Native Americans

The following information was submitted by Barbara H. Bell, Schuyler County Historian:

Seneca Indians -

Seneca Indians lived in what would become Schuyler County long before anyone else laid eyes on its beauty. Their major (local) village lay within what is now Montour Falls but some individuals preferred to live away from "civilization", apart from neighbors. The Indians traveled considerably, sometimes in search of game for sustenance and "fabric" for clothing or household goods. They needed to go where the water for fish was shallow enough to reach the game with primitive gear. It would seem that Indians sometimes traveled with the lone purpose of visiting others where they might trade goods - and tall tales - or perhaps just for a little variety in the daily grind. The women gathered food from nature's bounty and grew "the three sisters," corn, beans and squash.

The Senecas were part of the Iroquois Confederacy and tended the western door of that territory. At the opposite end, were the Onondagas of Syracuse. In Havana Glen at the southeast edge of Montour Falls, the Senecas played host whenever the Iroquois held a convention at this end of their Nation. Today, underneath a shuffle board in Havanna Glen, is to be seen a Turtle Mound left by the Indians. It had been used by them for certain rituals and celebrations.

Although the Indians had no written language, their experienced story-tellers passed down history and lore, some of which was eventually recorded by white men. One of their beliefs was that God placed His hand on the earth in their area, His fingers creating the Finger Lakes.

The Seneca Indians lived in long houses made of logs, bark and woven fronds as roofs - but with no chimney, just a hole in the roof for the smoke to exit (when conditions were right). Usually, each long house was home to extended generations of a family or three or more (hopefully compatible) families. They owned horses and sometimes other animals. Most had canoes. Hunting and fishing methods were primitive before white men brought guns although there was early contact and trading with wandering Jesuit priests for metal items before permanent settlers arrived.

Local Senecas had chosen Catharine Montour to lead them after her husband, the Chief, died. Usually Indians were a matriarchal Society, joining the mother's family and using her name and trivial affiliations. With Catharine, it was a little different because of her French Canadian ancestors.

A regularly used route to the Cayuga Indians east of here was established as a route to other tribes within the Iroquois Confederacy and the Senecas west of this area. Our Senecas often rode, canoed or walked to Onondaga to get salt. Another food flavoring was maple syrup which they could make in animal skin pails, or native clay pottery.

When the American Revolution broke out, the British had trouble getting enough supplies within a helpful time due to the shipping methods of the day. Indian tribes were asked to take sides. The British promised full care, if needed, at Fort Niagara plus lifetime support for allies if they won the war. Some tribes stayed with the incipient Americans and some tried to remain neutral but the Senecas threw in with the British. George Washington, in charge of war activities, was convinced that the British must be deprived of the abetting Indians if the Revolution was to end in favor of the Continentals. He planned what is now called a scorched earth policy. The Clinton-Sullivan campaign was launched in 1779. As the military rolled through and over this area, the Senecas fled to Fort Niagara. Their homes and crops were destroyed. Domestic animals were killed or scattered. During the fray, not one Indian was killed or captured after the battle at Newtown (Elmira). Some Indians, once the war ended, returned to live in their former home area. Catharine Montour was one of these, building a home similar to her white neighbors, adopting many of their customs and dying here in the early 1800s.

Lamoka Indians -

From archeological digs, both official and amateur, facts have come to us about the Lamoka Indians who once lived between Lamoka and Waneta Lakes in the Town of Tyrone, Schuyler County. Artifacts have been dated as far back as to 3,500 B.C. But its historical marker identifies it as the oldest prehistoric village found in New York State and states that it is believed to have been an active village 1,000 years ago. Some of its artifacts are at colleges from whence came manual labor for the digs in the form of students both in the United States and Canada plus in several museums. A few, from a collection originally given to the Rochester (N.Y.) Museum of Science and History, are displayed at the Schuyler County Historical Society Museum in Montour Falls.

Dr. William A. Ritchie, an acknowledged expert archeologist in the field, was in charge of the earliest explorations of the site of approximately three acres. Under his direction, workers found post remnants in a configuration which suggested rectangular dwellings ranging in length from 14 to 16 feet and seven to 13 feet wide with compact dirt floors. Items unearthed during Ritchie's tenure include a number of skeletons, 4,000 segments of bones, many implements and over 9,000 pottery shards and stone relics. Among the latter were projectile points, items used in hunting and fishing including stone fish hooks and weights used on nets, weaving tools, choppers and items needed for felling trees.

The main food scraps indicated deer, fish, acorns, turkey and passenger pigeons. Women cooked in basin-shaped hearths with stone slab covers. The location of the Lamoka Village lent itself to horse and foot travel or by canoe over the regions many streams and led the way to the Susquehanna system.

Today, the site comes under the purview of the Archeological Conservancy, a non-profit cultural resource preservation dedicated to protecting our nation's archeological heritage.