Before Buffalo: Native Land, Treaties, and the Canal’s Impact with Perry Ground

Before there were docks, warehouses, and grain elevators, this land was home to the Haudenosaunee Confederacy—a place of deep cultural, political, and spiritual importance. This tour takes you far beyond the typical Erie Canal narrative, guided by Perry Ground, a master storyteller and Turtle Clan member of the Onondaga Nation.

Through oral history, Indigenous knowledge, and hard truths, we’ll uncover the lesser-known story of how the Buffalo Creek Reservation was transformed—through treaties, displacement, and development—into the city we know today. Sites include the former Seneca villages along the creek, Mineral Springs Road, and the contested lands shaped by the Treaty of Buffalo Creek (1842) and dealings with the Ogden Land Company.

Perry unpacks these events not as relics of the past, but as histories that still shape the land and people of Buffalo. This is more than a bike tour—it’s a chance to listen, learn, and look at our landscape with new eyes. Note: this is a one-way tour with an option to ride back.

About the Guide

Perry Ground, a proud Turtle Clan member of the Onondaga Nation within the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, has been bringing traditional stories to life for over 25 years. With high energy, theatrical presence, and deep cultural insight, he's captivated audiences of all ages—from Pre-K classrooms to university lecture halls and international festivals. Trained in Cornell’s American Indian and Indigenous Studies program, Ground was appointed the Frederick H. Minett Professor at RIT for 2021–22, where he shared Haudenosaunee history, storytelling techniques, and cultural context through interactive events and guest lectures. A veteran performer at schools, museums (like the National Museum of the American Indian), libraries, and festivals, he travels across the U.S. and Europe—bringing ancient legends like "Sky Woman" and Coyote tales into vivid, engaging narratives. Ground’s storytelling style—full of movement, humor, audience participation, and cultural teaching—elevates traditional Haudenosaunee tales from static myth to living, communal experience. He richly blends ancestral content with contemporary relevance, making each story an immersive lesson in values, history, and identity.