Onondaga people
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 80,000+ | |
| 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 the People of the Hills) are one of the original five constituent nations of the Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) Confederacy. Their traditional homeland is in and around Onondaga County, New York. Known as "Gana'dagwëni:io'geh" to the other Iroquois tribes, allows them to know the difference when talking about Onondaga in Six Nations, Ontario or near Syracuse, New York. Being centrally located, they were the Keepers of the Fire (Kayečisnakweˀnì•yuˀ[1] in Tuscarora) in the figurative longhouse, with the Cayuga and Seneca to their west and the Oneida and Mohawk to their east. For this reason, the League of the Iroquois historically met at the Iroquois government's capital at Onondaga, as indeed the traditional chiefs do today.
History
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 an American attack 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. Thereafter, many Onondaga followed Joseph Brant to Six Nations, Ontario, after the United States was accorded independence.
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.[2]
Those Onondaga remaining in New York are under the government of traditional 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. In doing so they hope to obtain increased influence over environmental restoration efforts at Onondaga Lake and other EPA Superfund sites in the claimed area. This lawsuit is facing a motion to dismiss based on the precedent established in the Cayuga nation's land claim[1] and other defenses.
Notable Onondaga people
- Leon Shenandoah (1915-1996), Tadodaho
- Oren Lyons [Lives at Onondaga and holds a Faithkeeper title, but is Seneca]
- Sidney Hill (Tadodaho)
- Tom Longboat [Six Nations]
-
Onondaga Beaver Clan, Chief
-
Wolf Clan, Clanmother
Today
- Onondaga Nation in Nedrow, New York outside Syracuse
- Onondaga of Ohswegen and Bearfoot Onondaga, both at Six Nations of the Grand River, Ontario, Canada
Other spellings encountered
- Onöñda'gega' Onondaga language
- Onontakeka Oneida language
- Onondagaono Seneca language
See also
Notes
- ^ Rudes, B. Tuscarora English Dictionary Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1999
- ^ 1794 Canandaigua Treaty Commemoration Committee, Inc.
References
- Calloway, Colin G. (2004). First Peoples (2nd Ed.). Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's. ISBN 0-312-39889-1.
- Onondaga Reservation, New York United States Census Bureau
External links