Treaties of Buffalo Creek
There are four treaties of Buffalo Creek.
Contents |
[edit] 1788
The Treaty of Buffalo Creek should not be confused with the Phelps and Gorham Purchase of lands east of the Genesee River in New York, which occurred at Buffalo Creek on July 8, 1788. [1]
[edit] 1838
A Treaty of Buffalo Creek (also known as the Treaty With The New York Indians, 1838) was signed on January 15, 1838 (proclaimed on April 4, 1840) between the Seneca Nation, Mohawk nation, Cayuga nation, Oneida Indian Nation, Onondaga (tribe), Tuscarora (tribe) and the United States. It covered land sales of tribal reservations under the US Indian Removal program, by which they planned to move most eastern tribes to Kansas Territory west of the Mississippi River.
The Seneca nation, represented by certain chiefs, agreed to the following. Based on the terms of the accord, the US was to sell the four remaining Seneca reservations (Buffalo Creek Reservation, Tonawanda Reservation, Cattaraugus Reservation, and Allegany Reservation) and provide for the Seneca to relocate to a tract of land in present-day Kansas (then territory), west of Missouri. A section of the treaty acknowledged that the Ogden Land Company would buy the four reservations then occupied by the Seneca Nation, including the Tonawanda Reservation. The understanding was that the Ogden Land Company would sell the land to settlers for development.
[edit] 1842
The US and the Seneca Nation modified the treaty by the "Treaty with the Seneca of 1842".[2] This reflected that the Ogden Company had purchased only two of the four Seneca reservations, but their purchase included the Tonawanda Reservation. But, officials had failed to consult the chiefs of the Tonawanda Band of Seneca Indians, who had signed neither treaty. The Seneca residing on the Tonawanda Reservation refused to leave their land and objected to the 1838 and 1842 treaty proceedings.
The 1842 treaty is the treaty that the Seneca nation claims exempts them from excise taxes, citing a statement in the ninth article of the treaty. Said article states:
The parties to this compact mutually agree to solicit the influence of the Government of the United States to protect such of the lands of the Seneca Indians, within the State of New York, as may from time to time remain in their possession from all taxes, and assessments for roads, highways, or any other purpose until such lands shall be sold and conveyed by the said Indians, and the possession thereof shall have been relinquished by them.
[edit] 1857
To settle the issue, the US signed a treaty with the Tonawanda Band in 1857 known as the "Treaty with the Seneca, Tonawanda Band".[3] The Seneca bought back most of their reservation with the money set aside for their removal to Kansas. At the same time, they seceded from the main Seneca nation and restored their traditional government of a Council of Chiefs, based on consensus. They achieved federal recognition as an independent tribe by this treaty.[4]
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ McKeveley, Blake (January 1939). "Historic Aspects of the Phelps and Gorham Treaty of July 4-8, 1788". Rochester History (Rochester Public Library) 1 (1). ISSN 0035-7413. http://www.rochester.lib.ny.us/~rochhist/v1_1939/v1i1.pdf. Retrieved 2008-01-05.
- ^ "Treaty with the Seneca of 1842", Oklahoma State Library, accessed 22 Mar 2010
- ^ "Treaty with the Seneca, Tonawanda Band", Oklahoma State Library, accessed 22 Mar 2010
- ^ PETER L. POODRY, DAVID C. PETERS, SUSAN LAFROMBOISE, JOHN A. REDEYE, and STONEHORSE LONE GOEMAN, Petitioners-Appellants, v. TONAWANDA BAND OF SENECA INDIANS; BERNARD PARKER, a/k/a Ganogehdaho; KERVIN JONATHAN, a/k/a Skongataigo; EMERSON WEBSTER, a/k/a Gauhnahgoi; DARREN JIMERSON, a/k/a Sohjeahnohous; HARLEY GORDON, a/k/a Gah-En-Keh; JAMES LOGAN; and DARWIN HILL,, 1995, accessed 22 Mar 2010
[edit] References
- Laurence M. Hauptman, Conspiracy of Interests: Iroquois Dispossession and the Rise of New York State (2001).
