, the last descendant of
Cornplanter with the Cornplanter name, making a ceremonial mask, Tonawanda Community House, 1940 On 15 January 1838, the United States government entered into the
Treaty of Buffalo Creek, with nine Indian nations of New York, including the Seneca. The treaty was part of the United States
Indian Removal program, by which they forced Native American peoples from eastern states to move west of the
Mississippi River to reservation lands in the less-desired and therefore less-settled
Kansas Territory (now the state of
Kansas and parts of
Colorado). This govern removal also displaced the Indigenous peoples of those areas. The US wanted the Seneca and other New York tribes to move there to free up desirable lands for the European-American colonists’ to take over and settle. Under the treaty, the US acknowledged that the
Ogden Land Company was going to buy the four remaining Seneca reservations in New York, the proceeds funding the nation's removal to
Kansas Territory. The US modified the 1838 treaty with the
Treaty with the Seneca of 1842. The new treaty reflected that the Ogden Land Company had purchased only two reservations, including the
Tonawanda Reservation. The Seneca retained the
Cattaraugus and
Allegany reservations. At this time, the Seneca of the Tonawanda Reservation protested they had not been consulted on either treaty, nor had their chiefs signed either treaty. They refused to leave their reservation. In 1848, the Seneca Indians of the Cattaraugus and Allegany reservations held a
constitutional convention. They adopted a new form of constitution and government, including tribal
popular election of chiefs. Traditionally, hereditary chiefs were selected by clan mothers and ruled for life (unless one displeased his clan mother.) The Tonawanda Band did not want to make such changes, and thus seceded from the main Seneca nation in New York. They reorganized and re-established their traditional government with a council of chiefs representing each of their eight
clans. In 1857, under the "Treaty with the Seneca, Tonawanda Band", the Tonawanda Band of Seneca Indians secured federal recognition as an
independent Indian nation. With their share of proceeds from the earlier land sale, they bought back most of the
Tonawanda Reservation. Under their traditional government, hereditary chiefs typically served for life. They governed by a
consensus of leaders of the clans, which formed the basis of the band. The Seneca and all the Iroquois peoples had a
matrilineal kinship system, in which descent and property were passed through the maternal line. Children were considered born into the mother's
clan and took their status from her people. "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." == See also ==