Mingo Seneca History

The Mingo people came from somewhere in northwestern US or Canada probably around 1000 AD. It was decided to travel east to find new lands. As the people moved east, they would stop at likely places for a few years at a time. Finally they came to a great river and followed it south until they came to a place where the Lenape were camped in great numbers. The Lenape called the great river Mississipu. Across the river lay a great civilization of Indian people who called themselves Alligewi, and they spoke a Siouxian language. The Lenape sent out spies. The Mingo counseled with the Lenape in order to decide what should be done.

The leaders asked the Alligewi if the people might settle near their great village. They said, ‘No, but there are no people living to the east.' They agreed to let the people pass through their country to get to the place in the east.

But when they saw the great numbers of our people, they came out to meet us in battle. Our leaders withdrew and counseled, and decided to do battle with these people. For five years we fought these people, and finally drove them out of the country. Many on both sides fell and ours were buried in pits and theirs in mounds. Those Alligewi who survived escaped to the south for the most part, and a few bands escaped over the mountains to the Potomac River Valley. Many of the Lenape and Iroquois people decided they would return to the west and southwest and there they became known by other names. The rest of the Lenape occupied the river valley we called the ‘O-hee-yo' [Ohio], and eventually moved over the mountains to occupy the valley today known as the Delaware River. They traveled over the '93Great Swamp' divide in small groups because it was a difficult trail with little food. In their new land there were no other people living, and there was abundant game, birds, and fish. Around 1300, after the Lenape and Iroquois had driven the Alligewi from the Ohio Valley, the Iroquois moved northeast around the Great Lakes and on toward the St. Lawrence. Our people stopped and settled in what is now northwestern Pennsylvania, where we lived in relative peace for 350 years. There we lived in longhouses surrounded by high stockades out of concern that the Alligewi might someday return to reclaim their lands. For this reason our people always kept canoes at the ready for a quick escape across the lake or river. Our people made round-bottomed pottery with slightly flare d tops characterized by little round holes around the rim of the pot. We made clay tobacco pipes much in the style of the short stemmed ones seen in Williamsburg today. We decorated these with the same tiny holes around the bowl, just like our pottery. There we buried our dead in low mounds. Some of our people found their way over the divide in the mountains known as 'The Great Plateau', and traveled down the Susquehanna River. There they settled at what is now called Clemson Island near Mexico, PA and Academia. Modern archaeologists refer to our culture as Owasco and say we were the 'proto-Iroquoian culture.' There were two groups of Lenape living in western and southwestern PA, one group living nearest to our people in round houses enclosed within a double stockade [McFate Culture] and another group down on the Ohio who lived in round houses within a single stockade [Monongahela Culture]. By this time some of the Lenape had crossed the divide known as 'The Great Swamp' [we call it the 'Poconos' today] and settled in eastern and southeastern PA along the Delaware River. Some early Iroquoian people crossed and settled on the upper Delaware and later mixed with the Lenape to become known as 'Munsee.' From archaeological evidence, it is believed that the White Mingoes [Susquehannocks] began their path as a distinct Iroquoian group around 1450 and developed over the next 75 years in southern NY and northern PA in Bradford Co. Their material culture, however, has always shown strong Seneca-Cayuga influence. About 1525, a great 'sickness' destroyed most of the Indian people living in the middle and upper Susquehanna River Valley. This was probably 'small pox' brought here by Portuguese fisherman when they stopped for supplies and fresh water, and a little trading with the native people living at the river mouth. We know this trading occurred by the discovery of Portuguese fisherman’s spiral brass earrings and brass pendants found in the Indian graves. This left only the Susquehannocks [White Mingoes] in the north end of the valley and the Siouxian speaking people [Shenk’s Ferry] at the south end near the Chesapeake Bay. It’s known that the Shenk’s Ferry people moved to the Susquehanna River mouth about 1300 from the Potomac River valley. Soon the Susquehannocks would move south into the Wyoming Valley from 1525-1550, and then down to the lower Susquehanna Valley just before 1575. As the Susquehannocks migrated south, they absorbed the few Iroquoian people left, as evidenced by the pottery influences on Susquehannock pottery. There they settled at what is now known as the 'Schultz Site' just south of Washington Boro, PA. Here they would also absorb the 'Shenk’s Ferry' people. This left Black Mingoes living only in the area from Lake Erie to the Allegheny Mts. and from present western NY, down to the Ohio River. By 1600, the Susquehannocks experienced a population explosion, and with soils depleted and firewood used up, they moved a few miles north to the lush area now known as Washington Boro, PA. In 1608, Capt. John Smith entered the mouth of the Susquehanna River and met the Susquehannocks [White Mingoes]. 60 came to meet him, but he indicated there were 600 warriors at their stockaded village, at that time in Washington Boro area of PA. The French called them 'Andastes or Ganadastogues, meaning people of the blackened ridge pole.' Later they would be known as 'Conestogas,' a name well ingrained in Lancaster, PA. From 1625-1645 the Susquehannocks appear to have scattered to several smaller towns north along the river, apparently to be closer to resources. In modern times these villages are known as the Billmyer and Roberts Sites, along with several minor sites.

In 1630, Capt. Yong, reported the Mingoes were attacking the Lenape villages, driving them into NJ. The Lenapes were subjugated by the Mingoes, duped into land sales, and then treated as if they were intruders in their own land. >From 1630-1636, the Mingoes conquered the Lenape, compelling taxes and being recognized as sovereign in treaties. A curious thing though, the Mingoes were present when the Lenape sold land to Peter Minuit, but didn’t sign the papers. Peter Styvesant said the Mingoes were overlords of the Lenapes. [I suspect these were White Mingoes or Susquehannocks.]

