The era following the American War of Independence was one of enormous conflict for the Allegany Senecas. As the most influential Seneca leader of his time, Cornplanter led his people in war and along an often troubled path to peace. This incisive biography traces his rise to prominence as a Seneca military leader during the American Revolution and his later diplomatic success in negotiations with the Federal government. The book also explores Cornplanter's dealings with other Native American councils and with his own people. It explains how Senecas faced heavy pressure to sell their lands, and how they concurrently embraced a reformed and revitalized Iroquois religion, as inspired by Cornplanter's visionary half-brother, Handsome Lake. Thomas S. Abler skillfully weaves together previously discordant strands of the Chief Warrior's life into a concise, animated, and enlightening portrait. Even as Cornplanter examines a critical period in American history, it gives us a multidimensional knowledge of politics and diplomacy from the Seneca point of view.

Abler's dissertation on Seneca Nation politics provides an insight into one of the most tumultuous eras of Onoendowa'ga:' history, when an elective system was established, replacing its Council of Chiefs. Unsavory actions of land speculators in collusion with federal and state officials had led to the loss of over 6 million acres of Seneca territory by 1842. This upheaval was also prompted in part by how treaty annuities were distributed and by the meddling of Hicksite Quakers who urged reform. In 1848, the new government marked the abandonment of the traditional governmental practices that had been in existence for centuries. The aftermath of the revolution resulted in a decades-long struggle between the proponents of the old chieftain system and the new elective system. The new government had to contend with railroad, timber, and oil companies intent on promoting leasing and/or allotment, the latter aimed to facilitate the transfer of ownership away from the Senecas.

This is the story of the famous and controversial Seneca chief and orator Red Jacket ("Sagoyewatha," ca. 1750-1830), whose passionate and articulate defense of the old ways won the admiration of many but also earned him the enmity of Chiefs Joseph Brant and Cornplanter. Red Jacket received a medal from George Washington as a token of friendship. He is remembered as a vocal and persistent opponent of foreign encroachment on the Iroquois, protesting bitterly against the sale of tribal lands and involvement in European-American disputes, missionary activities, and various efforts to "civilize" the Iroquois.
Arthur C. Parker, a renowned scholar of the Iroquois and a member of a distinguished Seneca family, offers an engaging and highly readable account of Red Jacket's life. The biography follows Red Jacket from his early years along the Genesee River through the invasion of Seneca lands during the Revolutionary War, the Big Tree Treaty of 1797, and the rise of the prophet Handsome Lake. Parker (1881-1955) has authored several books on the Iroquois, including "Seneca Myths and Folk Tales" (Nebraska 1989).

One of the earliest memoirs by an American Indian, "Chainbreaker" presents the recollections of a Seneca chief, also known as Governor Blacksnake. A fighter in the American Revolution who lived more than a century, Chainbreaker told his story as an old man in the 1840s to a fellow Seneca, Benjamin Williams, who translated it and committed it to paper. Epic in scale and yet intensely personal, Chainbreaker's story provides a rare Native view of warfare and diplomacy during a crucial period in American history. His account is only fully available in this edition, featuring extensive commentary by Thomas S. Abler.