archaeological and textual records - eCommons@Cornell - Cornell ...

Canawaugus was the location of the village in which Cornplanter was born
around the middle of the eighteenth century; there was also a village in that
same area at the time of the Sullivan expedition, as well as at the end of the
eighteenth century; the area was then set aside as the Canawaugus Reservation,
which was occupied through the first quarter of the nineteenth century. Big
Tree has a similar history of occupation. The Creek site is located on lands that
were formerly part of the original Tonawanda Reservation. The occupation of
that area spans the 1770s through the early nineteenth century, and of course
continues on the reservation proper as repurchased by the Senecas and
confirmed in the mid-nineteenth century. (Hamell personal communication,
2010)
No “Jesuit-style” rings or medals have yet been found at any of these later
sites. A single wooden crucifix and a beaded plain cross necklace were recovered from
Canawaugus. Big Tree has a single pewter cross with a faded inscription. At the Creek
site, there is a small plain silver cross charm that was likely part of a necklace.
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