Description: The definitive eighteenth- and nineteenth-century history of the Tonawanda Senecas of western New York State.
Brief description: Laurence M. Hauptman is SUNY Distinguished Professor of History at SUNY New Paltz. His many books include Seven Generations of Iroquois Leadership: The Six Nations since 1800; A Nation within a Nation: Voices of the Oneidas in Wisconsin; and Formulating American Indian Policy in New York State, 1970-1986, also published by SUNY Press.
Review Quotes:
"...delivers a compelling account of the Tonawanda Band of Senecas' struggle with the white man, dispelling the notion that Native Americans were naïve victims 'in the inevitable march of westward expansion.' ... Hauptman's style is engaging and cogent as he follows the trail of lawsuits, offers and counteroffers between the Tonawandas and the governments of New York State and Washington." -- Western New York Heritage
"In this brief, accessible volume, prolific historian Hauptman details the successful 19th-century struggle of the Tonawanda Band of Seneca Indians to secure their territory in western New York State and protect themselves from federally sponsored removal ... An important study in the history of Indian sovereignty that deserves broad readership ... Highly recommended." -- CHOICE
"The little known saga of the traditionalist Seneca community at Tonawanda is told here in admirable style and with impeccable scholarship." -- Anthony F. C. Wallace