Seneca Indians
Seneca Indians, a North American tribe of the Iroquoian language family. The Senecas were the largest and the westernmost tribe of the Iroquois Confederacy, or Five Nations (later Six Nations), Originally living in what is now western New York, they expanded southwestward into what is now eastern Ohio in the late 1600's and early 1700's. At the height of their power, they numbered about 5,000.
After the Revolutionary War, in which many Senecas aided the British, part of the tribe moved to Canada. The rest eventually settled on reservations in Pennsylvania and New York. In 1848 many of the New York Senecas withdrew from the Iroquois Confederacy and formed a separate Seneca Nation. In the 1960's the Indians were forced to sell their Pennsylvania land and part of their New York land to the federal government for a dam project. A number of Senecas, most of whom belong to the Seneca Nation, live on or near New York reservations. Other Senecas reside on or near Indian reserves in Ontario, Canada.