Paul G. Reilly served as attorney of record for the land claims initiated by the Seneca Nation of Indians and the Tonawanda Band of Senecas before the Indian Land Commission between 1948 and 1976.

Mr. Reilly in preparing for these legal cases, over a period of forty years, collected a great volume of photocopies of treaties between various Indian nations and the Various Indian nations and the United States Government, chapters from history books, maps and other supporting materials. These photocopies were made from the original materials held at the National Archives, libraries and other depositories across the United States. Some of the materials that were collected and cited in the briefs for the Seneca Indian Land case of 1971 are not included in this collection. All those documents cited in the case can be found at the National Archives.

Professors Eric Brunger and John Aiken, members of the History Department at Buffalo State College and both experts in western New York history, were requested By Paul Reilly to assist him in evaluating the lands involved in the Seneca Indian land claims case. Their work entitled "The Big Tree Cession of 1794" was presented as part of the Senecas’ brief before the Indian Claims Commission in September of 1970.

As a result of their work which also included testifying before the Indian Claims Commission, Mr. Reilly upon his retirement from the law, after the conclusion of the case in 1971, offered the papers to the two professors. They accepted the papers for the college and requested that the papers be housed in E. H. Butler Library.

The collection consists of 48 boxes. There is a 227 page finding aid that provides titles of the materials filed in each of the 48 boxes.

General Classifications of Documents

• Agreements with Indian nations prior to 1789
• Agreement with Indian nations after 1789
• Bibliographies on Indian history
• Federal and State court cases involving Indian Affairs
• Iroquois/Seneca Indian treaties
• Legal documents before the Indian Claims Commission
• Map relating to Indian Affairs
• Seneca Indians - constitution, oil leases - 1897 - government documents and pamphlets

The Senecas filed several land claims before the Indian Claims Commission. The collection of supporting materials housed in our collection concern the land claims filed in 1971.


Claim filed with the Indian Claims Commission

(Excerpt from the Courier Express - February 13, 1971)

WASHINGTON - An attorney for the Seneca Nation has filed a brief with the Indian Claims Commission for $9,303,762 from the federal government, money the Indians say they should have received for land they sold in Western New York.

The tract covers almost all the areas bounded by Lake Ontario, the Niagara River, and Lake Eire, the Pennsylvania state line and the Genesee River. But it excepts Indian Reservations.

The Senecas claim more than $9 million from the government because the U.S. in1792 agreed to protect all its Indians from unfair land sales. The courts have sustained government responsibility in a proceeding that dates back more than 20 years - all Seneca claims, in fact, had to be on file by 1951.

The brief tabulates for the first time the price the Senecas believe they should have received for selling the western section of New York State to the white man compared with what they did receive.

Among other things, the brief charges that the U. S. by official policy in the early 19th century tried to expel all Iroquois Indians from New York State, trading them land in Kansas for their New York holdings. This created such opposition that the policy was abandoned in the 1840s.

The brief also shows that the Senecas refused to leave parts of their Tonawanda and Cattaraugus Reservations even after these had been officially "sold".

The Senecas in 1842 sold the Tonawanda Resevation and the remaining land in the old Buffalo Creek Reservation, according to the brief, at an average $2.40 an acre to the old Odgen Land Co.

But they refused to leave the land and in 1857 the government negotiated a new treaty permitting the Indians to buy back 7,549 acres. But the Senecas had to pay $20.36 an acre, or almost 10 times as much as they got for land 15 years earlier.

The brief concentrated on three land transactions:

• The so-called Robert Morris sale in 1757 in which Morris, "the finacier of the American Revolution," bought 4,030,325 acres from the Senecas for $100,000. This tract, excluding 11 reservations, covered almost all the state west of the Genesee River. The brief said this put the land price at two cents an acre when it should have been about $2. The Senecas, claim an additional $7,778,107. Morris sold most of his 4 million acres to the Holland Land Co.
• The Ogden Land Co. sale of 1826 when the Senecas sold all or parts of eight reservations for $133,769, which the Indians now should been $1,014,167, a difference of $880,839. This sale covered parts of the Buffalo Creek Reservation (on which much of Buffalo now stands) and the Tonawanda Reservation.
• The 1842 transaction for Tonawanda and Buffalo Creek Reservations. This resulted an 1838 treaty by which the U.S. tried to buy all remaining Seneca reservations in Western New York - Tonawana, Cattaraugus, Buffalo Creek and Allegany.

Try these sites for collections and information on the Seneca Nation:

Other Library Collections in SUNY

Native American Sites with references to the Senecas

Native American sites has information on Powwows and festivals, Storytellers
Native organizations and other categories.

The home page of the Seneca Nation of Indians provides historical information as well as hot links to other sources.

The New York Historical Society has a website on the Seneca village containing primary sources as a tool for reconstructing the story of a nineteenth century community based on clues recovered from the past.  

The Native American Constitution and Law Digitization Project housed at the University of Oklahoma Law Library provides access to treaties involving the Senecas.

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This page last updated 5/23/06