Cayuga

Cayuga
Total population
unknown
Regions with significant populations
Canada (Ontario)  United States (New York)
Languages
English, Cayuga
Religions
Christianity, others
Related ethnic groups
other Iroquoian peoples

Introduction

The Cayuga nation (Guyohkohnyo or the People of the Great Swamp) was one of the five original constituents of the Iroquois, a confederacy of Indians in New York. The Cayuga homeland lay in the Finger Lakes region between their league neighbors, the Onondaga and the Seneca. One current spelling of the Cayuga name for "Cayuga" is Gayogohó:no’. [1]

The Cayuga sided with the British during the American Revolution and, after many attacks on American colonists, the punitive Sullivan Expedition devastated the Cayuga homeland, destroying major Cayuga villages such as Cayuga Castle and Chonodote (Peachtown). Survivors fled to other Iroquois tribes or to Ontario, Canada where they were granted land by the British in recognition of their loyalty to the Crown.

On November 11, 1794, the (New York) Cayuga Nation (along with the other Haudenosaunee nations) signed the Treaty of Canandaigua with the United States.

History

The original five Iroquois tribes were united between 1450 and 1600 by a Mohawk shaman, Haiwatha and Huron prophet, Deganawida The tribes that united were Cayuga, Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, and Seneca. The purpose for the uniting was to end the intertribal wars and bring peace and well being to all of the tribes.

The Cayuga, as well as other Iroquois tribes, met white explorers in the sixteenth century. They became involved in fur trade with the French during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The Cayuga went to war over trapping territories as far south as Virginia.

During the American Revolutionary War, the alliance split loyalty between the British and anti-British factions. Most Cayuga sided with the English. After the British defeat many Cayuga moved to Canada. By 1807, all Cayuga land in the U.S. was sold. Some New York Cayuga moved to Ohio in the early 1800s. Later, they were moved to Wisconsin and Oklahoma. The Senaca and Cayuga incorporated in 1937 under Oklahoma law.

Culture

Religion

A supreme creator, Orenda, was recognized in the festivals held for harvest, maple sap, strawberries, and corn. An eight day event in midwinter was held to forgive past wrongs. In the early nineteenth century the teaching of Handsome Lake became popular. Handsome Lake was a Seneca gthat taught about Jesus and also blended the traditional celebrations excluding witchcraft or sexual promescuity.

Government

"The creators of the U.S. government used the Iroquois League as a model of democracy." The Constitution of the Iroquois Nation was titled, The Great Binding Law, Gayanashagowa. It opens with this line: " I am Dekanawidah and with the Five Nations Confederate Lords I plant the Tree of Great Peace. I plant it in your territory, Adodarhoh, and the Onondaga Nation, in the territory of you who are Firekeepers.'

There were 50 chiefs (Sachems) of the Iroquois League. All chiefs were men. Women could act as regents. The Cayuga sent ten men to the great council each fall. The Great Pipe was the symbol of their gathering. The Cayuga belonged to the "younger brother" division. There was a chief or headman in each village. The decision at all levels was based on consensus which included women.

Customs

There were nine known clans of Cayuga composed of matrilineal, animal named family groups. Women enjoyed a high level of prestige and were in charge of village events including marriage. Sports included gambling.

Shamans cured with a variety of medicinal plants including tobacco. Suicide was a method of addressing loss of status or honor. The dead were place in sitting position with tools and food for the afterlife.

The Cayuga Nation today

Today, there are three Cayuga bands. The two largest, the Lower Cayuga and Upper Cayuga, still live in Ontario, both at Six Nations of the Grand River. Only a small number remain in the United States - the Cayuga Indian Nation of New York in Versailles, New York State.

The Cayuga Indian Nation of New York currently does not have a reservation of its own and its member live among those of the Seneca nation[2]. In 2005 the Cayuga purchased approximately 130 acres of land on the open market in Cayuga County, New York and Seneca County, New York. Shortly after the purchase of this land the Cayuga applied to the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs to have it taken into trust [3]. The State of New York has opposed this application asserting that the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs lacks the authority to take the land into trust under the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 [4].

The symbol of the Iroquois nation is found in the reemergence of "Hiawatha's Belt". "In modern times, what was once a qampum belt, now is reborn as a flag. Seen both in Canada and the United States, the blue flag bearing the symbol of hte unity of the five nations has become a rallying symbol for Iroquois of all tribes."

Land claim

The Cayuga Indian Nation of New York commenced an action to reclaim land that allegedly was taken from it without the approval of the United States on November 19, 1980 in the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York. In 1981, the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma was added as a plaintiff in the claim. Ultimately a jury trial on damages was held from January 18, 2000 through February 17, 2000. The jury returned a verdict in favor of the Cayuga Indian Nation of New York and the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma finding current fair market value damages of $35 million and total fair rental value damages of $3.5 million. The jury gave the State a credit for the payments it had made to the Cayugas, of about $1.6 million, leaving the total damages at this stage at approximately $36.9 million. On October 2, 2001 the court issued a decision and order which awarded a prejudgment interest award of $211 million and a total award of $247.9 million. Both the plaintiffs and the defendants appealed this award and on June 28, 2005 the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit rendered a decision that reversed the judgment of the trial court and entered a judgment in favor of the defendants. The Cayuga Indian Nation of New York sought review of this decision by the Supreme Court of the United States which was denied on May 15, 2006. The time for the Cayuga Indian Nation to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to rehear the case has passed. As a result, the Cayuga Indian Nation land claim is officially over.

Modern population

The total number of Iroquois today is hard to establish. About 45,000 Iroquois lived in Canada in 1995. In the 2000 census, 80,822 people in the United States claimed Iroquois ethnicity, with 45,217 of them claiming only Iroquois background. However, tribal registrations in the United States in 1995 numbered about 30,000 in total.

Populations of the Haudenosaunee tribe

Location	Seneca	Cayuga	Onondaga	Tuscarora	Oneida	Mohawk	Combined
Ontario					&&&&&&&&&&&03970.&&&&&03,970	&&&&&&&&&&014051.&&&&&014,051	&&&&&&&&&&017603.&&&&&017,6031
Quebec						&&&&&&&&&&&09631.&&&&&09,631
New York	&&&&&&&&&&&07581.&&&&&07,581	448	1596	&&&&&&&&&&&01200.&&&&&01,200	&&&&&&&&&&&01109.&&&&&01,109	&&&&&&&&&&&05632.&&&&&05,632
Wisconsin					&&&&&&&&&&010309.&&&&&010,309
Oklahoma							&&&&&&&&&&&02200.&&&&&02,2002

Source: Iroquois Population in 1995 by Doug George-Kanentiio [5].
¹ Six Nations of the Grand River Territory.
² Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma.

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External links

• Cayuga Nation
• How the Sullivan-Clinton Campaign Dispossessed the Cayuga

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