Hist Arch (2017) 51:194–217 DOI 10.1007/s41636-017-0014-6 ORIGINAL ARTICLE The Edges of Wood: Dendrochronological Analysis of Three Seneca Iroquois Log Structures at Letchworth State Park, New York Cynthia A. Kocik Accepted: 26 January 2016 /Published online: 29 March 2017 # Society for Historical Archaeology 2017 Abstract Letchworth State Park in Castile, New York, Genesee a principios del siglo XIX. El análisis maintains the Caneadea Council House, the Nancy dendrocronológico de muestras de estas estructuras ha Jemison Cabin, and Thomas “Buffalo Tom” Jemison proporcionado una fecha de construcción más precisa de Cabin, all built in Seneca communities along the 1820 ca. para la vivienda social, significativamente pos- Genesee River valley in the early 19th century. terior a 1759–1780, tal como se derivaba de los Dendrochronological analysis of samples from these documentos históricos. Sin embargo, los resultados structures has provided a more precise construction date apoyan las fechas de construcción históricas en torno a of ca. 1820 for the council house, significantly later than 1800 para la cabaña de Nancy Jemison, y de 1818 ca. the 1759–1780 range derived from historical docu- para la cabaña de Thomas Jemison. Aplicando el tipo ments. However, the results support the historical con- intercultural/creolizado de K. Jordan (2008) y el tipo struction dates of around 1800 for the Nancy Jemison “casa de troncos de la reserva” de Brown (2000) junto Cabin and ca. 1818 for the Thomas Jemison Cabin. con la lente de hibricidad se esclarece cómo la vivienda Applying K. Jordan’s(2008) intercultural/creolized type social y las cabañas se relacionan con las decisiones de and Brown’s(2000) “Reservation Log House” type Seneca de incorporar principios de la construcción de along with the lens of hybridity elucidates how the troncos de estilo europeo en su hogar comunal y otras council house and cabins relate to Seneca decisions to formas de construcción para adaptarse a su construcción incorporate principles of European-style log construc- de infraestructura y asentamiento de territorio más tion into their longhouse and other building forms in confinado y más europeo-americano de esa época. adaptation to their more confined territory and increased European American settlement and infrastructure build- Résumé Le parc d’État de Letchworth à Castille (New ing at that time. York), conserve la maison du conseil de Caneadea, la cabane de Nancy Jemison et la cabane de Thomas Extracto El Parque Estatal de Letchworth en Castile Jemison dit « Buffalo Tom », construites dans les (Nueva York) mantiene la Vivienda Social Caneadea, la communautés Senecas le long de la vallée de la rivière cabaña de Nancy Jemison, y la cabaña de Thomas Genesee au début du XIXe siècle. L’analyse “Buffalo Tom” Jemison, todas construidas en las dendrochronologique des échantillons provenant de comunidades de Seneca a lo largo del valle del Río ces structures a apporté une date de construction plus précise qui est. d’environ 1820 pour la maison du conseil, nettement plus tardive que 1759–1780, obtenue * C. A. Kocik ( ) à partir de documents historiques. Toutefois, les résultats Cornell Tree-Ring Laboratory, B-48 Goldwin Smith Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853-4601, U.S.A. confirment les dates de construction historique e-mail: [email protected] d’environ 1800 pour la cabane de Nancy Jemison et de Hist Arch (2017) 51:194–217 195 1818 pour la cabane de Thomas Jemison. Le fait Importantly, the Jemison cabins also tie into the life d’appliquer le type interculturel/créolisé de K. Jordan of the famed Mary Jemison. A woman of Scots Irish (2008) et le type de la « maison de rondins de réserve » descent, she was adopted by the Senecas in her youth de Brown (2000), ainsi que l’angledel’hybridité, after her capture by a Shawnee party in Pennsylvania in détermine comment la maison du conseil et les cabanes the 1750s. James E. Seaver (1990) recorded her now sont liées aux décisions des Senecas d’intégrer les widely known story in the early 1800s. Mary settled on principes de construction en bois de style européen dans the Gardeau Flats along the Genesee River after the leur cabane et d’autres formes de construction pour 1779 American punitive campaign under Sullivan dur- s’adapter à leur territoire plus restreint, à l’accroissement ing the Revolutionary War. The area became part of the de la colonisation américaine européenne et à la con- Gardeau Reservation under the 1797 Treaty of Big Tree. struction des infrastructures à ce moment-là. Nancy Jemison was one of Mary’s daughters, and Thomas was one of her grandsons. Seneca faithkeeper Peter Jemison, another direct descendant, was involved Keywords cabin . Caneadea . dendrochronology. in the current project