Native American Heritage
The Seneca Nation of Indians, one of the original five nations of Upstate New York’s Iroquois Confederacy, boasts a nearly 1,000-year-old history in Western New York. Known as the “Keeper of the Western Door,” the Senecas controlled trade at the western edge of the confederacy, and hunted, fished and farmed here. Much of the Seneca’s extensive history in the region can be discovered at the Seneca-Iroquois National Museum in Salamanca, less than 90 minutes southeast of Buffalo.
Chief Red Jacket, a Seneca orator and one of the most prominent Native American leaders is U.S. history, is buried in Buffalo’s historic Forest Lawn. In 1792, President George Washington presented Red Jacket with a peace medal, which is now in the collection of the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society. The Historical Society also has a permanent Native American gallery as part of its museum.