In 1631, Mingoes destroyed the Dutch colony at Lewes,DE.[I again tribute this to the White Mingoes.]

In 1645 the Susquehannocks moved to what would be the largest known village they ever occupied in the lower Susquehanna R valley. In modern times known as the Strickler Site, it is located about 500 yards south of the oldest Schultz Site, and encompassed 10 acres. There, with the help of the English from Maryland, they built a bastioned fort complete with cannons.

There are three distinct periods of trade between our people and the Europeans.

1638-1655 we had friendly trade with the Swedes located on the Delaware River.

1655-1664 the Dutch take over the control of the area.

1665-1776 the English seize the area.

The earliest actual use of the term 'Mingo' was prior to 1653, when our people were referred to as the 'Black Mingoes,' because of the 'black badge they wear upon their chest.' We called ourselves the 'Cat Nation or Panthers,' later white men called us 'Eries.' During this time we lived at peace with the other Iroquois Nations.

The Swedes traded with both the White Mingoes [50-100 miles NW of Wilmington, DE] and Black Mingoes [250 miles NW of Wilmington, DE]. The distances described were by the Swede's own measure. The Swedes were liberal with gifts and payments in exchange for beaver and otter furs. The Swedes brought trade cloth, kettles, axes, hatchets, knives, mirrors, and coral beads. One trader came up from VA with 862 'yards of purple 'peake' and white 'Roanoke' wampum beads. In 1648, a beaver pelt was worth 2 fathoms [i.e. 6 feet] of white and 1 fathom of purple wampum. The Swedes tried to get the Mingoes to come to Christiana [Wilmington, DE]. This was accomplished by canoeing down the Susquehanna River in great dugout canoes [NOTE: Our people used small elm bark canoes for local use, not birch bark, but for large rivers and the bay, large dugouts of tulip poplar were made, capable of carrying large loads, including at least one capable of carrying 50 men by eyewitness accounts.]. Once in the Chesapeake Bay they traveled to the east side and up the Bohemia R., portaged on 'Old Man’s Path' [it’s flat and easy], then down the Appoquinimik R. to the Delaware R. trading post.' The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents 'tells us this in 1648,' This Lake called ‘Erie’, was formerly inhabited on its southern shores by certain tribes whom we call, ‘\the Nation of the Cat.' [NOTE: The Black Mingoes were a 'nation' of 'certain tribes.'

In 1649 the Senecas virtually destroyed the Hurons.

In 1651 the Dutch incite the Mohawks to raid the White Mingoes on the lower Susquehanna R. in an attempt to destroy the trade with Maryland.

July 5, 1652 the Susquehannocks sign their first treaty with the English in Maryland. This gave land to the English on both sides of the Chesapeake Bay, almost to the mouth of the Susquehanna River.

In 1653, the Swedish governor reported a decline in trade 'since the Arrigahaga [Eries] and Susquahannoer [from whom the beaver come] begin to fight one another.'

In 1654, Swedish Gov. Printz established four trading forts, one at Fort Elfsborgh on the NJ side, Ft. Christiana, DE [Wilmington], Tinicam Is.[on the Delaware R.], and Fort New Korsholm on the Schuykill R., thus controlling all the trade access to the Mingoes. Gov. Printz asked for 'a couple hundred soldiers' so 'not a single savage would be allowed to live in this river.' It was recorded that Jacob Swenson bought deer meat from the Black Mingoes in 1654.

This report from Father Francois Le Mercier, dated Sept.21, 1654;

'They [the Iroquois] informed us that a fresh war had broken out against them, and thrown them all into a state of alarm; that the Ehriehronnons were arming against them (these we call the Cat Nation'). They informed us that a village of Sonnontoehronnon Iroquois had been already taken and set on fire at their first approach'. They declared, in a word, that all the four Nations of the upper Iroquois were on fire; that they were leaguing together, and arming to repulse this enemy'.

The Cat Nation is very populous, having been reinforced by some Hurons, who scattered in all directions when their country was laid waste, and who now have stirred up this war which is filling the Iroquois with alarm. Two thousand men are reckoned upon, well skilled in war, although they have no firearms. Notwithstanding this, they fight like Frenchmen, bravely sustaining the first discharge of the Iroquois, who are armed with our muskets, and then falling upon them with a hailstorm of poisoned arrows, which they discharge eight or ten times before a musket can be reloaded.'

[When I was a teenager, a very old man taught me how the poison was made from snake venom, animal dung, and rotten meat, how the arrow tips were dipped in the mixture and left to dry. It was his belief that when a person was shot, they developed either blood poisoning or tetanus in a few days, not the instant kill shown in movies. For this reason, he didn’t like to handle arrow or spear points found locally, as he believed dried poison could still be on them if they had been protected from the elements.]

The Dutch trader, VanderDonck, in 1656, wrote about the difference between Black and White Mingoes. He says the Black Mingoes were also called 'Eries or Honiasont, meaning gorget wearing people.' In 1656, a bloody war with the Seneca broke out nearly destroying the Mingo people. The Seneca absorbed the remnants of the tribe. Records show that our people had abandoned 'Big Kanawha Town'94 15 years prior to 1671 [i.e. abandoned in 1656].

May 24, 1659, Beekman and ‘Hinoyossa’ visited southern DE to set up trade. It is generally accepted that no white men actually visited the Black Mingoes until after the 1655-56 dispersal. However, the Jesuit missionaries had received reports about them from the Hurons, Neutrals, and Senecas.

