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The Seneca were the largest of the original Five Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy.

As they were the westernmost of what later became the Six Nations or Iroquois League (Haudenosaunee), they were known as the "Keepers of the Western Door."

Today, it is estimated that there are about 10,000 Seneca in the United States, where there are three federally recognized Seneca tribes: the Seneca Nation, the Towanda Seneca Nation, and the Seneca-Cayuga Nation. Additionally, there are about a thousand Seneca on the Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation reserve in Ontario, Canada.

Situated in western New York, the Seneca Nation has three reservations, only two of which are occupied. The Cattaraugus Reservation is just under 35 square miles, stretching from Lake Erie inward along Cattaraugus Creek. Although it is one piece of land, it is divided among Cattaraugus County, Chautauqua County, and Erie County for census purposes. More than forty percent of the people living on the Alleghany Reservation are European-Americans who occupy properties leased from the Seneca Nation. While most of its Iroquois residents are Seneca, there are also Cayuga people there. It borders both banks of the Allegheny River and is partially within several of the towns in southern Cattaraugus County. One square mile in size, the Oil Springs Reservation had only one resident in 2010. It is bordered by the towns of Cuba and Ischua, straddling Allegany and Cattaraugus counties.

The Tonawanda Band of Seneca Indians, also known as the Tonawanda Seneca Nations, is also located in western New York. In 1848, the Seneca Nation approved a republican constitution, electing a council and executive officials to govern their lands. A group of members opted out of participating in the republic, forming a separate band, which became the Tonawanda Seneca Nations nine years later. The Tonawanda reestablished a continuation of the traditional Seneca government. The Tonawanda govern a 7,500-acre reservation near Akron.

The Seneca-Cayuga Nation is based in Oklahoma, where they have a tribal jurisdictional area in the northeast corner of the state. Consisting of both Seneca and Cayuga people, its members are descended from Iroquoian people who had relocated to Ohio from New York in the mid-18th century. While there are more than five thousand enrolled members of the Nation, just over a thousand of them live in Oklahoma. The Seneca-Cayuga Nation has an elected form of government.

The Six Nations of the Grand River is the largest First Nations reserve in Canada. Situated in Ontario, the reserve covers 46,000 acres and is home to descendants of each of the Six Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy, the Mohawk, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, Seneca, and Tuscarora, as well as some Lenape. Primarily, these were the Iroquois who allied with the British during the American Revolutionary War.

Prior to the 19th century, the Seneca lived in longhouses in settled villages. Longhouses were so named because they could be as long as a hundred feet in length and housed related families, along matriarchal lines. Today, longhouses are still used by the Seneca for ceremonial purposes, although not as living spaces.

The Seneca recognize eight clans: Bear, Wolf, Turtle, Beaver, Deer, Hawk, Snipe, and Heron. Seneca children are born into their mother's clan, and their social status is derived from the family of the mother. Traditionally, the mother's eldest brother was a larger figure in the life of a Seneca child than the biological father, who does not belong to the same clan. Marriages were required to be between people of different clans.

Like several American Indian groups, the Seneca grew three staple crops together. Known as the "three sisters," these were corn, beans, and squash. Berries, herbs, and roots were gathered as food and for medicinal purposes, and Seneca men would hunt deer, elk, and smaller game. They also raised domesticated fowls, such as turkeys.

Although most Seneca are Christian today, some still follow the Longhouse Religion, also known as the Code of Handsome Lake, or Gaihwi:io/Kaliwihyo. Founded by a Seneca prophet, Handsome Lake (Sganyodaiyoˀ), the religion combines elements of traditional Seneca religious beliefs with elements of Christianity, primarily taken from the Quakers. The religion uses longhouses for ceremonial purposes, which is why it is often referred to as the Longhouse Religion. Interestingly, Joseph Smith, the founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormonism), is believed to have been influenced by the teachings of Handsome Lake.

The focal point of this section of our guide is on the Seneca peoples. American Indian or First Nations tribes, or bands identifying as Seneca are appropriate for this category, along with Seneca reservations, reserves, or other holdings, businesses, industries, medical facilities, schools, museums, and other entities.

 

 

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