Western Door Relay Recap
45 miles. 30 runners. 15 separate relay exchanges. 2 communities bridged together by our Messengers.
On the morning of Saturday 9/6/25, we set off on our latest relay. What started out last year as a showcase of our Messenger role has now become a rekindled tradition. This time, instead of heading South to the Allegany territory, we went North to the Buffalo Creek territory. Starting from the Newtown Longhouse on the Seneca Cattaraugus territory, we made our way to Rte. 438 and headed West, passing the William Seneca Building, the Seneca One Stop, and our fellow community members. From there, we started the longest part of the relay up North on Rte. 20, taking a detour to the Buffalo Bills stadium. Next, we headed West to link with Rte. 5, and eventually North again until we hit Buffalo’s Outer Harbor and the Seneca Buffalo Creek Casino, where friends, family, and casino employees greeted us.
We capped off the last leg of the relay with our anchor Messenger, Andrew Quigley, who was sent from the casino, up Delaware Ave, and ending at Forest Lawn Cemetery. We specifically wanted to end there at “Red Jacket Corner”, where several Haudenosaunee members are buried, including Red Jacket, Ely Parker, and Lewis “Deerfoot” Bennett. For those who do not know, Deerfoot was a decorated Seneca long distance runner in the 19th century, who was recruited to run throughout Europe. Additionally, what made that last relay leg special was Andrew, who is a direct descendant of Deerfoot, capped off the relay for the community, his lineage, and to honor the Natives buried there. There were no injuries, only 1 flat tire, but plenty of love, cheers, and honks from passing cars shared towards our Messengers that day.
“We hope to grow our relay showcase beyond the Western Door territories and link the rest of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. This was just another step in the right direction.”
List of our Messengers that day (in order of relay position): Cashis Montour, Vanessa Parker, Vivian Redeye, Annie Tallchief, Katsi Jackson, Kayla Huff, Natalie Stahlman, Mashaun Jimerson, Ryan Rodriguez, Zoelle Nephew, Cody Williams, Hunter White, Keith White Jr, Whitney Brooks, Kayella Smoke, Kurt VanEvery, Keagan VanEvery, Cecil VanEvery, Leland VanEvery, Jay John, Heron Snow, Maura Abrams, Kristiana Ferguson, Reesa Abrams, Jennie Brant, Ross John Jr, Jessica Leon, Kyla General, Braiden Nelms, Andrew Quigley.