Tonawanda Reservation

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The Tonawanda Indian Reservation is an Indian reservation located in western New York, USA. As of the 2000 census, the Indian reservation had a total population of 543. It lies in parts of Genesee, Erie, and Niagara Counties. The total land area is 30.643 km² (11.831 sq mi) and is occupied by the Tonawanda Band of Seneca Indians.

The Tonawanda Reservation is also known as the Tonawanda Creek Reservation. Currently, more than a half dozen businesses, located on Bloomingdale Road within the reservation, are engaged in the sale of untaxed, low-price cigarettes and gasoline. Other businesses sell craft items, groceries, and prepared food.

1 History
2 Geography
3 See also
4 References

[edit] History

The native inhabitants of this reservation provided anthropologist Lewis H. Morgan with information about the Iroquois, first set forth in 1851 in "The League of the Ho-de-no-sau-nee or Iroquois." Much of the information was provided by his friend Ely S. Parker, a Seneca born on the reservation in 1828.

The size of the reservation has been reduced by past sales of land to surrounding communities.

[edit] Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the part in Niagara County has a total area of 2.1 km² (0.8 mi²) and none of the area is covered with water. The Census Bureau reports the part of the reservation in Genesee County has a total area of 24.0 km² (9.3 mi²). 23.8 km² (9.2 mi²) of it is land and 0.2 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (0.76%) is water. The Census Bureau reports the part in Erie County has a total area of 4.8 km² (1.8 mi²). None of the area is covered with water.

The Tonawanda Creek flows through the entire reservation, separating the part in Niagara County from the parts in Erie and Genesee County. This river barrier and the absence of paved roads in this portion of the reservation accounts for the lack of inhabitants.

The Tonawanda Wildlife Management Area also forms part of the northern boundary.