In 1661, the Lenape were fearful of English attack. By 1661, all the tribes from NY, NJ, MD, PA and DE were coming to trade with the Dutch. But the Senecas were beginning to cause trouble. In one account they killed 12 Lenape and the Swedish settlers were afraid they would kill their cattle. In another account, the Senecas scalped a white man, wounded a Lenape and were preparing to make war on the White Mingoes [i.e. Susquehannocks].

In 1662, the Susquehannocks reported that 200 Black Mingoes had come to help them against the Iroquois. This is what the records say, however, the Senecas had only absorbed the Black Mingoes just a few years before. More than likely, the author meant to say, the Black Mingoes had joined the Iroquois against the Susquehannocks.] In 1663, ‘Hinoyossa’ suggested moving the Dutch colony to Odessa, DE [Appoquinime] 'where the Mingoes congregated after portaging via the Bohemia R.' The Mingoes presented Gov. Rising with land west of the Elk R., MD, and told him, 'Soon build there with black smiths and artisans and cargo to mend guns.' Aug. 27, 1663, Mohicans from Kingston, NY camped with the Minisink at the head of the Delaware R., and said that the Dutch had destroyed their village [I’m sure word had quickly come down river, that the Dutch could not be trusted].

A 1673 map by Augustine Herrman shows the Black Mingoes in Pennsylvania, west of the Allegheny Mts. 'The Black Mingoes lived beyond the mountains on ‘a very great river,’ almost certainly the Allegheny-Ohio, from a branch of which they had a portage to a branch of the Susquehanna; ‘but the Susquahana and Sinnecus [Seneca] Indians went over and destroyed that very good nation.’[Probably referring to the war in 1656.]

In 1663, the Mohawks were encouraged to take their furs to the Dutch trading post on the Hudson R. In order to avoid conflict, the Dutch Gov. incited the Senecas to war against the Susquehannocks, once defeated, the route would be open for Senecas to bring their furs to the Delaware trading posts.

Now part of the Seneca Nation, in 1663 the Black Mingoes and Seneca went to war against the Susquehannocks living then, at what in modern times is known as the Strickler Site, on the east side of the Susquehanna R. In one major attack the Seneca and Black Mingoes, numbering near 800 warriors, were driven back from the English designed fort by the cannons supplied and manned by the white men from MD.

The Susquehannocks had also been re-enforced by 100 Lenape. Maryland supported the Susquehannocks, and for a time the Susquehannocks raided far into the Seneca country.

In 1664, Gov. Rising, complained of the Lenape trying to destroy trade, threatening war, buying furs from the Mingoes and taking the furs instead to Manhattan, NY where they could get more money.

In 1665 the Susquehannocks abandoned the fort at the Strickler Site and moved almost directly across the Susquehanna R. to the west bank, and established a village. There are two village sites close together and they are so contemporary it is difficult to establish which is oldest. It is believed that the Upper or Oscar Leibhart Site is the oldest and somewhat on the pattern of the Strickler Fort. The Lower or Byrd Leibhart Site is down river, built a little later, possibly on the return of the 'Conestogas' from Maryland in 1690.

Mar. 20, 1673, the English man, John Garland, was licensed to trade at Lewes, DE. At this point he noted that the Lenape had few beavers to trade, either because they were poor trappers or beavers were no longer plentiful in their area. The Lenape sold land and traded corn, fish, hops, beans and a little tobacco to the whites. The New Sweden colonists traded little with them, as they raised their own crops and caught their own fish.

Years of war and the disease, small pox, took their toll on the Susquehannocks. In 1674 the Marylanders made peace with the Senecas, ending the treaty with the Susquehannocks. The Seneca took control of the Susquehanna trade route to the Chesapeake Bay and on to the Delaware Bay by way of the Bohemia R.

Finally in 1675, the Susquehannocks are reported to have abandoned their fort on the Susquehanna R. and moved to the Patuxent River in Maryland, then later to Piscataway Creek south of present day Washington, DC, where militia and VA Indians killed their chiefs and dispersed the tribe.

From a report received in Maryland in 1681, a 'Nation called black Mingoes are joined with the Sinniquos [Senecas].' In 1682 a Jesuit missionary at Onondaga reported that 600 of the Cat Nation had voluntarily surrendered to the Iroquois.

Then during the years 1670-1681, the Iroquois Confederacy [under the branches of the 'Tree of Peace'] began establishing villages of Mingoes at Conestoga, Nockamixon, Neshaminy, Tohickon, Plumstead, Royersford, the mouth of the Conoy, Paxtang, Shamokin, Wyoming, Wyalusing, Sheshequin, Tioga, and Great Bend. [At this point permit me to do some guesstimatics. Archaeologists say an average primitive hunting family has a husband, wife, two children and one grandparent totaling five members. A hunting region can only sustain about ten families, or a total of fifty people in the village. That means there were ten warriors per village. 14 villages times 50 people equals 700 people, of which there were 140 fighting men at this time.] The purpose of this was 'to keep the Southern Door of the Longhouse shut against the white men.' It was during this time the Iroquois Confederacy referred to the Mingo as the 'Hunter Seneca' and 'Props of the Longhouse.' The Iroquois Confederacy from this time on supplied the chiefs that would be overlords of all Indian people in PA. Chiefs included such names as Shickellamy [actually French Canadian adopted by the Oneida and married to a Cayuga woman], John Logan [son of Shickellamy], Half King, etc.

In 1682, William Penn found the tribes of eastern Pennsylvania 'subjugated by the Mingoes.' He says the name is from the Delaware, and means 'despised, contemptible, or unworthy.' The Dutch on the Delaware River referred to us as 'Mingo', and said it meant 'stealthy or treacherous.'

