Friday Reprise: Chainbreaker of the Seneca

The Wolf Clan of the Seneca produced many notable leaders.  We've already looked at Red Jacket.  His maternal nephews were Cornplanter and Handsome Lake, whom we've already discussed.  Their maternal nephew was a war chief known variously as Blacksnake, Governor Blacksnake or Chainbreaker.  His native name or chiefship title is given as Tah-Wo-Ne-Ahs or Thaonawayuthe.

The first mystery in his life is his birth year, which is given from 1727 to 1760, depending mostly on estimates of his age at his death.  His tombstone gives the year 1737, but also claims in error that he served in the Continental Army.  That would have put him at over 120 years old when he died in 1859, which would be implausible without documentation.  He was documented as having served with the British during the Seven Years War (1755-1763), so a birthdate in the 1740's is plausible, making him at least 110 when he died, though he might have been older.  Most likely, he was born near Seneca Lake.  Using the Iroquois matrilineal kinship system, a maternal uncle, such as Cornplanter, would have provided his warrior training and sponsored his rise in Seneca society.  That his mentor was most likely Cornplanter is born out by the fact that he accompanied Cornplanter on a mission to George Washington during the Revolution and also to appear before the Continental Congress.  In 1788, he moved to his uncle's land when his own village was taken in the Phelps and Gorham Land purchase, which more in a later post. 

At some point around 1803, Cornplanter and Blacksnake had a falling out.  Blacksnake agreed to much of Handsome Lake's ideas, especially temperance and personal morality.  But he disliked the idea that Natives should not participate in White men's wars, seeing that the was often the only way for a tribe to gain advantage in preserving their lands.  After Handsome Lake's death, he adapted the Code which modified his views on war somewhat to encourage compromise.  He permitted missionaries to work on lands under his control and encouraged his people to attend school and work toward social harmony among themselves and with neighboring Whites. 

But he was a warrior and later attained the rank of war chief among the Seneca.  In 1777, he took part in the Siege of Fort Stanwix and the Battle of Oriskany. In 1778, he participated in the Battle of Wyoming (nothing to do with the present stat of that name), under Loyalist Major John Butler.  In 1779, he tried to defend Seneca villages from raids by Col. Daniel Brodhead during Sullivan's Expedition, which we've already discussed.  He also carried messages for the British.  After the War, he became reconciled to its outcome and focused on protecting Seneca land.  During the War of 1812, despite advancing age, he participate in the Battle of Fort George.  Throughout

this crucial time in his people's history, he was everywhere and witness to most of the events taking place, including several surveys of Seneca land by Settlers seeking to purchase, or convince the government to take control over, land that belonged to his people.  Blacksnake's testimony in a court case was crucial to saving the lands that became part of the Oil Spring Reservation, as he had in his possession maps which outlined the agreed-upon boundaries, thwarting attempts by land speculators to help themselves to more Seneca land.

As he grew older, his power waned, but he was still a respected elder among his people.  He died on the Allegheny Reservation in Cattaraugus County, New York, remembered as a man of rare intellectual and moral power.  He was buried in Hillside Haven Cemetery.   

Great Leader: Cornplanter of the Seneca

The Wolf Clan of the Seneca produced leaders.  We've run across several, including Guyasuta, Red Jacket, Blacksnake and Handsome Lake.  Cornplanter, nephew of Guyasita and Red Jacket, brother of Handsome Lake and un0cle to Blacksnake was a war chief and diplomat whose skilled leadership saw his people through the turbulence of two colonial wars.

Cornplanter was born between 1732-1746 at the Seneca town of Canawaugus, now present-day Caledonia, New York.  His mother was a woman of the Wolf Clan, and his father, Johannes Abeel, was a Dutch fur trade from Albany with some relation to the powerful Schuyler family.  Thus, Cornplanter had connections on both sides.  His Native name Gyantwachia meant, the planter or someone who plants, which English sources later translated as Cornplanter.  He would have received his warriors training from the men of his mother's family and was already a war leader of the Seneca during the Seven Years War (1755-1763).  During that War, the Seneca allied with the French against the British and may have been present at Braddock's Defeat in 1755.

Having had plenty of experience at it, he wanted the Seneca to remain neutral during the American Revolution, opposing Joseph Brant's aims of bringing the Iroquois Confederacy to the side of the British.  Brant eventually persuaded most of the Iroquois tribes to ally with the British.  Both Guyasuta and Cornplanter voted for neutrality during counsel meetings, but honored the majority.  Cornplanter and Sayenquaraghta were appointed as war chiefs of the Seneca and joined the Mohawk, Cayuga and Onandoga as allies of the British.  Cornplanter was present at the Battle of Wyoming in 1778, his men serving as auxiliaries to a Loyalist regiment, Butler's Rangers.  Patriot forces burned Tioga and other Seneca towns in retaliation for the encounter at Wyoming, deemed in American public opinion as a massacre.  He was also present at Cherry Valley in 1778.  Living in the area was his own father, Johannes Abeel.  Cornplanter offered his father the chance to remain with the Seneca or stay in White society. Johannes chose the latter, and Cornplanter saw to it that his father was escorted to safety.  He was also present at the Battle of Newtown (August, 1779), as Iroquois and Loyalist forces tried to stop General Sullivan's scorched earth invasion of Seneca territory.  As Sullivan's forces advanced, Cornplanter's men harassed and delayed them long enough for Seneca families to escape the devastation with nothing but what they could carry.  As his people struggled to survive the winter with no shelter or provisions, Cornplanter and his warriors remained in the field.

Following the Revolutionary War, Cornplanter believed that diplomacy was the only path forward for the Iroquois.  He signed the Treaty of Fort Stanwix in 1784 and met with both George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.  He also proved instrumental in keeping the Iroquois out of the Northwest Indian War (1785-1795).  During his many trips to Philadelphia to meet with government officials, he became interested in the work of the Quakers.  He welcomed Quaker missionaries to educate his own children and open schools on Seneca land.  Realizing that fur trade was no longer viable, he encouraged his people to learn better farming methods.  Along with his brother, Handsome Lake, he worked to oppose liquor sales or consumption among the Seneca. 

Like many Native leaders, he became disillusioned with the poor working relationship with the Americans.  He would later become a proponent of Handsome Lake's religious movement, urging his people to return to their original traditions.  He was given a tract of land in Pennsylvania along the Allegheny River.  He also successfully fought the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's attempts to make him pay land tax.  He died in 1836 and was buried, at his request, in an unmarked grave.  The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania installed a monument over his grave in 1866.   In 1965, the Kinzua Dam flooded all but a small portion of the Cornplanter Tract.  Cornplanter's remains were removed to Elk Township, Warren County, Pennsylvania.  The Seneca residing on Cornplanter's land removed to the Allegheny Reservation in New York.  Seneca artist Jesse Cornplanter (188-1957)
is his direct descendant.