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The Tonawanda Indian Reservation ( see, Ta:nöwöde') is an
Indian reservation An Indian reservation is an area of land held and governed by a federally recognized Native American tribal nation whose government is accountable to the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs and not to the state government in which it ...
of the Tonawanda Seneca Nation located in western
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * ...
, United States. The band is a federally recognized tribe and, in the 2010 census, had 693 people living on the reservation. The reservation lies mostly in Genesee County, extending into
Erie Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 a ...
and Niagara counties. It is bordered by the Towns of
Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = " Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,7 ...
, Pembroke, Newstead, and Royalton. The Tonawanda Reservation is also known as the Tonawanda Creek Reservation. Currently, it has more than a half dozen businesses located on Bloomingdale Road within the reservation. Several sell untaxed, low-price cigarettes and gasoline. Other businesses sell Seneca craft goods, groceries, and prepared food.


History

After various cultures of indigenous peoples succeeded each other in the Great Lakes area, in late prehistoric times, the five nations of the Iroquois coalesced. Before the mid-14th century, they had formed the Iroquois Confederacy. The Seneca were one of the Five Nations of the ''
Haudenosaunee The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian Peoples, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Indigenous confederations in North America, confederacy of First Nations in Canada, First Natio ...
''. The current location of the Tonawanda Reservation is believed to be close to the likely poorly-defined border between the historic Seneca homeland and its rivals, the
Neutral Nation The Neutral Confederacy (also Neutral Nation, Neutral people, or ''Attawandaron'' by neighbouring tribes) were an Iroquoian people who lived in what is now southwestern and south-central Ontario in Canada, North America. They lived throughout t ...
that occupied the Niagara Region at the time of French missionary
Joseph de La Roche Daillon Joseph de La Roche Daillon (died 1656, Paris) was a French Catholic missionary to the Huron Indians and a Franciscan ''Récollet'' priest. He is best remembered in Canada as an explorer and missionary, and in the United States as the discoverer of ...
's arrival in the area in 1627. The Iroquois pledged allegiance to the
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...
Crown in the Nanfan Treaty. During the French and Indian War, the Iroquois and British defeated
New France New France (french: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Great Britain and Spai ...
; the Iroquois and other native territory was placed in a massive
Indian Reserve In Canada, an Indian reserve (french: réserve indienne) is specified by the ''Indian Act'' as a "tract of land, the legal title to which is vested in Her Majesty, that has been set apart by Her Majesty for the use and benefit of a band." Ind ...
. During the
American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
, most of the Iroquois sided with the British Crown, as they hoped to end colonial encroachment; to this effect, the Iroquois led several massacres on colonial settlements, which provoked the Continental Army to respond with the scorched-earth
Sullivan Expedition The 1779 Sullivan Expedition (also known as the Sullivan-Clinton Expedition, the Sullivan Campaign, and the Sullivan-Clinton Genocide) was a United States military campaign during the American Revolutionary War, lasting from June to October 1779 ...
, wiping out much of the Senecas' already destitute homelands. After the Crown's defeat, some of the Seneca, along with other Iroquois, migrated with
Joseph Brant Thayendanegea or Joseph Brant (March 1743 – November 24, 1807) was a Mohawk military and political leader, based in present-day New York, who was closely associated with Great Britain during and after the American Revolution. Perhaps t ...
to the Grand River reservation in the still British-controlled territory of
upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of th ...
(now known as the province of
Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
). Those majority of the Seneca People remained in what is now western New York, subsequently were forced to ceding lands through the Canandaigua Treaty of 1794 and the Treaty of Big Tree in 1797 which led to the reservations in western New York, which are only a fraction of their original reservation . Most Reservation land after the Treaty were often violated by the state and today the boundaries have been reduced after illegal sales to White settlers and also the construction of the dam in Allegheny reservation which led to most arable land being swallowed by the Dam. Most of these were done without the permission of the Tribe. In 1848, the
Seneca Nation of Indians The Seneca Nation of Indians is a federally recognized Seneca tribe based in western New York. They are one of three federally recognized Seneca entities in the United States, the others being the Tonawanda Band of Seneca (also in western New ...
was formed to represent the Seneca as a
federally recognized tribe This is a list of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States of America. There are also federally recognized Alaska Native tribes. , 574 Indian tribes were legally recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) of the United ...
. Due to a dispute over one of the
Treaties of Buffalo Creek The Treaties of Buffalo Creek are a series of treaties, named for the Buffalo River in New York, between the United States and Native American peoples: These include the following: * First Treaty of Buffalo Creek (1788) * Second Treaty of Buff ...
, where as the Senaca Indians wanted a republican form of government and the Tonawanda wanted a Traditional form of Government , the
Tonawanda Band of Seneca Indians The Tonawanda Seneca Nation (previously known as the Tonawanda Band of Seneca Indians) ( see, Ta:nöwö:deʼ Onödowáʼga꞉ Yoindzadeʼ) is a federally recognized tribe in the State of New York. They have maintained the traditional form of gover ...
was formed in 1857 to represent the Tonawanda territory. In contrast to the Seneca Nation of Indians, which uses an American-style
republic A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...
an form of government, the Tonawanda Band of Seneca Indians preserves the traditional Seneca practices, including selection of life chiefs by heritage. The Seneca of this reservation worked with self-taught
anthropologist An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and v ...
Lewis H. Morgan Lewis Henry Morgan (November 21, 1818 – December 17, 1881) was a pioneering American anthropologist and social theorist who worked as a railroad lawyer. He is best known for his work on kinship and social structure, his theories of social evol ...
in mid century to teach him about the
Iroquois The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...
kinship and social structures. He published the results of his work in 1851 as ''The League of the Ho-de-no-sau-nee or Iroquois.'' His insights about the significance and details of kinship structure in Native American societies influenced much following anthropological and ethnological research. Much of the information was provided by his colleague and friend
Ely S. Parker Ely Samuel Parker (1828 – August 31, 1895), born ''Hasanoanda'' ( Tonawanda Seneca), later known as ''Donehogawa'', was a U.S. Army officer, engineer, and tribal diplomat. He was bilingual, speaking both Seneca and English, and became friend ...
, a Seneca born on the reservation in 1828. Morgan dedicated his book to Parker and credited him with their joint research. Over the years, the size of the reservation had been reduced by forced sales of land by the state of New York to surrounding communities. The reservation is also noticeably more racially integrated than most Seneca Nation of Indians territories (excluding
Salamanca Salamanca () is a city in western Spain and is the capital of the Province of Salamanca in the autonomous community of Castile and León. The city lies on several rolling hills by the Tormes River. Its Old City was declared a UNESCO World Herita ...
, which operates on a lease system); whereas the Seneca Nation has actively resisted non-native settlement of its territories because of the past policy whereby white settlement meant that the tribe lost that parcel of land to Non Natives without their permission who often used it for farming. Tonawanda Band has been somewhat more tolerant of allowing non-natives to live on its territory.


