Onondaga people

For other uses, see Onondaga (disambiguation).
Onondaga
Regions with significant populations
Languages
English, Onöñda'gega', Other Iroquoian Dialects
Religion
Longhouse, Handsome Lake, Gai'hwi:io, Kanoh'hon'io, Kahni'kwi'io, Other Indigenous Religion
Related ethnic groups
Seneca Nation, Oneida Nation, Tuscarora Nation, Mohawk Nation, Cayuga Nation, other Iroquoian peoples

The Onondaga (Onöñda’gega’ or "Hill Place") people are one of the original five constituent nations of the Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) Confederacy in northeast North America. Their traditional homeland is in and around present-day Onondaga County, New York, south of Lake Ontario. They are known as Gana’dagwëni:io’geh to the other Iroquois tribes. Being centrally located, they are considered the "Keepers of the Fire" (Kayečisnakwe’nì·yu’[1] in Tuscarora) in the figurative longhouse that shelters the Five Nations. The Cayuga and Seneca have territory to their west and the Oneida and Mohawk to their east. For this reason, the League of the Iroquois historically at the Iroquois government's capital at Onondaga, as the traditional chiefs do today.

History

According to oral tradition, The Great Peacemaker approached the Onondaga and other tribes to found the Haudenosaunee.[2] The tradition tells that at the time the Seneca nation debated joining the Haudenosaunee based on the Great Peacemaker's teachings, a solar eclipse took place. The most likely eclipse to be recounted was in 1142AD, which was visible to the people in the land of the Seneca.[3][4]

This oral tradition is supported by archeological studies. Carbon dating of particular sites of Onondaga habitation shows dates starting close to 1200AD ± 60 years with growth for hundreds of years.[5]

Sketch by Samuel de Champlain of his attack on an Onondaga village.

In the American Revolutionary War, the Onondaga were at first officially neutral, although individual Onondaga warriors were involved in at least one raid on American settlements. After Americans attacked on their main village on April 20, 1779, the Onondaga later sided with the majority of the League and fought against the American colonists in alliance with the British. After the United States was accorded independence, many Onondaga followed Joseph Brant to Upper Canada, where they were given land by the Crown at Six Nations.

On November 11, 1794, the Onondaga Nation, along with the other Haudenosaunee nations, signed the Treaty of Canandaigua with the United States, in which their right to their homeland was acknowledged by the United States in article II of the treaty.[6]

In 1816, 450 Onondaga were living in New York, 210 of whom lived on Buffalo Creek Reservation. [7]

Government

The Onondaga in New York have a traditional form of government, with chiefs nominated by clan mothers, rather than elected.

On March 11, 2005, the Onondaga Nation of Nedrow, New York, filed a land rights action in federal court, seeking acknowledgment of title to over 3,000 square miles (7,800 km2) of ancestral lands centering in Syracuse, New York. They hope to obtain increased influence over environmental restoration efforts at Onondaga Lake and other EPA Superfund sites in the claimed area. There is potential for the lawsuit to be dismissed based on the precedent established in the Cayuga nation's land claim and other defenses.[8]

Notable Onondaga people

Rose Doctor, Onondaga people Wolf Clan, Clanmother

[9]

Today

Other spellings encountered

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Rudes, B. Tuscarora English Dictionary Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1999
  2. ↑ Bruce E. Johansen (2006). The Native Peoples of North America: a History. Rutgers University Press. pp. 136–138. ISBN 978-0-8135-3899-0.
  3. ↑ Johansen, Bruce E. (Fall 1995). "Dating the Iroquois Confederacy" (PDF). Akwesasne Notes New Series 01 (03/04): 62–3. Retrieved 2010-05-23.
  4. ↑ Johansen, Bruce Elliott; Mann, Barbara Alice (2000). "Ganondagan". Encyclopedia of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois Confederacy). Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 105. ISBN 978-0-313-30880-2. Retrieved 2010-05-23.
  5. ↑ Tuck, James A. (1990). Onondaga Iroquois Prehistory: A Study in Settlement Archaeology (reprint ed.). Syracuse University Press. p. 197. ISBN 978-0-8156-2511-7.
  6. ↑ 1794 Canandaigua Treaty Commemoration Committee, Inc.
  7. ↑ Hauptman, Laurence (2008). Seven Generations of Iroquois Leadership: The Six Nations Since 1800. Syracuse University Press. ISBN 978-0-8156-3165-1.
  8. ↑ , Syracuse Post Standard, n.d., accessed 11 Nov 2015
  9. ↑ "Current Clan Mothers." Haundenosaunee Confederacy. Retrieved 11 Sept 2012.

References

External links


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