The Onondaga people (, 'People of the Hills') are one of the five original nations of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy in the Northeastern Woodlands. Their historical homelands are in and around present-day Onondaga County, New York, south of Lake Ontario.

Being centrally located, they are considered the "Keepers of the Fire" ( 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 met at the Iroquois government's capital at Onondaga, as the traditional chiefs do today.

In the United States, the home of the federally recognized Onondaga Nation is the Onondaga Reservation. Onondaga people also live near Brantford, Ontario on Six Nations territory. This reserve used to be Haudenosaunee hunting grounds, but much of the Confederacy relocated there as a result of the American Revolution. Although the British promised the security of Haudenosaunee homelands, the 1783 treaty of Paris ceded the territory over to the United States.

History

According to oral tradition, the Great Peacemaker approached the Onondaga and other tribes to found the Haudenosaunee. 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 visible in the area was in 1142 AD.

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.

thumb|250px|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 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. In 1779, George Washington ordered the termination of the Onondaga people, in an operation known as "The Sullivan Expedition", breaking the neutrality agreement and devastating the Onondaga people. When the United States won independence, many Onondaga followed Joseph Brant to Upper Canada, where they were given land by the British Crown at Six Nations.

In the aftermath of the "Sullivan Expedition", following the brutal winter of 1780, there was a massive swarm of periodical cicadas, which emerge from underground every seventeen years. The sudden arrival of such a large quantity of the insects provided a source of sustenance for the Onondaga people who were experiencing severe food insecurity following the Sullivan campaigns and the subsequent brutal winter. The seemingly miraculous arrival of the cicadas (specifically, Brood VII also known as the Onondaga brood) is commemorated by the Onondaga as an intervention by the Creator to ensure their survival after such a traumatizing, catastrophic event.

thumb|Chief Isaac Hill Kaweneseronton, taken in Montreal in 1870 at [[William Notman's studio. ]]

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.

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

Prestige factors

The Onondaga Nation was crucial in forming the Iroquois League which led them to be highly appreciated by their peers. The "Tree of Peace" was planted on Onondaga Land. Onondaga has been regarded as the capital of Iroquois land. The Onondaga were known as the Central Fire-Keepers of the Confederacy. They also do a public confession of sins upon a string of wampum (shell beads). The more spirited the singing and dancing, the more thanks is given to the Creator. The Onondaga peoples rely on the lunar calendar for their ceremonies that occur, and there are faith-keepers responsible for initiating the ceremonies based on the different moons.

  • a gradual evolution of pottery vessels and smoking pipe forms and decorations In total there are nine clans:
  • wolf
  • turtle
  • beaver
  • snipe
  • heron
  • deer
  • eel
  • bear
  • hawk

Onondaga peoples believe it is their duty to help and support their clan in tough times, sickness, and death. Interclan marriages are mandatory, so a member of one clan can only marry someone outside of their clan.

Land

On March 11, 2005, the Onondaga Nation in the town of Onondaga, New York, filed a land rights action in federal court, seeking acknowledgment of title to over of ancestral lands centering in Syracuse, New York. They hoped to obtain increased influence over environmental restoration efforts at Onondaga Lake and other EPA Superfund sites in the claimed area. The Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit rejected the Onondagas' claim in 2012, and the Supreme Court in 2013 declined to hear an appeal.

On June 29, 2022, it was announced that 1,023 acres of land were to be returned to the Onondaga Nation. The land transfer took effect on September 30, 2024.

Sports

The Onondaga very much enjoyed sports and physical activity. Lacrosse and foot races were always known to be favorites of the Onondaga people. They also adopted many games from European settlers such as mumble the peg, marbles, some games of ball, pull away, and fox and geese in the snow.]]

  • Leon Shenandoah (1915–1996), Tadodaho
  • Oren Lyons (Lives at Onondaga and holds a Faithkeeper title, but is Seneca)
  • Tom Longboat (Cogwagee), Grand River Onondaga distance runner
  • Dinah John (<abbr>c.</abbr> 1774–1883)
  • Canassatego, Onondaga leader, diplomat, and spokesperson known for his speech at the 1744 Treaty of Lancaster, where he recommended that the British colonies emulate the Haudenosaunee by forming a confederacy.
  • Tadodaho Sidney Hill
  • Samuel George, (, or 'Great Wolf'), (1795–1873; chief from 1850 to 1873)
  • Madge Skelly (1903–1993), actress, director, speech pathologist
  • Lyle Thompson (professional lacrosse player) (born 1992)
  • Tonya Gonnella Frichner lawyer and activist (1947–2015)
  • Eric Gansworth (poet, novelist, and visual artist)
  • Alfred Warner Jacques (craftsman of traditional wooden lacrosse sticks, American lacrosse player), (1949 to 2023)

Today

  • Onondaga Reservation south of 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

  • Onondaga language
  • HMCS Onondaga (S73) Oberon Class submarine
  • John Arthur Gibson

Notes

References

  • Onondaga Reservation, New York United States Census Bureau
  • Onondaga Nation, official website