Seneca

Culture and Political Organization

Traditionally, the Seneca were a matrilineal society divided into eight bird-animal clans or social units descending from female ancestry (Deer, Hawk, Heron, Snipe, Turtle, Beaver, Wolf, and Bear). The oldest woman of a clan, the Clan Mother, nominated, installed, and removed chiefs. In the 19th century, many of the Seneca tribes abandoned the traditional chieftainship system of government for an elected form of government established under new tribal constitutions. The Seneca Nation of New York, for example, has executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government comprising elected representatives from the Allegany and Cattaraugus Reservations, whereas the Seneca from Tonawanda Reservation have maintained their traditional practices, including hereditary chiefs.

Longhouse Religions and Handsome Lake

Handsome Lake was a Seneca religious leader responsible for reviving traditional Haudenosaunee religious beliefs and moral codes of conduct in what has come to be known as the Code of Handsome Lake. Born in 1734, Handsome Lake, named Hadawa'ko, was Giaant'waka's brother (Chief Cornplanter) and the uncle of Sagoyewatha (Red Jacket), two well-known Seneca leaders. Although he grew up in more prosperous times, he lived to see the deterioration of Seneca culture in the post–American Revolutionary era, when the Haudenosaunee were forced [Page 1914]onto reservations. As a young man, he was highly regarded among the Seneca, earning him the title of the legendary sachem, Sganyadaí:yoh. In 1799, after experiencing a series of visions, he began preaching four messages, sometimes referred to as the Gaiwiio (the Good Word). His four messages outlined a moral code that included prohibitions against alcohol usage, the use of negative spirit powers (often identified as witchcraft), birth control (including abortion), and the use of love potions or medicine. His message also incorporated Christian teachings, including public confession, ideas about sinfulness, and the submission of wives to their husbands.

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