Geography

According to the
United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...
, the part in Niagara County has a total area of 0.8 mi2 (2.1 km2) and none of the area is covered with water. The Census Bureau reports the part of the reservation in Genesee County has a total area of 9.3 mi2 (24.0 km2). 9.2 mi2 (23.8 km2) of it is land and 0.1 mi2 (0.2 km2) of it (0.76%) is water. The Census Bureau reports the part in Erie County has a total area of 1.8 mi2 (4.8 km2). None of the area is covered with water. The
Tonawanda Creek Tonawanda Creek is a small tributary of the Niagara River in Western New York, United States. After rising in Wyoming County, the stream flows through Genesee County before forming part of the boundary between Erie County and Niagara County. ...
flows through the entire reservation to the Niagara River, separating the part in Niagara County from the parts in Erie and Genesee counties. The river constitutes a barrier. Together with the absence of paved roads, these factors limit the population in this part of the reservation. The northern boundary of the reservation's Niagara County portion is part of the
Tonawanda Wildlife Management Area The Tonawanda Wildlife Management Area is a wildlife management area (WMA) located in western New York State. It is located primarily within Niagara County and Genesee County, with a small portion within Orleans County. It is managed by the New ...
.


Demographics

The United States Census Bureau compiles separate demographic data for each county's portion of the reservation.


Erie County

As of the census of 2010, there were 34 people, 9 households, and 7 families living in the Indian reservation. The
population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPop ...
was 18.4 people per square mile (11.4/km2). There were 9 housing units at an average density of 2.7/mi2 (1.0/km2). There were 9 households, out of which three consisted of a married couple living together and two were made of a single individual. One household had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.78 and the average family size was 4.43. In the Indian reservation the population was spread out, with eighteen person under the age of 20, four people from 20 to 24, nine people from 25 to 44, one person from 45 to 64, and three persons 65 years of age or older. The median age was 19.5 years. Nineteen of the reservation's residents were female and fifteen were male. The median income for a household in the Indian reservation was $21,250. The
per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...
for the Indian reservation is $20,950. None of the population were below the
poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...
. Median incomes per family were not reported. <-Figures specific to the Tonawanda Reservation is not included in the 2000 or 2010 census data. What was the source?


Genesee County

As of the census of 2000, there were 533 people, 186 households, and 121 families living in the Indian reservation. The
population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPop ...
was 58.0/mi2 (22.4/km2). There were 192 housing units at an average density of 20.9/mi2 (8.1/km2). The racial makeup of the Indian reservation was 52.53%
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
, 2.63%
Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have of ...
or
African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of enslav ...
, 39.40% Native American, 0.19%
Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/ racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of Oce ...
, 2.44% from
other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...
, and 2.81% from two or more races.
Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties form ...
or Latino of any race were 4.88% of the population. There were 86 households, out of which 32.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.6% were
married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...
living together, 13.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.9% were non-families. 27.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.87 and the average family size was 3.49. In the Indian reservation the population was spread out, with 29.8% under the age of 18, 9.9% from 18 to 24, 26.3% from 25 to 44, 21.0% from 45 to 64, and 12.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.2 males. The median income for a household in the Indian reservation was $25,208, and the median income for a family was $36,563. Males had a median income of $31,250 versus $12,159 for females. The
per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...
for the Indian reservation was $12,201. About 12.3% of families and 16.1% of the population were below the
poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...
, including 16.5% of those under age 18 and 16.1% of those age 65 or over.


Niagara County

As of the census of 2010, there are no people living in the location.


Education

Residents living on the Tonawanda Reservation are included in the Akron Central School District.


See also

*
Tonawanda Band of Seneca Indians The Tonawanda Seneca Nation (previously known as the Tonawanda Band of Seneca Indians) ( see, Ta:nöwö:deʼ Onödowáʼga꞉ Yoindzadeʼ) is a federally recognized tribe in the State of New York. They have maintained the traditional form of gover ...


References


External links


Information on Seneca and Tonawanda Reservation


{{authority control American Indian reservations in New York (state) Iroquois populated places Seneca tribe Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area Geography of Niagara County, New York Geography of Genesee County, New York Geography of Erie County, New York