North American Indian people living mainly in western New York, U.S. Their language belongs to the
They were the largest nation of the {{link=Iroquois Confederacy">Iroquois Confederacy and were known as the "Keepers of the Western Door." They call themselves Onondowahgah, meaning "People of the Great Hill." The Seneca have eight clans, and a person's clan is the same as his mother's. Historically, families linked by maternal kinship lived together in longhouse s. Each community had a council of adult males, which guided the village chief. In the autumn small parties would leave the villages for the annual hunt, returning about midwinter; spring was the fishing season. Seneca women cultivated corn and other vegetables. Warfare with other Indian nations was frequent. In the American Revolution the Seneca were British allies, resulting in the destruction of their villages by Gen. John Sullivan in 1779. In 1797 they secured land for 12 reservations in western New York, four of which still exist. Today the Seneca number about 5,500. See also Cornplanter ; Ganioda'yo .