The Seneca Nation of Indians is a sovereign governmental entity comprised of three reservations in Cattaraugus and Chautauqua counties. The Allegany Reservation is depicted on the map in tan, straddling the oxbow the Allegheny River makes as it arches up across the New York State line on its way south to Pittsburgh. The Cattaraugus Reservation is west, off the map, in Chautauqua county, about two-thirds the land area of the Allegany Reservation. The Oil Springs Reservation is northeast, off the map, on Cuba Lake in Allegany County.
About one-half of the 6,653 enrolled members of the Nation live on the Cattaraugus (359) and Allegany (3,147) Reservations.
Surface waters on the Allegany Reservation are charged in part by waters originating due north, at the proposed Farmersville dump site.
The City of Salamanca, on the Allegany Reservation, is the only city in the United States located within an Indian Reservation. A tributary of the Allegheny River, from Little Valley, New York, to Salamanca, is a federal Superfund site, contaminated with TCE, an industrial degreaser widely used in the region during decades past.
The Seneca Nation of Indians has its own Department of Environmental Protection and its own Attorney General. For more information see the Nation's website.
