Difference between revisions of "Onondaga (tribe)" - New World Encyclopedia

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==History==
 
==History==
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The [[Iroquois Confederacy]] (''Haudenosaunee'') was established prior to major European contact, complete with a [[constitution]] known as the [[Gayanashagowa]] (or "Great Law of Peace"). The exact date of the establishment of this federation is not know, although it has existed continuously existed since at least the fourteenth or fifteenth century.
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[[Oral tradition]] tells of how the [[Seneca]], [[Cayuga]], Onondaga, [[Oneida]], and [[Mohawk]] people had been warring against each other causing great bloodshed. To address this, the Creator sent a messenger to remind the people of the true lifestyle so that they could live in peace. The two spiritual leaders, [[Ayonwentah]] (generally called [[Hiawatha]] due to the [[Henry Wadsworth Longfellow|Longfellow]] poem) and ''[[Deganawidah]]'', "[[The Great Peacemaker]]," brought the message of [[peace]] to the five tribes. In their travels to find the leaders of the people, they came upon a woman who gave them shelter. She accepted their message and the Peacemaker set aside a special duty for women, the "Clan Mother."
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According to [[legend]], an evil Onondaga chieftain named ''[[Tadadaho]]'' was the last to be converted to the ways of peace by The Great Peacemaker and Ayonwentah. Tadadaho was said to be so evil that his body was twisted and snakes grew from his head. Hiawatha and the Great Peacemaker "combed the snakes" from Tadadaho's hair and he accepted the message, becoming the spiritual leader of the Haudenosaunee. This event is said to have occurred at [[Onondaga Lake]] near [[Syracuse, New York]]. The title ''Tadadaho'' is still used for the league's spiritual leader, the fiftieth chief, who sits with the Onondaga in council.
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The combined leadership of the Nations is known as the ''Haudenosaunee'', which means "People of the Long House." The term is said to have been introduced by The Great Peacemaker at the time of the formation of the Confederacy. It implies that the Nations of the confederacy should live together as families in the same [[long house]]. Being centrally located with the [[Cayuga]] and [[Seneca]] to their west and the [[Oneida]] and [[Mohawk nation|Mohawk]] to their east, they were charged with keeping the flame of the Council Fire burning in the council longhouse where the council of the confederacy met. Thus they were known as the "Keepers of the Fire," ''Kayečisnakweˀnì•yuˀ'' in [[Tuscarora language|Tuscarora]]) (Rudes 1999). A sixth tribe, the [[Tuscarora]], joined after the original five nations were formed.
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[[Image:Onondaga Village Allen.jpg|thumb|300px|Sketch by [[Samuel de Champlain]] of his attack on an Onondaga village.]]
 
[[Image:Onondaga Village Allen.jpg|thumb|300px|Sketch by [[Samuel de Champlain]] of his attack on an Onondaga village.]]
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Once they ceased most infighting, the Confederacy rapidly became one of the strongest forces in seventeenth and eighteenth century northeastern North America. The Haudenosaunee engaged in a series of wars against the French and their Iroquoian-speaking [[Wyandot|Wyandot ("Huron")]] allies. In 1615, [[Samuel de Champlain]] was escorted through the Peterborough area by a group of Hurons. He used the ancient [[portage]] between [[Chemong Lake]] and Little Lake (now Chemong Road). The party passed Lake Ontario at its eastern tip where they hid their canoes and continued their journey by land. They followed the [[Oneida River]] until they found themselves at an Onondaga fort. Pressured by the Hurons to attack prematurely, the assault failed. The attack lasted three hours until they were forced to flee.
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By 1677, the Iroquois formed an [[Military alliance|alliance]] with the [[England|English]] through an agreement known as the [[Covenant Chain]]. Together, they battled the [[France|French]], who were allied with the [[Huron]], another [[Iroquoian]] people but a historic foe of the Confederacy.
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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 [[United States]] in alliance with the [[Kingdom of Great Britain|British]]. Thereafter, many Onondaga followed [[Joseph Brant]] to [[Six Nations of the Grand River|Six Nations]], [[Ontario]], after the United States was accorded independence.  
 
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 [[United States]] in alliance with the [[Kingdom of Great Britain|British]]. Thereafter, many Onondaga followed [[Joseph Brant]] to [[Six Nations of the Grand River|Six Nations]], [[Ontario]], after the United States was accorded independence.  
 
Being centrally located with the [[Cayuga]] and [[Seneca]] to their west and the [[Oneida]] and [[Mohawk nation|Mohawk]] to their east, they were charged with keeping the flame of the Council Fire burning in the council [[longhouse]] where the council of the confederacy met. Thus they were known as the "Keepers of the Fire," ''Kayečisnakweˀnì•yuˀ'' in [[Tuscarora language|Tuscarora]]) (Rudes 1999).
 
