Land area
Land of the Seneka in New York, ceded 1802 (area 36)
- 1797
Set aside as a reservation
- 1802
Ceded to the United States
The 1899 record: “The Seuccas cede to the Holland Land Company the 12-nnlc ] tract along Catarangos creek”
In the record
Kept by the Seneka as a 12-mile tract at Cattaraugus in 1797, then ceded to the Holland Land Company in 1802, which granted the Seneka a larger Cattaraugus tract in return. The area covers about 23 thousand acres in what is now New York.
How it was taken: a treaty or agreement. The OSU text records a sale under a presidential commissioner's supervision, with a stated price and reservations; no cited source describes coercion.
Written from the records linked here; open any of them for its sources.
Shapes come from C. C. Royce’s 1899 maps as georeferenced by the US Forest Service. They are approximate and are not legal descriptions of land. Royce recorded land the United States treated as ceded; the shape does not show a nation’s territory.
Who is doing the work
This history belongs to living nations. Start with them:
Working with these nations
- Oneida Indian Nation Nation government About 18,000 acres in trust (2022 est.), 25,000-acre cap under 2013 agreement
- Rematriation Native-led Indigenous women-led media, education, community advocacy Give on their site Website
- The Nature Conservancy (TNC) Allied land trust Funder/partner in several tribal land returns Website
Land return and Native-led work nearby
- Shinnecock Kelp Farmers Native-led Indigenous kelp farming and Shinnecock Bay restoration Give on their site Website
Native legal and land defense, nationally
- Native American Rights Fund (NARF) Native-led Litigation and legal advocacy for tribal sovereignty, treaty rights, land and resources Give on their site Website
- NDN Collective (LANDBACK Campaign) Native-led LANDBACK campaign (launched 2020; Mount Rushmore closure and return of Black Hills public lands), Indigenous… Give on their site Website
- Indian Land Tenure Foundation (ILTF) Native-led Land recovery and control by tribes and individual Indian landowners Website
- Decolonizing Wealth Project (Indigenous Earth Fund; California Tribal Land Return) Native-led Reparative philanthropy Give on their site Website
Gifts go straight to each organization; this atlas takes nothing. Listing is not endorsement: how organizations are listed.
Connections
Links marked “suggested” were matched automatically by name or date and have not yet been reviewed by a person.
Nations named for this land 3, matched by the Forest Service, under review
- Cayugasuggested
- Senecasuggested
- Tonawanda Band of Senecasuggested
Agreements recorded for this land 1
- Agreement (Treaty of Big Tree) with the Seneca, 17971797suggested
Located in 1
Sources
- Royce, Indian Land Cessions (1899), Schedule entry dated 1797-09-15primary record
- Kappler, Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties, text for 1797-09-15primary record
- Royce, Indian Land Cessions (1899), Schedule entry dated 1802-06-30primary record
- Kappler, Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties, text for 1802-06-30primary record
- Royce’s map sheet: New York (Library of Congress)primary record
- USDA Forest Service, Tribal Lands Ceded to the United States (digitized Royce maps)reference work
The record’s fields
- Area number in the 1899 record
- 36
- Dates in the 1899 record
- 1797-09-15; 1802-06-30
- Kind of instrument
- Treaty or agreement
- Peoples as named in the 1899 record
- Seneka
- States
- NY
- Counties
- Cattaraugus; Chautauqua; Erie
- Map sheets in the 1899 record
- New York
- Geometry
- Approximate shape from Royce’s 1899 maps
Research notes
geometry_role is 'cession' for every USFS feature: no field in the source distinguishes cessions from reservations.
- Kind
- Land area
- Confidence
- Medium