In 1690 the Susquehannocks, now known as Conestogas, returned to Conestoga Town in Lancaster Co., PA. Known as 'The Indian Farm,' on Indian Creek in Manor Twp. of southern Lancaster Co., PA, it was a tract of land on which resided the handful of returning Conestogas, but mostly Senecas. PA governors held many treaties there throughout the 18th century.

My personal family history was easily traced to the Plumstead village located in eastern PA in 1696. Thanks to records kept by the Quakers.

In the summer of 1701 the Iroquois made treaties with both the French and the English, keeping the Iroquois neutral in the European struggles against one another. The great Seneca woman leader, 'Alliquippa,' saw William Penn off at New Castle, DE on his return to England.

By the 1700‘s, our people were living in log cabins similar to, and in close proximity of their white neighbors. [Many years ago, I interviewed an old gentleman at the Royersford, PA Historical Society. He told me he could remember his family telling how years ago [1700’s] the Mingo Indians would bring loads of grain up the Schuylkill River in their canoes and go up Mingo Creek to the mill just south of town. The Mingo also raised and sold hay to the local white colonists. He also said that when they built the power lines for Limerick Power Plant, the archaeologists found the Mingo village sites on the bend in the river. The foundation of the old mill is still there on Mingo Creek.]

In 1722, the PA legislature passed a law prohibiting traders to sell or give rum and other strong drink to the Indians.

About 1727, Swatana ['the enlightener' or Shickellamy as the Algonkian people called him] was delegated by the Iroquois to oversee the Indian tribes of Pennsylvania. He first settled about 12 miles north of Shamokin [Sunbury, PA], and became very valuable to Conrad Weiser who was the Indian Agent for the Penns. According to the naturalist, John Bartram, who met him in 1743, Swatana was ' a Frenchman born at Montreal, and adopted by the Oneidas after being taken prisoner.' He rose to the position of an Oneida chief. In 1742, Swatana moved to Shamokin and lived in the house Weiser had built for him. His Cayuga wife died in the epidemic of 1747, and Swatana himself died Dec. 6 1748. He was survived by two daughters and three sons, one of whom was John Shickallemy or better known as 'Logan.'[born 1725]

In 1731,'Alliquippa', the great Seneca woman leader was living in western PA. There, east of Pittsburgh, a PA Historical Marker still marks the flat fields where Aliquippa’s people would come each summer to raise great fields of corn.

With the 'Walking Purchase' in 1737-38, our people were to move 'west of the Susquehanna River and north of the Blue Mountain' I Pennsylvania. Many families moved, but many stayed on as farmers, innkeepers, etc. living peacefully with the colonists and accepting the Quaker religion. My own ancestors joined the Quaker Meeting at Plumstead, PA in 1711, but were forced out of the church in 1725 after failing to stop practicing native religion. Many, including some of my relatives, stayed, siding with the British during the Revolutionary War, only after losing the war did they move to Canada. In 1737, my direct ancestors moved to what was probably the first Indian Reservation in the New World. William Penn designated the southern half of what is now York County, PA as Indian Reservation, and it remained so until at least 1765 according to old maps I’ve seen. It was located on the west side of the Susquehanna River. There in the rolling hills and farmland we were joined by remnants of the Shawnee and Conestoga [Susquehannocks recently returned from MD and VA, forced out by the colonists and VA Indians]. My family has remained in the area until the present.

A famine occurred in the area of the NY Seneca between 1743-1747. This famine forced the Mingo Seneca, Caughnawaga Mohawks, and smaller numbers of Lenape, Mahicans, Ottawas, St. Francis Abenakis, and Chippewas to relocate to the lower Cuyahoga River. Estimates say there were 2000-2400 people. The Mingo and Mohawks settled into a fortified Wyandot village near Castalia.

After 1747, the Seneca Chief, Tanaghrisson, lived on the upper Ohio, from which he was overseer of the resettled tribes under the supervision of the Onondaga Council. Conrad Weiser recognized him as a 'king' or 'half king' in the Treaty of 1748. Conrad Weiser visited the great Seneca woman 'Alliquippa' on the Allegheny a short distance above the mouth of the Monongahela R.

In 1748, the estimated population of Senecas on the Ohio was 650 [4 X number of warriors].

In 1753, George Washington calls on the great Seneca woman leader 'Alliquippa' on the Youghiogheny R. in western PA. In 1753, the French make their move to Presque Isle [Erie] on their way to establish forts on the French Creek and the Allegheny. Tanaghrisson sends three strong protests requesting the forts be removed, just short of declaring war. All of his efforts fail to re move the French.

Tanaghrisson invited the Virginians to build a fort at the forks of the Ohio, but on Apr. 17, 1754 the French seize the unfinished fort. On May 28, 1754, he supports Washington in the first real battle of the French and Indian War at Jumonville Rocks. Another disaster quickly followed with the surrender of Fort Necessity at Great Meadows. Tanaghrisson moved his headquarters east to Shirleysburg. He died on Oct. 4, 1754 while on a visit to John Harris [present Harrisburg, PA] and was buried there. A PA Historical Marker marks the area of burial.

With the death of Tanaghrisson, Scaroyady ['side of the sky' or Monacatootha] succeeded him as 'half king.' Richard Peters wrote, he was general 'Direction of Indian Affairs.' Many Mingo migrated directly to the Upper Ohio River where G. Washington recorded them in 1754. In 1754, the fraudulent 'Wyoming Valley Purchase' took place, and Scaroyaday went to Onondaga to protest. [I know this was fraudulent, because it was the 'Sacred Hunting Grounds of the Seneca Nation.' There’s no way our people would have given up those grounds. There were bison and elk there until 1830. NOTE-Today deer, bears, elk, and turkeys are abundant, and bison are raised on farms.] 'Queen Alliquippa, Seneca woman leader, dies at Shirleysburg, PA.