and offered important insight into Gardeau . Genesee River valley. Haudenosaunee . Mary’s life and family, as well as general knowledge hybridity. intercultural/creolized . Iroquois . Letchworth about Seneca settlement and housing. State Park . longhouse . Jemison . New York State . The ability to examine the superstructures of these Reservation Log House Type . Revolutionary War. buildings makes possible lines of investigation not fea- Seneca . Squawky Hill Reservation . tree-ring dating sible at most Northeast archaeological sites from this time period, namely dendrochronology and the analysis of architectural features. The first aim of this investiga- Introduction tion was to employ dendrochronology to derive building dates for the structures to compare with the dates based Whether still standing or evidenced by post molds or solely on the historical record. The second was to ex- foundations, buildings and their remains can provide a amine building construction and layouts, and to com- window into the architectural skills and customs of their pare these with contemporaneous accounts of housing makers, as well as the social, religious, political, and and models of Haudenosaunee housing developed by economic lives of their inhabitants. Furthermore, they other scholars. Dendrochronology has not thus far been can reveal changes in the messages these people con- employed in research on Haudenosaunee structures, veyed via their homes and structures serving myriad though see DeWeese et al. (2012)foraCherokeeexam- other functions. In the American Northeast, a limited ple. Three reports completed in 1995 by the firm of number of scholars have addressed decisions to incor- Crawford & Stearns Architects and Preservation Planners porate or reject certain European construction methods evaluated the historical significance and condition of the and architectural features among the Haudenosaunee council house and Jemison cabins (Bartlett 1995a, 1995b, (Iroquois) in the 18th and 19th centuries (Lantz 1980; 1995c). They also proposed building dates between the Kenyon 1985;Hamell1992;Brown2000;K.Jordan mid-1750s and 1780 for the council house, 1797 and 1800 2002, 2008). Letchworth State Park in Castile, New for the Nancy Jemison Cabin, and ca. 1818 for the Thomas York, currently retains three Seneca Iroquois log struc- Jemison Cabin, based on historical sources (Bartlett tures relevant to these shifts in housing form. These 1995a:194–195, 1995b:26, 1995c:15). These dates sug- buildings, all relocated from former reservation lands gest that the novel application of dendrochronology in this on the Genesee River for preservation and now under study involves three of the oldest-known, at least partially the jurisdiction of the New York State Office of Parks, intact, Haudenosaunee structures in existence. Recreation and Historic Preservation, include (1) the Determining more precise dates through dendrochro- Caneadea Council House, (2) the Nancy Jemison nology, along with an evaluation of architectural fea- Cabin, and (3) the Thomas “Buffalo Tom” Jemison tures, assisted in viewing the construction and use of the Cabin. The Caneadea Council House and Nancy council house and Jemison cabins in historical and Jemison Cabin stand on display at the Council House cultural context. Analyzing the edges of wood samples Grounds at Letchworth, while the Thomas Jemison for tree-felling dates, and therefore house construction, Cabin remains dismantled and in storage there. for chronological control thus informs the study of 196 Hist Arch (2017) 51:194–217 Haudenosaunee culture, which recognizes the symbolic Revolutionary War. European log and frame styles were and practical importance of the “edge of the woods.” not common in Iroquoia outside Mohawk territory for This margin where the forest meets the clearing is a most of the 18th century (K. Jordan 2009:216–217,276). significant, longstanding part of conceptualizing the Frameworks developed by Dorcas Brown (2000)and landscape as an ecological zone of resources and in Kurt Jordan (2008) go beyond a simple dichotomy be- terms of gender (women associated with the clearing tween “traditional” Haudenosaunee and European archi- and men with the forest, though they conducted activi- tectural styles to examine combinations of traits in 18th- ties in both areas), spirituality, and maintaining social and 19th-century Haudenosaunee housing. Thus, they relations, as in its part in the Condolence Ceremony provide fertile ground for an evaluation of the (Fenton 1998:120,137–139,180; Engelbrecht Letchworth structures as they relate to the transition from 2005:100–101; Parmenter 2010:xxxix–xl,xlv–xlvii). longhouses to more log-style houses among the Senecas Similarly, straddling the border between longhouse and other