Seneca nation
Encyclopedia : S : SE : SEN : Seneca nation
- For other uses, see Seneca.
History
The Seneca, or "Onodowohgah" ("People of the Hill Top"), traditionally lived in what is now New York between the Genesee River and Canandaigua Lake. With the prehistoric formation of the Iroquois Confederation, the Seneca became known the "Keepers of the Western Door" because they were located on the western edge of the Iroquois domain. The Senecas were by far the largest of the Iroquois nations. Catholic and French-oriented parts of the tribe were known as Mingos.
Traditionally, the economy was based on cultivation of corn, beans, and squash (the three sisters), primarily by the women, and hunting and fishing by the men. During the colonial period they became involved in the fur trade, first with the Dutch and then with the British. This served to increase hostility with other native groups, especially their traditional enemy, the Huron, an Iroquoian tribe in New France near Lake Simcoe. During the 17th century, attacks on Huron villages caused the destruction and dispersal of the Huron. Captives who were not tortured to death were adopted into the tribe.
During the American Revolution, the Seneca along with their immediate neighbor in the League, the Cayuga, carried out many raids on American settlements and strongholds, instigated by the British at Fort Niagara. These raids were reduced after the Clinton and Sullivan Expedition destroyed many Cayuga villages. Divisions in the League from mixed loyalties of its members to the British or Americans weakened its power.
On November 11, 1794, the Seneca (along with the other Haudenosaunee nations) signed the Treaty of Canandaigua with the United States.
The Seneca, like other League members, were known as the People of the Long House. They lived in villages, often surrounded by palisades due to warfare, which moved every ten or fifteen years as soil and game were depleted. During the 19th century they adopted many of the customs of their white neighbors, building log cabins and participating in the local agricultural economy.
Notable Senecas in history include Red Jacket, Cornplanter, Guyasuta, Handsome Lake, and Ely S. Parker.
Today
The Seneca formed a modern government, the Seneca Nation of Indians, in 1848, but the traditional tribal government still retains some power. The Senecas have involved themselves in gambling ventures for several decades, including high-stakes bingo. In recent years they have established legalized casino gambling and operate two casinos: one on a purchased site in the city of Niagara Falls, New York called Seneca Niagara and the other on their own territory in the city of Salamanca called Seneca Allegany. A third is in the works and will be located on purchased land in downtown Buffalo adjacent to the HSBC Arena to be entitled the Seneca Buffalo Creek Casino. Other Senecas are employed in the local economy of the region.
One of the most significant features of the Seneca Nation of Indians is their ability to sell tax-free gasoline and cigarettes. The price advantage that incurs has created a boom in Seneca economies, including a litany of service stations along the state highways that run through the reservations and a series of Internet cigarette stores. Current Seneca President Barry Snyder, much like his recent predecessors, have defended the price advantage as an issue of sovereignty and cite treaties, dated over 100 years ago, that suggest that Indians would be tax exempt. This position was rejected by the Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court, Third Department in Snyder v. Wetzler, 193 A.D.2d 329. In that decision the court held that the provisions of that treaty regarding taxation was only with regard to property taxes. This decision was affirmed by the New York Court of Appeals on December 1, 1994, in Snyder v. Wetzler, 84 N.Y.2d 941. This, however, has raised the ire of two groups: non-Indian service stations that cannot compete because of New York's high cigarette and gasoline taxes, and the State of New York, who believes that the Internet cigarette sales are illegal and that the state still has authority to tax non-Indians who patronize Seneca businesses, a principle that the Senecas vehemently reject. In 1998, New York State attempted to enforce taxation of Indian gasoline and cigarettes. The attempt was thwarted after a large number of Senecas set fire to tires and cut off traffic to Interstate 90 and New York State Route 17 (the future Interstate 86). Recently, Attorney General Eliot Spitzer has made moves to attempt to cut off Internet cigarette sales, including negotiating deals with credit-card companies and delivery services to not handle cigarette purchases to consumers. Another attempt at collecting taxes on gasoline and cigarettes sold to non-Indians is set to begin March 1, 2006; it has been tabled, much to the chagrin of Spitzer and the state legislature, by the state Department of Taxation and Finance.
About 7200 enrolled members live on three reservations in New York: the Allegany (which contains the city of Salamanca), the Cattaraugus near Gowanda, New York, and the Oil Springs, near Cuba, New York. Few, if any, Seneca reside at Oil Springs, geographically the smallest of the reservations.
An independent group live on the Tonawanda Reservation near Akron, New York. Other Seneca live in association with the Cayuga in Miami, Oklahoma or on the Six Nations of the Grand River reserves near Brantford, Ontario, Canada.
There are currently pending three lawsuits challenging various aspects of the Compact with the State of New York under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. One group Citizens for a Better Buffalo has commenced two of the actions, one in state court and the other in federal court. The other lawsuit was commenced in federal court by Daniel T. Warren of Upstate Citizens for Equality.
See also
Further reading
- Anthony F.C. Wallace, The Death and Rebirth of the Seneca (New York: Vintage Books, 1969). ISBN 0-394-71699-X
External links
- [Seneca Indians historical and cultural information]
- [Citizens for a Better Buffalo legal chalenge to the Seneca Buffalo Creek Casino]
- [Daniel T. Warren's legal challenge to Indian casinos in New York]
- [Home page of the Seneca Nation Of Indians (SNI), New York]
- [Taxation and Indians]
- [How the Sullivan-Clinton Campaign Dispossessed the Seneca]
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