Seneca Nation Archives/Onöhsagwë:de Cultural Center – Seneca Nation Chronology for February
Submitted by Becki Bowen
1976, February 4 – In this issue of the Si Wong Geh newsletter appeared “Historical Notes on the Seneca, Researched by E. Doctor – the Long Houses . . . In Pleasant Valley the Long House was near the house now occupied by Dean Williams. At Irving the Long House was near the school house on the Mile Strip Road.
If you looked closely and knew what you were looking for, you might find traces of the foundation of the Long House on Plank Road. It was somewhere behind the trailer house of Mrs. DePaul. Leninus Painter, who was a leader of the Friends Church in Collins, has a picture of this Long House just before it collapsed. In the picture it showed a log house with a caved-in roof. (1880s)
The Senecas were always noted for building adjacent to water and so it was that when Goodi-hi and his wife returned from their long walk to and from Oklahoma territory, the Long House in Pinewoods was built near the escarpment above the Cattaraugus valley near Cora John’s house . . . Cora was Goodi-hi’s niece.
Goodi-hi was the son of Seneca White and the grandson of White Boy. He and his wife made the long walk when the soldiers dispersed the Senecas at the Buffalo Creek Reservation. They were put on ships and taken across Lake Erie and put ashore somewhere near Toledo, Ohio. From there they walked being guarded all the way by U.S. troops. Many Senecas faded into the night, the story went, as they returned home to Cattaraugus.”
[Note: In 1846, in an effort to remove Hodinöhsöni to the west of the Mississippi River to Kansas territory, 219 individuals, including 66 Senecas, began their trek west. Twenty-six would die during the removal from a typhoid epidemic, exposure, and starvation. Two remained in the west and 38 Senecas returned home.]
WE NEED YOUR ASSISTANCE
To date there have been 69 Seneca Nation presidents. We have photos of 46, but lack photos for 23. Every month we will present a little biography of a president for whom we have no photo in hopes you may have access to a photo that you can share with us. We know very little about Jesse Jimeson (born ca. 1852). We do know he was from the Cattaraugus Territory. Council minutes refer to him as Jesse Jameson but the Nation roll books list him as Jesse Jemison and Jesse Jimeson. There is no record of his parents, nor is there any record that he had a wife and children. He was elected Police Marshal in 1890 and elected to Council in 1895, 1896, 1897. He was elected President in May of 1899, but resigned December 27 of that year.
You can contact Archives Manager Rebecca Bowen at the Onöhsagwë:de’ Cultural Center, telephone 716-945-1790, 945-1760, ext. 7849, Becky.Bowen@sni.org Nya:wëh