  
 
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.
 
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.

Revision as of 21:43, 24 October 2008


Onondaga
Total population
80,000+
Regions with significant populations
Flag of United States United States (New York)
Flag of Canada Canada (Ontario)
Languages
English, Onöñda'gega', Other Iroquoian Dialects
Religions
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. They were centrally located among the nations, 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.

Location

Onondaga Lake

The Onondaga inhabited an area of what is now upstate New York in the vicinity of Onondaga Lake and the Oswego River.

Onondaga Lake is just south of Lake Ontario and northwest of the present day city of Syracuse, New York. Water outflows from the lake to Lake Ontario through the Oswego River. Around 1450 or possibly earlier, Onondaga Lake was the site of the founding of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois Confederacy). According to legend, at this spot the warlike Onondaga chief Tadodaho was persuaded by Hiawatha and Deganawidah (the Peacemaker) to accept the Great Law of Peace. Historically, the lake and the surrounding area was a site of salt springs and later salt mining.

History

The Iroquois Confederacy (Haudenosaunee) was established prior to major European contact, complete with a constitution known as the Gayanashagowa (or "Great Law of Peace"). The exact date of the establishment of this federation is not know, although it has existed continuously existed since at least the fourteenth or fifteenth century.

Oral tradition tells of how the Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, and Mohawk people had been warring against each other causing great bloodshed. To address this, the Creator sent a messenger to remind the people of the true lifestyle so that they could live in peace. The two spiritual leaders, Ayonwentah (generally called Hiawatha due to the Longfellow poem) and Deganawidah, "The Great Peacemaker," brought the message of peace to the five tribes. In their travels to find the leaders of the people, they came upon a woman who gave them shelter. She accepted their message and the Peacemaker set aside a special duty for women, the "Clan Mother."

According to legend, an evil Onondaga chieftain named Tadadaho was the last to be converted to the ways of peace by The Great Peacemaker and Ayonwentah. Tadadaho was said to be so evil that his body was twisted and snakes grew from his head. Hiawatha and the Great Peacemaker "combed the snakes" from Tadadaho's hair and he accepted the message, becoming the spiritual leader of the Haudenosaunee. This event is said to have occurred at Onondaga Lake near Syracuse, New York. The title Tadadaho is still used for the league's spiritual leader, the fiftieth chief, who sits with the Onondaga in council.

The combined leadership of the Nations is known as the Haudenosaunee, which means "People of the Long House." The term is said to have been introduced by The Great Peacemaker at the time of the formation of the Confederacy. It implies that the Nations of the confederacy should live together as families in the same long house. Being centrally located with the Cayuga and Seneca to their west and the Oneida and Mohawk to their east, they were charged with keeping the flame of the Council Fire burning in the council longhouse where the council of the confederacy met. Thus they were known as the "Keepers of the Fire," Kayečisnakweˀnì•yuˀ in Tuscarora) (Rudes 1999). A sixth tribe, the Tuscarora, joined after the original five nations were formed.

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

Once they ceased most infighting, the Confederacy rapidly became one of the strongest forces in seventeenth and eighteenth century northeastern North America. The Haudenosaunee engaged in a series of wars against the French and their Iroquoian-speaking Wyandot ("Huron") allies. In 1615, Samuel de Champlain was escorted through the Peterborough area by a group of Hurons. He used the ancient portage between Chemong Lake and Little Lake (now Chemong Road). The party passed Lake Ontario at its eastern tip where they hid their canoes and continued their journey by land. They followed the Oneida River until they found themselves at an Onondaga fort. Pressured by the Hurons to attack prematurely, the assault failed. The attack lasted three hours until they were forced to flee.

By 1677, the Iroquois formed an alliance with the English through an agreement known as the Covenant Chain. Together, they battled the French, who were allied with the Huron, another Iroquoian people but a historic foe of the Confederacy.

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 United States 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.

Culture

Language

Onondaga Nation Language (Onöñda’gega’ (IPA /onũtaʔkekaʔ/), "People of the Hills") is the language of the Onondaga First Nation, one of the original five constituent tribes of the League of the Iroquois (Haudenosaunee). Other spellings of their name include Onontakeka Oneida Language and Onondagaono Seneca Language.

This language is spoken in the United States and Canada, primarily on the reservation in central New York state, and near Brantford, Ontario. An English-Onondaga dictionary provides an invaluable tool for the teaching and preservation of the Onondaga language (Woodbury 2003).

