The Cornplanter Exhibit opened for the Seneca community on Friday, August 2nd at the Onöhsahgwë:de’ Cultural Center. Descendants of Cornplanter and community members gathered to get a sneak peak of the new exhibit featuring new artwork and relics of the past come together to portray the historic leader. This exhibit will be a permanent feature in the museum.
The Onöhsahgwë:de’ Cultural Center secured Cornplanter artifacts from other museums to round out the display. Cornplanter’s tomahawk returned after many tumultuous turns from donation to theft to decades with private collectors until anonymously returned to the NYS museum. It was officially repatriated to the Seneca – Iroquois National Museum (SINM) in 2020. Last week, an authentic map made it’s way in time for the opening, on permanent loan. In the middle of the exhibit stands the towering original Cornplanter monument from his 1866 grave site on the Cornplanter grant near Corydon, PA. (see page 8 for more details). Head over to the SINM to view the complete exhibit!
Seneca Cornplanter descendants Luanne Redeye and Ken Williams Jr. produced new art pieces at the request of museum curator Randee Spruce. Ken Williams Jr. produced an astonishing bead work bag in Cornplanter’s likeness. Luanne Redeye painted an authentic portrait of what she imagined Cornplanter looked like as an elder. T-shirts of Luanne’s Cornplanter portrait can be purchased at the Seneca – Iroquois National Museum gift shop inside the Onöhsahgwë:de’ Cultural Center.
Are you a Cornplanter descendant? You can find out by checking out the extensive digital family tree. Touch the names on the screen to open up the generations and descendants listed under each name.
On Saturday, August 3rd, the Cornplanter exhibit opened officially to the public with a ribbon cutting ceremony and an opening speech from President Armstrong. Dozens of attendees were eager to view the new part of the museum. President Rickey Armstrong Sr. shared history about our great warrior, diplomat and leader.
“As Senecas, our connection to our history is essential. The decisions and actions of our ancestors helped influence and create the society we have today, just as our decisions will influence the next seven generations.
In our history, Cornplanter stands among our greatest, most interesting, and most respected leaders.
He was a strong and gifted warrior, who preferred peace and neutrality. He was a war chief and a diplomat, a dual role reflected in the pipe tomahawk that is part of this impressive exhibit. Following the American Revolution, in which he led battles against the colonists, Cornplanter stood for and defended our sovereignty by forging a diplomatic bond with the new United States government.
That bond took shape in the Treaty of Canandaigua, in which the United States pledged to forever respect, honor, and defend our rights to our land. He was later a signatory to the Treaty of Big Tree, which recognized 12 Seneca reservations – lands that were guaranteed to be ours forever.
As we know, “forever” lasted only a few decades, and the desire to take our lands continued to grow. The broken promises of “forever” ultimately included the land given to Cornplanter himself.
Cornplanter’s Grant was gifted to Cornplanter as a place where he and his descendants could remain forever. It was a place where generations of Cornplanter’s family, descendants and fellow Senecas hunted, planted, and lived in our traditional ways, even as white expansion continued around them. It was supposed Cornplanter’s final resting place.
Sadly, even that would not last forever.
Another broken promise by the United States saw 10,000 acres of Seneca land, including Cornplanter’s Grant, taken from us and destroyed to clear the way for construction of the Kinzua Dam. Cornplanter’s remains, and the monument erected at his burial site, were relocated to a cemetery in nearby Pennsylvania.
Today, we proudly have the original burial monument at the center of this exhibit. The monument is believed to be the first memorial to stand in tribute to a Native person in the United States.
Throughout his life and his service to his people, in both battle and diplomacy, Cornplanter had one driving interest – “what will become of my people?”
That lesson in leadership and service carries forth generations later. Those of us who are leaders today, and those who will lead our Nation in the future, must always ask ourselves that same question and share that same focus on protecting the interests, the welfare, and the sovereignty of the Seneca people – forever.
I want to congratulate everyone involved in making this exhibit possible, and I welcome everyone to enjoy and understand this powerful tribute to one of our great Seneca leaders. Nya:wëh,” President Rickey Armstrong.
The two days of events wrapped up with a picnic for ancestors of Cornplanter at the back of the Cultural Center. The Cornplanter Descendants Association hosted their 90th family reunion picnic. Their first family gathering was held in 1934. Original attendees were Arthur Pierce, Benny Pierce, Harriet Pierce, Diane Bowen, Hattie Bowen, Mary Pierce, Geraldine Bowen, Harry Lee, George Wendall, Lorraine Pierce, Betty Jane Pierce, Mrs. Leo Lee, Lillian Pierce.
Family members come from near and far from across Turtle Island. Acknowledgements and prizes for the one who travels the longest distance, the youngest, and the oldest have been part of past events. This year, members held games, live auctions with singing and social dancing!
Nya:weh to Chef Lorinda John who provided delicious catering services for the 100 guests who attended Friday night, courtesy of the President’s Office.
Many thanks to the SINM Staff, SNI Department of Publc Works, SNI Facilities, SNI Executives and Council, and John O’Rourke for their teamwork and collaboration towards making the Cornplanter Exhibit possible.
OCC to Display Original Monument in New Exhibit Gayë’twahgeh: Cornplanter
Submitted by the Onöhsagwë:de’ Cultural Center
The Onöhsagwë:de’ Cultural Center will examine the life of Seneca war chief Cornplanter and provide insight into life on the Cornplanter Grant in a new exhibit scheduled to open August 3, 2024. The major highlight of the exhibition will be the display of the public original Cornplanter monument.
The exhibit will draw on the legacy of Cornplanter by exploring Cornplanter’s significance in Onöndowa’ga’ (Seneca) and American history through documents, photographs, and artifacts including Cornplanter’s pipe tomahawk which the New York State Museum returned to the Seneca Nation in 2020. The centerpiece of the exhibition is the permanent installation of the original Cornplanter monument.
The monument, erected at Cornplanter’s Grant located in Pennsylvania’s Warren County in 1866, is believed to be the first memorial to stand in tribute to a Native American in the United States. An interactive display of Cornplanter’s children and grandchildren will offer descendants the opportunity to contribute valuable genealogical information about succeeding generations.
Although Cornplanter has been scrutinized and criticized for his accommodation of the new United States and its adverse influence on the Seneca, Seneca lands, and Seneca lifeways; he has also been celebrated for his significant role in leading his people through an immensely difficult transition that ultimately assured Seneca survival.
An added highlight at the August 3rd exhibit opening will be the attendance of the Cornplanter Descendants Association which will hold its annual picnic on the Cultural Center grounds. The picnic originated in 1934 with the reunion of the Lee family and was held on the Grant for many years. Because of the construction of the Kinzua Dam, the last picnic held on the Grant was in 1964. In recent times the CDA has designated the first Saturday of August as the date for the annual event.
“It makes total sense that the Onöhsagwë:de’ Cultural Center (OCC) have this exhibition, and to raise the Cornplanter monument. The Seneca Nation of Indians built the OCC in 2018 with this monument placement in mind. 6 years later, we are excited to bring that vision to life. The OCC is extremely happy to bring this amazing exhibit to the Seneca people, and to the Cornplanter descendants.” said OCC Director Hayden Haynes.
The exhibition is curated by SINM curator Randee Spruce and is made possible through the support of the Seneca Nation of Indians Executives and Council.
