Seneca Tribe

SENECA TRIBE

The Seneca were the largest of the 5 tribes which comprised the Iroquois League or the Five Nations. Along with the Seneca, the Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) League includes the Oneida, Mohawk, Onondaga, and Cayuga. Later the Tuscarora, or "shirt wearing people" became the 6th Nation to join the confederacy, fleeing from British occupied North Carolina. Today, nearly 10,000 Seneca live on reservations in Western New York; the Cattargaurus, Allegany, and Tonawanda reservations, with some also settled in Oklahoma, and Ontario, Canada; they are the only Nation to own a U.S. city, Salamanca, which is situated on land owned by the Allegany Indian reservation.
At the time of the formation of the Iroquois League, the five tribes occupied territory from the East to the West, the Seneca being the "keepers of the western door". The official language of the Seneca is Ogwehoweh, in which their name translates to O-non-dowa-gah, or "great hill people."; from which their creation myth said they had originated.
The historical Seneca tribe occupied territory from the Genesee River to Canandaigua Lake in Western New York, living in long houses on the riverside. The sedentary tribe's villages were well fortified with wooden stake fences, just one of their many industrious undertakings. They relied heavily on agriculture for food, growing the three sisters: corn, squash, and beans, which they referred to as deohako, "the life supporters"; in addition to raising crops, the Seneca men would hunt in the Fall, and fish in the Spring.
The Seneca women were in charge of elections, and decided who was to become tribal leader, Leaders usually held their posts for life, but could be removed if they became corrupt or proved to be incompetent; the Seneca political system also included a constitution, which is believed to have been the model for the American constitution.
One of the Seneca's most important leaders was a man named "Red Jacket"; he was a great orator, and left us with many memorable quotes such as "Most powerful is he who has himself in his own power. The sun also shines on the wicked.", and "It is another's fault if he be ungrateful; ."but it is mine if I do not give." Red Jacket was a strong defender of the Seneca heritage, opposed to assimilation by the whites, especially with the missionaries who tried to impose Christianity on the Seneca. Despite his opposition to cultural assimilation, Red Jacket did want to live in peace with the whites, and even fought alongside the British during the American Revolutionary war.

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Last modified: November 28, 2001

Caroline A.