamanca was named Bucktooth for an Indian who settled there before the the Reservation was surveyed in 1798." Fought in the American Revolutionary War.
- Chief John Big Tree (1877-1967), born Isaac Johnny John, an actor he also posed for the cover of Esquire Magazine commemorating the Indian Head Nickel in March of 1964. He was one of three men who claimed to be the model
- John "Gaiänt'wakê" Abeel, Seneca War Chief, (c. 1742-1836), Seneca War Chief, diplomat and leader. He fought in the French and Indian War and the American Revolutionary War. Granted the Cornplanter Land Tract
- Jesse Joe 'Hayonhwonhish' Cornplanter (1889-1957), Faithkeeper of the Longhouse traditional artist and author
- Governor Blacksnake, (c.1745-1859) Seneca War Chief, nephew to Cornplanter and Handsome Lake, intellectual and leader. Also known as "Chain Breaker", he helped lead the Seneca and Iroquois forces during the American Revolutionary War
- Chief Destroy Town 'Onondakai', Seneca War Chief, signed the treaty of 1826
- Guyasuta (c.1725-1798) Seneca leader in diplomacy and warfare, served as a scout in the French and Indian War, maternal uncle to Cornplanter and Handsome Lake
- Tanacharisson, the Half-King (1700-1754), fought in the French and Indian War, captive of the French, adopted by the Seneca, leader of the Mingo. He represented the Six Nations in 1752 at the Treaty of Longstown.
- Traynor Ora Halftown (1917-2003), entertainer who hosted a children's show that aired on WFIL-TV in Philadelphia from 1950 to 1999
- Sganyadai'yoh (Handsome Lake), (1735-1815)was a Seneca religious leader and prophet who formed what is today, the Longhouse religion of the Iroquois people. The "Code of Handsome Lake," published around 1850, played a significant role in the preservation of the Iroquois cultural heritage. He was a half-brother to Cornplanter and Chief Halftown
- George Heron (1919-2011) President of the Seneca Nation of Indians, (1958-1960) and again from (1962-1964). Seneca historian, linguist and proponent against the Kinzua Dam Project. He also served in World War II
- Alice Mae Lee Jemison (1901–1964) a Seneca political activist and journalist. She was a major critic of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and the New Deal
- Mary 'Deh-he-wä-mis' Jemison (1743-1833), Known as "The White Woman of the Genesee", she was captured by the Shawnee and sold to the Seneca; later being adopted unto the Delaware and Seneca tribes. Her story is told in "A Narrative of the Life of Mrs. Mary Jemison"
- Little Beard (Si-gwa-ah-doh-gwih) (d.1806), Seneca chief who fought in the American Revolution, signer on both the Treaty of Canandaigua and the Treaty of Big Tree
- John Mohawk (Sotsisowah) (1945-2006) a Seneca scholar of American history, writer, teacher, international negotiator, cultural revivalist, and social activist. He was associate professor of American Studies at the State University of New York (SUNY), Buffalo, and director of Indigenous Studies at its Center of the Americas. Founder of the Iroquois White Corn Project
- John Arthur Gibson (Skanyadai'iyo) (1850-1912), chief of the Seneca nation of the North American Iroquois confederation (at Six Nations of the Grand River). He is best known for the versions he provided of the Iroquois oral constitution, the Great Law of Peace
- Catherine Montour (c.1710-after 1791), also known as Queen Catharine, she was a prominent Iroquois leader living in Queanettquaga, a Seneca village of Sheaquaga, informally called Catharine's Town, in western New York
- Arthur C. Parker / Gáwasowaneh (1881-1955), American archaeologist, historian, folklorist, museologist and noted authority on Native American culture. Of Seneca and Scots-English descent, he was director of the Rochester Museum of Arts and Sciences from 1924 to 1945, when he developed its holdings and research into numerous disciplines for the Genesee Region. He was an honorary trustee of the New York State Historical Association. In 1935 he was elected first president of the Society for American Archaeology. His great uncle was Brig. Gen. Ely Samuel Parker
- Brig. Gen. Ely Samuel Parker (1828-1895), Lawyer, engineer, tribal leader and diplomat, Civil War Union Brevet Brigadier General - he was secretary to General Ulysses S. Grant and wrote the final draft of the Confederate surrender terms at Appomattox.
- Maris Bryant Pierce (Ha-dya-no-doh, Swift Runner) (1811–1874), was a Seneca Nation chief, lawyer, and teacher. He was a tribal land-rights activist, and a major influence to the Second Treaty of Buffalo Creek of 1838.
- Sanford Plummer (Ga-yo-gwa-doke), (1905-1974) Seneca narrative watercolor painter
- Chief Sagoyewatha 'Red Jacket' (1758-1830), Seneca chief and orator. A messenger during the American Revolution, he was a war leader during the War of 1812, siding with the United States. Fought in the battles of Fort George (17 Aug. 1813) and Chippawa (5 July 1814); sick of the blood shed in a non-Indian war, he played a leading role in the decision of both to withdraw from the Canadian-American conflict.
- Sayenqueraghta "Old King" Smoke (c.1707-1786) Seneca War Chief also know as "Old King" and Gai Yen Gwa or "Old Disappearing Smoke". Fought in the French and Indian War, Pontiac's Rebellion and tried to keep the Iroquois neutral in the American Revolution, but he was over ruled so once again he took up the role of War Chief.
- Chief Gana-a-gayat Young King (1760-1835) Seneca Hoyaneh (traditional chief) and later, War Chief. A leader of the retaliatory war party of the Wyoming Massacre. He was a renowned warrior, a wise counselor and was possessed of high social qualities among his own people and the Americans.
- Phyllis Bardeau (Gayanögwad) (b.1934), author, Seneca Language educator and lexicographer. She is best known for her work on the Seneca language, including Seneca language dictionaries.
- Photo: Painting of Gaiänt'wakê, Kaintwakon, Chief Cornplanter (portrait by Frederick Bartoli, 1796)