BUFFALO SOCIETY OF NATURAL SCIENCES 365 



stock. It corresponds in direction and distance to the situation 

 of the village "Ouaroronon" of Father Dallion. Those who have 

 studied it, however, say that it is undoubtedly an early Seneca 

 site. 



There can be little doubt that these two villages named were 

 inhabited by the Wenrohronons. There is sufficient historic evi- 

 dence that such a nation existed, that they occupied the region 

 east of the Neuters, and that their easternmost village was situated 

 a day's journey west of the Iroquois frontier. There seems to 

 be no doubt that the Seneca outposts at that time were some 

 twenty miles or more west of the Genesee River and that a few 

 small Seneca villages existed west of that river. A line drawn a 

 day's journey west of this indefinite line runs through Oakfield, 

 Shelby and Elm a. Oakfield is said to be a Seneca site, and the 

 same may be said of Shelby. The group at Elma, however, 

 answers the Wenro description perfectly, and since the remains 

 found in the Buffalo group of sites are identical with those found 

 on the Elma sites, the Buffalo group must also be said to have 

 been a Wenro village. 



The archaeology of the Buffalo and Elma gronps of sites cor- 

 roborates the testimony of history. The Wenrohronons were 

 described by the missionaries as being numerous, sedentary and 

 of Iroquoian stock. The sites at Buffalo are probably the sites of 

 a large village, which, according to Indian custom, had been 

 moved from one to another of these sites. The same can be safely 

 said of the Elma group. All the remains found on both groups 

 are Iroquoian in character. The primitive artifacts ally the in- 

 habitants to Neutrals, Eries and Senecas, yet they differ from these 

 in details. A bone image, a large bone "dagger" and some of 

 the pipes found at Elma suggest the Senecas; the pottery, arrow- 

 points and bone artifacts suggest Neutrals or Eries. Yet the 

 artifacts have an individuality of their own, marking them as 

 neither Erie, Neutral nor Seneca. 



According to the story of the Jesuits the Wenrhoronons had 

 held some intercourse with the traders but not much. Amongst 

 the remains found on the Elma and the Buffalo sites very few 

 European articles are found, and these are graded from none at 

 all on Site No. 7, Buffalo, to a very few on No. 35, West Seneca, 

 more at East Hamburg and still more at Barnard Street, Buffalo. 



The Wenrohronons are known to have been harassed by the 

 Senecas and finally driven from their villages. It is significant 