Mingo Flats, Randolph Co., WV was established. March 1,1755. Chief John Shickellamy or 'Logan' [son of Chief Shickellamy] tells Conrad Weiser, the agent of Wm. Penn, any settler’s creatures will be killed and if they don’t leave, they will be killed.

In 1755, the new Chief Half King, 'Scaroyady,' led 30 of our warriors on the ill-fated march of General Braddock to the Battle of Greenbrier Valley at Marlinton. After this major defeat, he warned the Pennsylvania Governor that the Lenape living on the Susquehanna River were preparing to make war. The Pennsylvania militia and Black Mingoes then swept PA and WV clear of French related Indians. Scaroyady died while attending a treaty at Lancaster, PA June 1757.

In his second journal of 1758, Christian Frederick Post [Moravian missionary married to an Indian wife] wrote of the Six Nations “they settle these New Allies on the Frontiers of the White People and give them this as their Instructions. ‘Be Watchful that no body of the White People may come to settle near you. You must appear to them a frightful Men, & if not withstanding they come too near give them a Push we will secure and defend you against them.' The Chain of Union between the several Indian Nations is of that nature, that if we have War with one of them, we have also war with them all.”'

Jan. 19, 1759 the Mingo were instructed to 'act frightful so as to keep white men out.' Now led by Simon Girty [Mingo Chief], the Mingo moved to the west bank of the Ohio River at Mingo Bottom just above Wheeling, WV. From here the raids hit Decker Creek, a foray to New River, Muskin gum, Simpson Creek, the Kelly raid, Muddy Creek, Big Lick, Point Pleasant, Fort Pitt, Fort Laurens, Piqua, Tuscarora R. and Bryant’s Station.

In 1762 Connecticut settlers enter the Wyoming Valley of PA. In 1763 the Six Nations promise war on the settlers if they don’t get out. On Oct. 15, 1763, war chief Captain Bull leads a war party killing settlers in the first Wyoming Valley Massacre.

By 1763, Kiasutha, Seneca chief of the Wolf Clan, born about 1720 among the Genesee River Senecas is the 'Half-King' overseer of the Indians in PA.

In 1763, Gaustarax [Oscotax or 'Mud Eater'] Seneca chief of Genesco, who had signed the land sales in PA in 1736 and 1749,leads the Indians against Colonel Bouquet at the Battle of Bushy Run.

In December 1763, the Paxtang Boys killed most of the remaining Conestogas at Lancaster, PA. Angry at the attacks on settlers on the frontier and in the Wyoming Valley, they decided to take it out on the friendly Indians living in Lancaster, and proceeded to Philadelphia in pursuit of the few remaining Lenape. Fortunately, the Quakers there, led by Benjamin Franklin, stood up to the Paxtang Boys in the street and turned them back to their homes, but not before Franklin was knocked to the ground. The Lenapes had been escorted to safety on an island in the Delaware R. Some of Logan’s people were killed at Lancaster as well, but he did not take revenge at that time.

In 1763 Chief Little Eagle [Kisopila] led a major fight against Capt. Gibson at Fort Pitt.

In 1764 the Onondaga Council recognized the Mingo Seneca. [NOTE-This is of major interest to those of us with Mingo blood because we are not only recognized as a distinct nation of people with our own identity, but also clearly under the branches of the Great Tree of Peace or Iroquois Confederacy.]

In 1766 Mingo Bottom, near Steubenville, OH, has 60 families with 300 people. It’s the only town between Pittsburgh, PA and Louisville, KY.

Settlers return to the Wyoming Valley of PA, only to be warned again by the Mohawks on June 14, 1768. The Fort Stanwix Treaty on November 5, 1768 finally gets the Iroquois to cede the lands on the North Branch of the Susquehanna River, south of Towanda, PA, including the Wyoming Valley.

About this time, Thomas Jefferson observed, 'The Mingoes live between Kittatinny Mt., PA and Lake Ontario. They are also called “Massawemacs” by Indians to the south.' He also wrote, 'The Mingo are in confederacy with the Senecas and speak a common language.' [NOTE: Another interesting point documenting the confederacy ties, and the fact that at this point in time the language was 'common' to both. This suggests any differences between our two languages must have taken place over the 230+ years since then. No wonder that our stories, ceremonial clothes and traditions are very Seneca-like. But since the archaeologists tend to refer to us as 'proto-Iroquoian,' did we learn from the Seneca, or as linguistics specialists have suggested [since our language is the more primitive one] did the Seneca learn from us?]

John Logan [son of Chief Shickellamy] had been born in 1725 at Shamokin, PA. In 1770 he moved his family to Mingo Town, OH.

In April 1774, while Logan was away, his entire family of thirteen members was murdered by Daniel Greathouse’s men at Yellow Creek on the Ohio. Logan had always been a friend to whites, now they would know his wrath. What followed was called Dunmore’s War [named after the colonial governor of VA]. It is said that Logan took 13 scalps at the Battle of Mt. Pleasant.

In 1776, Kiasutha ['Crosses Standing In A Row'] became 'Half-King' of the Allegheny-Ohio area Indians. He was offered a colonel’s commission in the American army, but he turned it down when his people decided to stay loyal to the British.

In 1777, the Senecas entered the Revolutionary War on the side of the British. During the Revolutionary War our people sided with their British allies, mostly as raiders on the frontier.

In 1777, the estimated Seneca population on the Ohio was 320 [4 X the number of Mingo men].

