ITC, Anthropology Students Hear Seneca Indians From Tonawanda

Everett Parker and Cephus Hill, Seneca Indians from the Tonawanda Reseryation near Buffalo, N. Y., told a crowd of 80 last night, "We're a nation within a country, not a dependency within a state."

In a program sponsored jointly by the Harvard Intertribal Council (ITC) and the Harvard Anthropology Department, Parker-a Seneca Council Chief-and Hill discussed tribal government. Seneca religion, and economic opportunity at the Tonawanda Reservation.

Parker and Hill will meet with interested students at 10:30 a. m. today in the new student lounge on the fifth floor of Peabody Museum.

Parker, who is also curator of an Indian museum on the Reservation and teaches arts and crafts at the Narcotics Addiets Administration, was introduced by Henrietta Blueye '69-2.

After describing the Seneca government, a council formed from eight clans-run by head clan matrons-that each have two chiefs on the council. Parker turned, to the problem of sustaining the Seneca language.

Once Forbidden

It was once forbidden for Seneca children to speak Seneca at American schools, but now the government is encouraging Seneca youth to learn their native tongue. There is now a problem of unwillingness on the children's part, however, and most Seneca children know only eight or ten Seneca words.

Parker expressed, concern over the sustainment of the Seneca language, and because of the problem with the youth, he said. "I think it's too late."

Hearings are scheduled to be held in Washington this year on Seneca land claims in New York State, and Parker said that "18 million acres in this state [New York] alone haven't been paid for by the government."

Through a series of treaties completed years ago, New York Indians are not under the jurisdiction of the government's Burean of Indian Affairs (BIA), an organization which Parker described as wanting "everything they can get their hands on."

There is strong resentment, he said. among Seneca chiefs towards dealings with the BIA.

Hill spoke mainly of Seneca religion and economic opportunities on the Tonwanda Reservation. He said that, while they retain traditional religious customs. the Tonawanda Senecas have lost most of their earlier culture.

Religion has persisted. he said "because it's a good thing it's our life."

The Seneca religion is strongly oriented towards nature. "You look up at what grows; you see the trees; you see the leaves, everything that grows. That's our religion-I guess you could call it our pleasure," Hill said.

Because of the proximity of industry to the Reservation. Hill conjectured that his tribe has economic opportunities superior to any other Indian group in the U. S.

He emphasized the demise of agriculture as a major source of income for the Seneca in recent years. "When you can make $30 a day in the city, why work yourself to death on a farm?" he said.