Coming Full Circle: The Seneca Nation of Indians, 1848–1934 by Laurence M. Hauptman

Abstract

Reviewed by: Coming Full Circle: The Seneca Nation of Indians, 1848–1934 by Laurence M. Hauptman Joe Stahlman (bio) Coming Full Circle: The Seneca Nation of Indians, 1848–1934 By Laurence M. Hauptman. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2019. 326 pages, 25 halftones, 5 maps, 3 tables, 6" x 9". $34.95 cloth, $26.95 paper, $29.95 ebook. Laurence M. Hauptman's Coming Full Circle: The Seneca Nation of Indians, 1848–1934 is a testament to his lifelong endeavor to document the long, twisting story between the United States, New York State, and the numerous communities of the Haudenosaunee. Coming Full Circle tells the origin story of the Seneca Nation of Indians ("Seneca Nation" hereafter) and its trials and tribulations during its first century of existence. Hauptman's approach to history is a combination of archival research, fieldwork, and interviews with Seneca Nation citizens and others involved in Seneca Nation history. Hauptman's delicate approach to his craft permits a telling of the history of the Seneca Nation, which has not been done sufficiently—or as completely—until now. Scholars who work with communities to tell their stories as accurately and succinctly as possible know it is a difficult task. In reading Hauptman's Coming Full Circle we must acknowledge that depth of historical knowledge and accuracy comes from the Seneca Nation's Archive Department guiding him to the well-preserved history of the Nation. As a result, the story of the Seneca Nation's first hundred years is a collective retelling that is inclusive of the community. Hauptman's latest work—coupling fifty years of archival research with community involvement—transcends the parameters of the American history canon. Even though he is listed as the primary author, be assured this is a collective effort. Though once part of the oldest continuously operating democracy in the world, the Seneca Nation path from the Haudenosaunee Confederacy to an independent nation is [End Page 214] one worthy of documenting. The Seneca Nation of Indians' 1848 Revolution is truly an inimitable transition for a Native Nation to take in the early nineteenth century. Up until 1848 a low number of Native communities embraced nontraditional forms of leadership. At the time of this political revolution the Seneca people became the fourth Native Nation to embrace a constitutional democracy. Collectively the community is rarely appreciated on the North American landscape; however, through his and the Seneca Nation's diligence, we can appreciate other Native Nations' actions and reactions in desperately trying to deal with the new United States and the rapidly changing landscape of North America. Here is where I appreciate Hauptman's delicate touch the most. He shifts through the darkness of the past and addresses the complexities Seneca people faced on all their borders. Coming Full Circle permits a proper telling of why the Seneca Nation decided to trek into the future on their own terms. Although written after his other books on the Seneca Nation, Coming Full Circle serves as his follow up to Conspiracy of Interests: Iroquois Dispossession and the Rise of New York State (1999) and a prequel to his In the Shadow of Kinzua: The Seneca Nation of Indians since World War II (2014). Hauptman ties these earlier works to the birth of the Seneca Nation. Hauptman is known for his careful attention to the historical record, and this text continues that tradition; he pays careful attention to Seneca settlement into the areas that became major settlement sites of the Seneca. He shows how each territory is distinctive in its own ways—not only in its separate land base but based on the different intrusions from capitalists and missionaries that informed the collective history of the Nation. Because this text really begins at the start of the Revolution of 1848, much of this story revolves around events that are highly contentious, political, and crucial in the survival of the Seneca Nation. Throughout his text, Hauptman avoids exclusive focus on the past hurdles the Nation overcame to exist today. He also documents several important Seneca moments that straddle the thin line of ongoing controversy. Hauptman points out the citizen's often critical—and accepted—view of their unique government...