Like all Iroquoian languages, Onondaga is a polysynthetic language, meaning that many grammatical and lexical concepts are expressed as morphemes (that is a affixes of one complex word) rather than separate words. This means that many concepts which could take many words to express in English can be express in a single word in Onondaga.

Religion

Onondaga like all Haudenosaunee have a spirituality that is involves a Creator who gave the people their way of life. Caring for mother earth is an important duty, and this is expressed through ceremonies which give thanks to the Creator and all of creation for still performing their duties. An especially important ceremony is conducted in Midwinter, giving thanks and celebrating life on the earth and engendering a feeling of harmony with the Creator.

Contemporary Onondaga

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.

  • Onondaga Nation in Nedrow, New York outside Syracuse
  • Onondaga of Ohswegen and Bearfoot Onondaga, both at Six Nations of the Grand River, Ontario, Canada

Notable Onondaga people

  • Oren Lyons [Lives at Onondaga and holds a Faithkeeper title, but is Seneca]
Lyons at Nambassa in 1981

Oren Lyons (b.1930) Oren R. Lyons is a traditional Faithkeeper of the turtle Clan and a proud and accomplished Native American who works tirelessly towards the issues concerning Indigenous peoples in the United States and the world. He is a member of the Seneca Nation and of the Six Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy, (Haudenosaunee), and was raised in the traditional culture and practices of the Iroquois on the Seneca and Onondaga Indian reservations in northern New York state.

After serving in the Army, he graduated in 1958 from the Syracuse University College of Fine Arts. He then pursued a career in commercial art after he moved to New York City, becoming the art and planning director of Norcross Greeting Cards with 200 artists under his supervision. He has exhibited his own paintings widely and is well noted in certain circles as a talented American Indian artist. He has since been awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the Syracuse University.

In 1967 he became a faithkeeper for the Turtle clan and returned to Onondaga with his family. He is deeply involved with national and international issues that affect native peoples and has represented them in many forums throughout the world, including several at the UN focusing on the rights and status of indigenous peoples, the environment and sustainable development. He is recognized not only in the United States and Canada but internationally as an eloquent and respected spokesperson on behalf of Native peoples.

  • Tom Longboat [Six Nations]
Tom Longboat with the Ward Marathon Trophy

Cogwagee (Thomas Longboat) (June 4, 1887–January 9, 1949) was an Onondaga distance runner from the Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation Indian reserve near Brantford, Ontario, and for much of his career the dominant long distance runner of the time. When he was a child a Mohawk resident of the reserve, Bill Davis, who in 1901 finished second in the Boston Marathon, interested him in running races.

He began racing in 1905, finishing second in the Victoria Day race at Caledonia, Ontario. His first important victory was in the Around the Bay Road Race in Hamilton, Ontario in 1906, which he won by three minutes. In 1907 he won the Boston Marathon in a record time of 2:24:24 over the old 24-1/2 mile course, four minutes and 59 seconds faster than any of the previous ten winners of the event. He collapsed, however, in the 1908 Olympic marathon, along with several other leading runners, and a rematch was organized the same year at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Longboat won this race, turned professional, and in 1909 at the same venue won the title of Professional Champion of the World in another marathon.

He was a courageous competitor and served his country during World War I as a dispatch runner, taking messages from post to post under difficult and dangerous conditions. Yet for all his fame and excellence, Tom Longboat had to struggle against the vicious racism of his age (Kidd 2004).


References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  • Calloway, Colin G. 2004. First Peoples. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin's. ISBN 0312398891
  • Onondaga Reservation, New York United States Census Bureau. Retrieved October 24, 2008.
  • Woodbury, Hanni. 2003. Onondaga-English/English-Onondaga Dictionary. Toronto, ON: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 080203733X
  • Kidd, Bruce. 2004. Tom Longboat (The Canadians). Fitzhenry and Whiteside. ISBN 1550418386
  • Moyers, Bill. 1991. Oren Lyons - The Faithkeeper. Interview with Bill Moyers, Public Affairs Television, 3 July 1991. Retrieved October 24, 2008.
  • 1794 Canandaigua Treaty Commemoration Committee, Inc. The Canandaigua Treaty of 1794. Retrieved October 24, 2008.
  • Rudes, Blair A. 1999. Tuscarora-English / English-Tuscarora Dictionary. Toronto, ON: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 0802043364
  • Hodge, Frederick Webb. [1907] 2007. Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico 2 Volumes. Library Reprints. ISBN 978-0722238301
  • Waldman, Carl. 2006. Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes. New York, NY: Checkmark Books. ISBN 978-0816062744

External links


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