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Onondaga (tribe)

 
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The Onondaga (Onöñda'gega' or the People of the Hills) are one of the original five constituent nations of the Iroquois
Iroquois

The Iroquois Confederacy is a group of First Nations/Native Americans in the United States that originally consisted of five nations: the Mohawk nation, the Oneida tribe, the Onondaga , the Cayuga nation, and the Seneca nation....
 (Haudenosaunee) Confederacy. Their traditional homeland is in and around Onondaga County, New York
Onondaga County, New York

Onondaga County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the United States Census 2000, the population was 458,336. The estimated population for 2004 is 459,805, an increase of 0.3%....
. 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 (Kayecisnakwe?nì•yu? in Tuscarora
Tuscarora language

Tuscarora, sometimes called Skarure, is an Iroquoian languages of the Tuscarora , spoken in southern Ontario, Canada, and northwestern New York around Niagara Falls, in the United States....
) in the figurative longhouse, with the Cayuga and Seneca to their west and the Oneida
Oneida tribe

The Oneida are a Native Americans in the United States/First Nations people and are one of the five founding nations of the Iroquois in the area of upstate New York....
 and Mohawk
Mohawk nation

Mohawk are an Indigenous peoples of the Americas of North America originally from the Mohawk Valley in upstate New York to southern Quebec and eastern Ontario....
 to their east.






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The Onondaga (Onöñda'gega' or the People of the Hills) are one of the original five constituent nations of the Iroquois
Iroquois

The Iroquois Confederacy is a group of First Nations/Native Americans in the United States that originally consisted of five nations: the Mohawk nation, the Oneida tribe, the Onondaga , the Cayuga nation, and the Seneca nation....
 (Haudenosaunee) Confederacy. Their traditional homeland is in and around Onondaga County, New York
Onondaga County, New York

Onondaga County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the United States Census 2000, the population was 458,336. The estimated population for 2004 is 459,805, an increase of 0.3%....
. 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 (Kayecisnakwe?nì•yu? in Tuscarora
Tuscarora language

Tuscarora, sometimes called Skarure, is an Iroquoian languages of the Tuscarora , spoken in southern Ontario, Canada, and northwestern New York around Niagara Falls, in the United States....
) in the figurative longhouse, with the Cayuga and Seneca to their west and the Oneida
Oneida tribe

The Oneida are a Native Americans in the United States/First Nations people and are one of the five founding nations of the Iroquois in the area of upstate New York....
 and Mohawk
Mohawk nation

Mohawk are an Indigenous peoples of the Americas of North America originally from the Mohawk Valley in upstate New York to southern Quebec and eastern Ontario....
 to their east. For this reason, the League of the Iroquois historically met at the Iroquois government's capital at Onondaga
Onondaga, New York

Onondaga is a town located in Onondaga County, New York, New York, United States. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, the town had a population of 21,063....
, as indeed the traditional chiefs do today.

History

In the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War

The American Revolutionary War , also known as the American War of Independence, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and Thirteen Colonies on the North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers....
, 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
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 in alliance with the British
Kingdom of Great Britain

The Kingdom of Great Britain, also known as the United Kingdom of Great Britain, was a country in North-West Europe, in existence from 1707 to 1801....
. Thereafter, many Onondaga followed Joseph Brant
Joseph Brant

Thayendanegea or Joseph Brant was a Mohawk nation leader and Kingdom of Great Britain military officer during the American Revolutionary War....
 to Six Nations, Ontario
Ontario

Ontario is a Provinces and territories of Canada located in the Central Canada part of Canada, the largest by population and second largest, after Quebec, in total area....
, 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
Treaty of Canandaigua

The Treaty of Canandaigua was signed at Canandaigua , New York, New York on November 11, 1794, by fifty sachems and war chiefs representing the Grand Council of the Six Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy , and by Timothy Pickering, official agent of President George Washington....
 with the United States, in which their right to their homeland was acknowledged by the United States in article II of the treaty.

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
Nedrow, New York

Nedrow is a hamlet located in the Onondaga, New York in Onondaga County, New York. The population was 2,265 at the 2000 census....
, filed a land rights action in federal court, seeking acknowledgment of title to over of ancestral lands centering in Syracuse, New York
Syracuse, New York

Syracuse is the fifth largest city in New York State, United States. According to the United States Census 2000, the city population was 147,306, and its Syracuse metropolitan area had a population of 732,117....
. In doing so they hope to obtain increased influence over environmental restoration efforts at Onondaga Lake
Onondaga Lake

Onondaga Lake is northwest of the city of Syracuse, New York and south of Lake Ontario. Water outflows from the lake to Lake Ontario through the Oswego River ....
 and other EPA Superfund
Superfund

Superfund is the common name for the Environmental policy of the United States officially known as the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act , enacted by the United States Congress on December 11, 1980 in response to the Love Canal disaster and the environmental contamination at the Valley of the Drums....
 sites in the claimed area. This lawsuit is facing a motion to dismiss based on the precedent established in the Cayuga nation
Cayuga nation

The Cayuga nation was one of the five original constituents of the Haudenosaunee , a confederacy of Native Americans in the United States in New York....
's land claim and other defenses.
Onondaga Village Allen

Notable Onondaga people

  • Oren Lyons
    Oren Lyons

    Oren R. Lyons is a Native Americans in the United States Faithkeeper of the Iroquois#Clans of the Seneca Nation of the Iroquois. Once a college lacrosse player, Lyons is now a recognized advocate of indigenous people rights....
     [Lives at Onondaga and holds a Faithkeeper title, but is Seneca]
  • Sidney Hill (Tadodaho
    Tadodaho

    Tadodaho was a Native Americans in the United States and chief of the Onondaga . Tadodaho later came to refer to the most influential Native American chief in New York; this reference has been used for centuries....
    )
  • Tom Longboat
    Tom Longboat

    Cogwagee was an Onondaga distance running 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....
     [Six Nations]


Today

  • Onondaga Nation in Nedrow, New York
    Nedrow, New York

    Nedrow is a hamlet located in the Onondaga, New York in Onondaga County, New York. The population was 2,265 at the 2000 census....
     outside Syracuse
    Syracuse, New York

    Syracuse is the fifth largest city in New York State, United States. According to the United States Census 2000, the city population was 147,306, and its Syracuse metropolitan area had a population of 732,117....
  • Onondaga of Ohswegen and Bearfoot Onondaga, both at Six Nations of the Grand River, Ontario, Canada


Other spellings encountered

  • Onöñda'gega Onondaga language
    Onondaga language

    Onondaga Nation Language is the language of the Onondaga First Nation, one of the original five constituent tribes of the League of the Iroquois ....
  • Onontakeka Oneida language
    Oneida language

    Oneida is an Iroquoian language spoken primarily by the Oneida tribe people in the U.S. states of New York and Wisconsin, and the Canadian province of Ontario....
  • Onondagaono Seneca language
    Seneca language

    Seneca is the language of the Seneca Nation, one of the Six Nations of the Iroquois League. About 10,000 Seneca live in the United States and Canada, primarily on reservations in western New York state, with others living in Oklahoma and near Brantford, Ontario, Ontario....


See also

  • Onondaga language
    Onondaga language

    Onondaga Nation Language is the language of the Onondaga First Nation, one of the original five constituent tribes of the League of the Iroquois ....


External links