Leaders and citizens of the Seneca Nation gathered today along the banks of Buffalo Creek in West Seneca to commemorate the signing of the Third Buffalo Creek Treaty of 1842.
It modified a previous treaty that Senecas say was fraudulent, which would have stripped all lands to wealthy developers and relocated most Haudenosaunee people from New York to the Midwest under the greater Indian Removal Program.
"It was a difficult period for a lot of Native people here along the Eastern Seaboard," Seneca said. "They were attempting again to remove us from our territory. That failed."
As the Seneca Nation continues to gain land back, like 200 acres in Grand Island, President JC Seneca said issues in nation-to-nation relations persist much like they did in the 1800s.
"We're meeting that same resistance from governments," he said. "We just received back 207 acres of land that was donated to us on Grand Island, but through that process the Town of Grand Island, the State of New York filed action to try to stop that. Many of the people in Western New York here know our story, understand us getting land back is an important thing, but governments don't want that to happen."
When the previous 1838 Buffalo Creek Treaty included the total removal of Seneca lands in New York and its people to Kansas, Porter said it was the matriarchy that fought back against the bribery and duress that plagued the earlier process.
"Really it was the women that resisted. The clan mothers, the mothers, and then some allies that were nearby that helped us," Porter said. "So we overturned that removal policy and became just having our lands the Allegany Territory, Cattaraugus Territory, and Oil Spring Territory. It's a stark reminder that we have to be vigilant, and as mothers and as women, it's our job to make sure that our young people are educated."
While the 1842 modified Buffalo Creek Treaty staved off mass relocation westward, it was still met with mixed feelings among Senecas. Coupled with the adoption of a constitutional republic in 1848, some broke off to form the Tonawanda Band of Senecas.
That group continued a traditional system of clan mothers and chiefs, and bought back land near Pembroke. The Tonawanda Senecas have about 12 square miles of territory they call home.
