The Death and Rebirth of the Seneca

Required reading on the subject of the Seneca. The author paints an objective picture, but also manages to add emotional poignancy to a very thorough historical account. The language and syntax remain scholarly throughout, yet Wallace's powers of observation place the reader in the longhouse, in the minds of the Seneca, and in the hearts of a people brought to the brink of cultural extinction. An excellent work.

This book can be read several ways-- as a chronicle of the American Revolution from the Native American point of view, as escapist literature glorifying the Iroquois in their heyday, as a rather challenging alternative perspective on serial monogamy, torture, and social norms, as the transformation of a branch of Native American spirituality into a movement for sobriety, right-to-life, and the renunciation of witchcraft, as analysis of an early Quaker effort in Third World development work ... And naturally, the overall reading is as the tale of how a proud culture pulled itself back together after being overrun and almost destroyed as a consequence of European settlement.Our local Heinz Regional History Museum somehow manages to overlook the story about the origins of the Handsome Lake spiritual movement. It so happened that there was a bend in the river, where now stands the Kinzua Dam, a flat spot surrounded by steep hills and cliffs, where the Cornplanter band, the largest remaining band of free living Senecas, took refuge after the Revolutionary War. The Senecas had served as winning warriors for the losing side, and as a result, refugee camps up near Fort Niagara filled up with thousands of Indians in need of British relief, mourning their burned-out towns and villages. In the ensuing atmosphere of despair, Handsome Lake and some of his Cornplanter band buddies decided to bring a raft with plenty of liquor up the river from Pittsburgh. The party that followed was-- well, let's just say that the repentance occurring in the wake of that rave gone awry launched a spiritual movement which continues to this day. The author's synthesis of the tremendous amount of material buried in regional historical records is truly amazing. Even if the life of the Senecas wasn't really that way at all, it may not matter. There's nothing like a great story which will continue to shatter its readers' preconceptions about cultural norms and human potential for many years to come.

I read this while participating in the YMCA Indian Guide/Indian Princess program and found it to be very wide in scope in covering the history, religions, culture, tales, and all aspects of Seneca life. I found it fascinating and recommend it to anyone exploring the fate of the Iroquois. I also found the Seneca museum in Salamanca, NY to be a good source of information.