Tonawanda Band of Seneca Indians

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A split between the Tonawanda Band and the remainder of the Seneca Nation occurred in the mid-1800s. In 1838, nine Indian nations, including the Seneca Nation, entered a treaty with the United States providing for their withdrawal to a tract of land west of Missouri. Treaty of Buffalo Creek, Jan. 15, 1838, 7 Stat. 550 which was modified in 1842 by a second treaty between the United States and the Seneca Nation, which reflected the purchase by Ogden of only two of the four Seneca reservations, including the Tonawanda Reservation. The chiefs of the Tonawanda Band had apparently signed neither treaty, and the Seneca Indians residing on the Tonawanda Reservation refused to leave their land.

In 1848, the Seneca Indians of the Cattaraugus and Allegany reservations held a constitutional convention and adopted a non-traditional, elective form of government. The Tonawanda Band secured federal recognition as a distinct and independent Indian nation in 1857.