My direct ancestors, one called 'Moses' on his horse, Black Devil, on July 3, 1778, were involved with the second Wyoming Valley massacre in north-central PA, killing Lazarus Stewart, the leader of the infamous Paxtang Boys, who had massacred the Conestoga Indians confined in the Lancaster Co. jail, PA, 'for their own protection in 1763. [This jail can still be visited, as it is preserved under the present day Fulton Theater in downtown Lancaster, PA. As an organized tribe the Conestoga disappeared, however, many were traveling out of the area at the time as evidenced in old letters. So it is entirely possible mixed-blood descendants could still be around.] Moses and several kinfolk were branded 'outlaws' because they raided the Newtown, PA treasury for war-chest money three days 'after' Cornwallis surrendered to Washington after the Battle of Yorktown. Moses was known as a champion Indian wrestler and would bet on anything, even on the fact he could jump King’s Ravine on the NJ side of the Delaware River.

In 1779 G. Washington ordered the burning of the Seneca towns, hence he has always been known by our people as the 'Burner of Villages.' Sullivan, Brodhead, and Clinton went on the attack destroying every Seneca village they could find. They burned homes and crops, food stores looted and orchards uprooted.

In 1780, Cornplanter or 'Gyantwahia' [born 1750] became Head Man at Ganawaugus on the Genesee R. Later he moved to Burnt House or Cornplanter’s Town. From here he supervised the 'alien' Indians on the Allegheny-Ohio for the Iroquois Confederacy. During the Revolution he fought for the British, but after the war worked for reconciliation and kept his 20 people out of the Northwest Territory Indian war. For this, PA gave him the Cornplanter Grant [Three tracts, of which he only kept one, were submerged in 1967 by the Kinzua Dam.] Cornplanter was son of a Seneca woman of chiefly lineage and his father was the Dutch trader, John Abeel, from Albany. Cornplanter’s half-brother was Handsome Lake, and his uncle was Guyasuta or Kiasutha.

July 13, 1782 the Senecas retaliated for the burning of their villages by destroying Hannastown east of Pittsburgh.

In 1784 the Second Fort Stanwix Treaty was signed with the Iroquois.

In 1785 the Fort MacIntosh Treaty was signed with the Delaware and Wyandot.

In 1786 the Fort Finney Treaty was signed with the Shawnees. During this year, Logan met his death at the hands of his own nephew, who said, 'Logan had become to great.' The nephew was to take Logan’s place on the council.

In 1789 the Fort Harmar Treaty was signed with all the tribes. It is interesting to note that no great chiefs were present for any of these treaties, or if they were present, they didn’t sign the treaties.

On Aug. 3, 1795 the Indian Wars in the east end with the Treaty of Greenville. This brings about the removal of the Mingo to northwest Ohio.

In 1799 and 1800, Handsome Lake has his visions and receives the 'Gaiwiio’ and begins the 'New Religion.' Many Mingo people accept the new religion and the 'Code of Handsome Lake.'

In 1800 The Mingo move to the Sandusky Reservation at the head of the Scioto R. in Ohio.

In 1801 many Catholic and Anglican Mohawks are reported at Sandusky.

In 1804 delegates are sent to NY to hear Handsome Lake.

In 1806 Handsome Lake comes to Sandusky council.

In 1807 delegates again go to hear Handsome Lake in NY.

In 1808 Handsome Lake again visits the Sandusky council.

During the Revolutionary War the Ohio Iroquois mostly supported the British, but in the War of 1812 most fought for the Americans.

On a visit to Onondaga, Handsome Lake died Aug. 10, 1815.It was suggested that he had been poisoned through witchcraft. A large tombstone marked his grave.

From 1807-1817 Cayugas migrated and joined the Mingo Seneca on the Sandusky.

The 1817 Treaty of Maumee Rapids, gave the Mingo Seneca 30000 acres on the east bank of the Sandusky R., opposite Fort Seneca, SenecaCo., OH. The community received a blacksmith and an annuity increase to $500. A gristmill was built and a sawmill, which are now preserved by the Historical Society of Wyandot Co.

In 1818 the St. Mary Treaty gave an increase in reservation size and annuities.

The treaties of 1817 and 1818 ceded most of northwestern Ohio to the United States, but did give the Senecas of Sandusky 62 square miles [the non-Christian Cayugas and Senecas lived on the north half and the Anglican Mohawks and Oneidas lived on the south half along with some Onondagas and at least one Tutelo], plus 1000 acres to the Mohawks at Honey Creek, and another tract of 62 square miles for the Mixed band of 'Senecas' and Shawnees around Lewistown [later this was divided north half to 'Senecas' (in fact Cayugas) and the south half to the Shawnees].

In 1819, the Sandusky Senecas numbered 348.

Until about 1820 the Mingo people lived mainly by farming during the spring and summer, then broke into smaller hunting parties from fall until December when the base camps were established. During the next few months the men hunted in the surrounding area, while the families stayed close, venturing out in February for maple sugaring. At the end of March everyone returned to the larger village for the planting time.

After 1821 the Mingo people adopted the 'plow agriculture' of the whites, while continuing to hunt when possible.

In 1825, three Sandusky men are sent on a three-year expedition in search of a new homeland in the west.

In 1830, President Andrew Jackson signed the 'Removal Bill' removing all eastern Indians to the west side of the Mississippi R.

