COMMEMORATING the signing of the Buffalo Creek Treaty between the Seneca
Nation of Indians and the United States of America on May 20, 1842

WHEREAS, With due cause and proper resolve, this Legislative Body honors
the Seneca Nation of Indians as it commemorates the 169th Anniversary of
the signing of the Buffalo Creek Treaty 1842; and
WHEREAS, The Seneca Nation of Indians is a founding member and one of
the six tribes of the Iroquois Confederacy (also known as the Haudeno-
saunee) who own and occupy aboriginal lands in western New York State
that were set aside by the Treaty of Canandaigua of 1794; and
WHEREAS, The Seneca Nation of Indians has total population of over
7,800 enrolled members and currently holds title to multiple sovereign
Territories (Cattaraugus, Allegany, Oil Spring, Niagara and Buffalo) in
New York State; and
WHEREAS, The construction of New York State's Erie Canal in the early
1800's - a water route linking trade and transportation between New York
City and the Great Lakes - made nearby Haudenosaunee lands very attrac-
tive to land speculators and fueled removal threats against the Seneca
Indians; and
WHEREAS, Eight years after the enactment of the federal "Indian
Removal Act of 1830", four Seneca Territories remained: Allegany, Catta-
raugus, Buffalo Creek, and Tonawanda; and
WHEREAS, Efforts to remove Senecas from their lands culminated with
the signing of the notorious Buffalo Creek Treaty of 1838, in which all
of the Seneca lands were to be sold to the Ogden Land Company, and the
Seneca were to move out west, to Indian Territory, in lands that are now
Kansas; and
WHEREAS, This 1838 treaty was notorious, even at the time, for being
blatantly fraudulent, as bribery, forgery, and deception were used to
obtain Seneca member signatures; and
WHEREAS, Almost immediately, the Seneca people refused to abide by the
1838 treaty, and diplomatic efforts were made to negotiate a new treaty;
and
WHEREAS, In 1842, a compromise treaty was secured, known as the Second
Treaty of Buffalo Creek, and laid the foundation for much of the Feder-
al-Iroquois relations throughout the 19th century; and
WHEREAS, The Buffalo Creek Treaty of 1842 preserves for the Seneca
people the Allegany and Cattaraugus Territories, and further acknowl-
edges and guarantees the sovereignty of Seneca Nation under confirmed
principles of federal and international law; and
WHEREAS, In exercising its treaty protected rights to the free use and
enjoyment of its lands, the Seneca National has demonstrated a strong
record of creating successful business enterprises in Western New York,
employing over 6,500 members and non-native Americans, generating over
$1 billion in economic growth and revenues to the western New York
region; now, therefore be it
RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
commemorate the 169th anniversary of the signing of the Buffalo Creek
Treaty of 1842 between the Seneca Nation of Indians and the United
States of America; and be it further
RESOLVED, That copies of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be tran-
smitted to Robert Odawi Porter, President of the Seneca Nation of Indi-
ans, to Diane Kennedy Murth, Clerk of the Seneca Nation of Indians, and
to Richard Nephew, Chair of the Seneca Nation Council.