Onondaga (tribe)

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The Onondaga (Onöñda'gega' or the People of the Hills) are one of the original five constituent tribes of the Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) Confederacy. Their traditional homeland is in and around Onondaga County, New York. Being centrally located, they were the Keepers of the Fire (Kayečisnakweˀnì•yuˀ 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. The Onondaga later sided with the majority of the League and fought against the United States in alliance with the British, after an American attack on their main village on April 20, 1779. Many Onondaga therefore followed Joseph Brant to Six Nations, Ontario after the United States was accorded independence. Those remaining in New York are under the government of traditional chiefs nominated by clan mothers, rather than elected.

On November 11, 1794, the Onondaga Nation, along with the other Haudenosaunee nations, signed the Treaty of Canandaigua with the United States, in which they gave up their right to the land in exchange for annual dues of $2,400 and 150 bushels of salt. New York State still pays the money and delivers the salt.

On March 11, 2005, the Onondaga Nation of Nedrow, New York, filed a land rights action in federal court, seeking acknowledgement of title to over 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 and other defenses.

Notable Onondaga people

• Daniel Garacontié
• Oren Lyons
• Tom Longboat

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

• Onondaga language

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

• Onondaga Nation web page

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Last updated on Monday February 11, 2008 at 06:40:43 PST (GMT -0800)
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