In 1831 the Ohio Reservation was surrendered by treaty, and 251 Mingoes moved to the Neosho R. in Kansas. The move was made in the dead of winter and only 238 made it. This was the Mingo 'Trail of Tears.' The Sandusky people traveled west overland and by steamboat between November 1831 and July 1832. The Mixed Band was removed between September and December 1832, with 25 to 30% dying on the way. The two groups rejoined in December of 1832 on the Neosho River Reservation with the Mixed Band in the north half and the Sandusky Senecas in the south half.

In 1833 one of the Mohawk-Oneida Anglican ministers held services and the Episcopal church had 50 members.

In 1836 Chief Cornplanter died on the Cornplanter Tract in northwestern PA.

In 1845 the Sandusky population was 153.

From 1846-1852 a number of Cayugas from NY moved to a tract in Kansas, most soon returned to NY, leaving fewer than 50. Some of these people moved to Neosho in 1849 for about five years, then most returned 65 miles north to Fort Scott, KS. Many enlisted in the Union Army, only to have their allotments sold to whites in 1873. A few stayed in Kansas, one third moved to the Neosho Reservation and the rest returned to NY.

In 1862 most of the Seneca and Shawnee on Neosho Res. moved to the Ottawa Res. in KS due to Civil War depredations.

In spring of 1865 the Seneca and Shawnee moved back to the Neosho Res.

In 1865 there were 130 Sandusky Senecas.

In 1867 a treaty was signed, and went into effect on ratification in 1869, dissolving the Mixed Band. Some of their lands were given to the Ottawas, Wyandots, and others. The Shawnees received part of the reservation and became known as the Eastern Shawnee. The Mixed Band 'Senecas' joined the Sandusky Senecas on the southern half of the old Neosho Reservation, thus dissolving the old 'Lewistown Senecas.'

In 1868 there were 101 Sandusky Senecas.

In 1870, 1879, and 1881 a number of NY Iroquois immigrated to the Neosho Res., but only about 20 or so stayed and received allotments. This established family ties to the east, especially the Six Nations Reserve.

In the early 1870’s annual elections were held to elect the first, second, and third chief and three councilmen.

In 1872 the Sandusky and Lewistown became one in the census with a population of 214. A Quaker school was built.

In 1873 The Seneca-Cayuga had 460 acres under plow, for corn, wheat, oats, and potatoes. They owned 103 plows of four types and one reaper. The orchards contained 500 fruit trees including apples, pears, plums and grapes. Their herds included 245 head of cattle, 350 hogs, and 110 horses.

In 1875 strict matrilineal rules for tribal affiliation are dropped, especially among the Cayuga.

In 1877, by formal council decision, the Mid-winter or New Year Ceremony was given up because of the 'white dog sacrifice' being offensive to some.

About 1880, the last spring and fall circuits of the community by 12 False Face doctors accompanied by 6 Husk Faces occurs. A few False Faces continued healing rites. Quaker and Methodist conversions increased. William Jacobs from Six Nations Reserve visited in 1880-81 and spoke of Handsome Lake.

In 1881 the Seneca-Cayuga numbered 243. The elected Seneca Council was described as functional, ‘not purely honorary.' The Cayugas had a parallel council of three chiefs for signing the NY annuities.

In 1884 a Friends Meetinghouse was built.

In 1885, the census showed 239 members.

In 1887 the Dawes Severalty Act caused half of the Seneca Reservation to be allotted in 40 to 160-acre tracts from 1888-1891.

In 1890 the census showed 255 members. The tribe had 6000-7000 acres under productive cultivation. 58 members belonged to the Quaker meeting.

In 1892 the Catholic missionizing begins.

Since 1893 Quaker missionaries continue in residence.

In 1896 the stone Cayuga Church [Splitlog Mission] was built by the Catholics, but was later taken over by the Baptists.

From 1902, the ceremonies were conducted at Turkey Ford on 'stomp grounds’, which were open and surrounded by benches in the Oklahoma style. In 1902-1903 the remaining land was allotted, with 120 acres to each person born since the first allotment, 80 acres set aside for the ceremonial grounds and cemetery and 40 acres for the Quaker Meetinghouse, and the remaining 10,000 acres declared 'surplus' and sold. A final annuity payment was made, and annuities were ceased. The Cayugas from NY continued to get their annuities. The 1903 census showed 358 members.

In 1905 the census showed 366 members.

In 1907 the Peyote religion was introduced by Delaware, George Anderson. For 20-30 years about 20 members met.

In 1910 Wakes continued to be held for the dead, but the Moccasin Game was dropped. John Isaac from Sour Spring visited and spoke of Handsome Lake, and the Catholics jailed him for it.

In 1912 the traditional clan exogamy was dropped. The 'adoption dance' [adopting a person to replace a deceased relative] had become extinct.

In 1924 the census showed 525 members.

About 1935 the open-sided Longhouse was constructed measuring 58 feet 5 inches by 30 feet. The ceremonies being organized and supervised by the Faithkeepers or ‘pothangers’, numbering 12,with three women and three men from each moiety, and headed by a woman from the South moiety. These are life offices and usually hereditary. Ceremonial calendar was similar to eastern Iroquois except there was no Mid-winter or New Year ceremony. About this time, it became custom to have the 'Sun dance' or 'Rain dance' a day or two after the August Green Corn ceremony, rather than in September.

In 1936-37 Chancey Isaac spoke of Handsome Lake during ceremonies in OK. But no preachers ever develop there.

In 1937 the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma was organized under the Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act.

Offices filled by annual elections were chief, second chief, sec-treas, interpreter, and three councilmen, all residents of Delaware and Ottawa Co. Enrollment begins at this time. Official rolls include all those on the rolls in 1937 plus all children born since who had both parents on these rolls; children of out-marrying members are admitted to membership at their request if the non-Seneca-Cayuga parent is Indian, or subject to the approval of the Council if that parent is not Indian.

In 1940 the Pensacola Dam was constructed causing Grand Lake to flood some of the allotments and half the ceremonial grounds. The federal government did purchase some land for the Seneca-Cayuga, but some of this was soon flooded. The last 'doll dinners' are held.

In 1944 the census showed 861 members with 476 in Ottawa Co.

By mid-twentieth century a child often took the clan of the parent of the same sex.

In 1959 the census showed 1230 on the 'per capita roll.'

In 1960 there were about 495 members living in Ottawa Co. Farming was still important, but supported only a small portion of the tribe. Others worked in nearby towns as truck drivers, mechanics, restaurant cooks, factory workers, teachers, and nurses. Most if not all the enrolled tribal members were known to have some non-Seneca-Cayuga ancestry. White ancestry was very common; the most frequent non-Iroquois ancestry was Wyandot, Cherokee, and Shawnee. There were 12 other tribes mentioned including Osage, Winnebago, Creek, and Peoria. By this time, most tribal members were totally ignorant of who Handsome Lake was or what his Code said. A few tribal members participated in Shawnee or Quapaw Peyote meetings.

In 1961 Cayuga annuities amounted to a total of $858.43 a year, so were not divided per capita. $400 of the amount was allotted to tribal ceremonial grounds upkeep.

By 1962 the majority of enrolled members lived outside Delaware and Ottawa Co. Most lived in Oklahoma or Missouri, but many in California and Oregon and elsewhere in the US. Many still return for visits and the August Green Corn ceremony. Moieties named in English according to position in the Longhouse form opposing sides for the Bowl Game. The North Moiety includes Wolf, Bear, Turtle, Porcupine [of Wyandot origin] and formerly the Beaver, which died out since 1912. The south Moiety includes the Snake [of either Wyandot or Shawnee origin], Snipe and Deer clans.

In 1974, the tribe still owned about 1,000 acres, and showed 540 people living in or near Ottawa Co.

In 1977 the Cayuga annuities were still being paid.

In 1978 Congress passed Public Law 95-608, otherwise known as the Indian Child Welfare Act. The intent of this law is to 'establish standards for the placement of Indian children in foster or adoptive homes, to prevent the breakup of Indian families and other purposes defined in later addition to the Act.'

Nov. 27, 1992 the federal court granted a motion for the United States to intervene in the Cayuga Land Claim vs. New York State. The Chief of the Seneca-Cayuga at this time was Mark R. Daniel.

Dec. 1992 issue of 'Gah-Yah-Tohnt', the Seneca-Cayuga newsletter included Sections 10, 11, and 18 of the 'Gai\wiio', the Code of Handsome Lake.

On July 21, 1993 the Constitution and By-Laws of the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma was revised and updated. ArticleIII-Membership of the tribe states: The membership of the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma shall consist of the following persons: All persons of Indian blood whose names appear on the official census roll of the Tribe as of Jan. 1, 1937. All children born since the date of the said roll, both of whose parents are members of the Tribe. Any child born of a marriage between a member of the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe and a member of any other Indian Tribe who chooses to affiliate with the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe. Any child born of a marriage between a member of the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe and any other person, if such child is admitted to membership by the Council of the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe.

In Sept. 1993, the Business Committee of the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of OK passed a resolution to put the Seneca-Cayuga language into the school curriculum.

The General Council of the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma met on Sunday, Jan. 23, 1994, at Turkey Ford School Gymnasium. The purpose of the meeting was to receive a status report on the New York Land Claims Case and set up a disbursement plan. Over 380 Tribal members attended. The Chief at this time was Terry L. Whitetree.

March 1994, Ceremonial Chief Richard White announced, the Blackberry Dance would be on July 22nd and Camp Day for Greencorn would be Aug. 7th.

November 2000, West Virginia Mingo put the Mingo Language 'online,' complete with pronunciations, grammar lessons, reading lessons, and stories. The language is of interest because it is considered endangered, as there are only a few speakers. It attracts the particular attention of Mingo people from PA, WV, and OH arousing renewed interest in Mingo Culture and Language. MINGO-Lserves to connect tribal members as well as other people interested in the culture for the purpose of research support, educational exchange, and communication for activities.

In 2001, the numbers are around 2500 enrolled members. But there are probably thousands of un-enrolled members scattered across the US.

The Mingo people in south-central and southeastern PA have received health and welfare educational support from the federal government for a number of years, though not officially a federally recognized tribe. They have a Constitution and By-Laws, and are currently working on the legal documents for state recognition as a non-profit organization. The PA Mingo, have documented their heritage back to 1696 through courthouse documents, church records, newspaper articles, family records [i.e. birth certificates, bibles, etc.], and cemetery records. Some members of this group live in TX and MT. At this writing, none of the members in this area are known to be less than 1/16th Mingo blood. Other related families are also being researched at the present time.

Actually, this information, as far as the migration from the northwest, is no longer viewed by any serious anthropologist as correct. Fact is, modern anthropology's view is that the Iroquoian people have been here back to the Paleo-Indian Period which is 8000 years BC. The "in situ" theory is the current view where the Iroquoian people grew and flourished right here in NY, PA, Ohio, Ontario and Quebec. The story herein is Delaware and maybe they fought the Allegewi (Cherokee) in the past but..... Gerald and I have been talking so it is mine and his hope that no one is offended by this update. Anthropology isn't stagnant and must continue to seek new truths. Oh, there are some old dinosaur anthros still around but let them not hinder you as with the turn of each shovel new truths surface. There have been several time periods and several cultures that transformed the Iroquois of today.........approx. 10,000 years you might say.

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