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People of the Hills
The Onondaga Nation is a member of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. The Haudenosaunee is translated to the People of the Longhouse which is an alliance of native nations united for hundreds of years by law, traditions, beliefs, and cultural values. The Haudenosaunee is also referred to as the Iroquois or the Six Nation Confederacy. The Haudenosaunee consist of the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and Tuscarora nations.
The Onondaga Nation lies in the middle of the Haudenosaunee territory and is also known as the Central Fire. The Central Fire is a term used to describe Onondaga as a place where the Hoyá•neh (Chiefs) meet in a Grand Council. Because of this, the Onondaga Nation is also referred to as Ganakdagweñni•yo’geh, or the Capital.
Onondaga is still governed by our traditional government. Making Onondaga one of or the oldest continuous democratic government on Turtle Island. The tenants of the Great Law have kept the fourteen Onondaga Chiefs and their Clan Mothers caretakers of our land, ceremonies, and governmental relations with other nations. Because Onondaga has resisted all attempts by the United States to change Onondaga into a “tribal elective system”, the Onondaga Nation continues to maintain its sovereignty.
The Onondaga Nation is also referred to as the ‘Wampum Keepers’. For the Haudenosaunee, wampum is a very integral part of society. The purple and white shell beads have been woven into strings and belts for ceremonies, to carry messages, to record historical events, and to ratify treaties. Onondaga is home to ‘national’ belts such as the Hiawatha Belt, the Tadodaho Belt, the Dust Fan Belt, and the George Washington Belt. In 1890, New York State stole the belts from Onondaga. The Onondaga worked hard to have the belts returned and in 1989, the belts finally returned home. Since that time, the Onondaga use the belts as they were intended, during Grand Council meetings.
Population on the nation consists of Onondagas, other Haudenosaunee citizens, and other native friends. The Onondaga Nation is not a part of the United States, does not receive funding from the United States, and has no elected official representing the Onondaga Nation. Therefore, the Onondaga Nation does not participate in the US census. Many Onondagas live throughout the other Haudenosaunee territories and around the world as well.
Schooling on the nation has had a checkered past. Children were separated from their parents to be ‘civilized’ at the Carlisle School of Indian Children in Pennsylvania or the Thomas Indian School in western New York. Then in 1850, the citizens of Syracuse petitioned New York State to begin a school for the children on the nation in the 1850s. Since that time, there has been a school on the Nation, the Onondaga Nation School. After the school house was destroyed by fire, in 1940, a brick building was erected and still stands today. In the 1970s, the Nation decided that the school did not serve the community. There was no Onondaga language or culture classes, only Spanish was offered at that time, and the school calendar did not align with our ceremonial cycle. Since that time, the school does offer language and culture classes and does work with our leaders to allow students to continue to learn in the longhouse.
The Onondaga Nation’s economy is based around its tax-free smoke shop. The shop allows the Nation to provide services and programs for the Nation such as Onondaga language instruction, a fire department, elder care, free drinking water, a lacrosse and athletics programs, a security force and much more. There is no gaming (such as bingo halls or casinos) on the Nation. The Council decided that such activities would be detrimental to our community and therefore decided not to create a gaming enterprise.
Dehoñtjihgwa’és or lacrosse is a very important aspect of life at Onondaga. Baby boys are given a stick at birth and men are buried with their stick when we pass on to the Creator’s World. We consider lacrosse to be a gift from our Creator. When played, the game so strong that its considered medicine and has the power to heal. Our team is called the RedHawks and we have teams aged 4 through adulthood. Our national team is called the Iroquois Nationals. The founding member of the Nationals is Oren Lyons, an Onondaga Faithkeeper, a Syracuse University All-American, and a former professor at the University of Buffalo. https://www.onondaganation.org/aboutus/
Culture
Ganoñhéñ•nyoñ’ – Giving Thanks
Like most native people, the Onondaga and the Haudenosaunee’s culture are based on its relationship with nature. This is most evident in how we begin every gathering, meeting, or ceremony with the Ganoñhéñ•nyoñ’, or the Thanksgiving Address.
A speaker is selected to recite the Ganoñhéñ•nyoñ’. The speaker first gives thanks to the people gathered that they are well and that we are still here continuing our duty of giving thanks to the Creator and all of the gifts he has provided all of us to makes us happy.
Every speaker can recite the Ganoñhéñ•nyoñ’ in their own way. But generally, the speaker gives thanks to our Mother Earth then makes their way to finish Giving Thanks to our Creator. The speaker can give thanks to the grasses, the medicines, the trees, the berries, the life-giving foods, the animals, the birds, the waters, the winds, the thunders, the sun, the stars, our celestial guides, and the Creator. The purpose is for everyone to ‘Put our Minds Together as One’ and kindly give thanks and acknowledge the total collectiveness of our world.
Clans
A long time ago when the Creator placed us upon Mother Earth, each family was asked to go out of the village and tell about the animal they have witnessed. When they reported what they saw, that became the “clan” of your family.
The women who are our life givers were given the important responsibility of carrying on the clans and the citizenship of the Haudenosaunee. At Onondaga, there are nine “clans” which are; wolf, turtle, beaver, snipe, heron, deer, eel, bear, and hawk.
Only an Onondaga woman can provide Onondaga children. Only an Onondaga woman of the turtle clan can provide Onondaga turtle clan children, etc. Therefore, children are very proud of their clans as it automatically gives them a link to their female ancestors back to the beginning of our people.
The clan system lives throughout the Haudenosaunee. People of your clan but of different nations are still considered to be part of your family. This is important as when you travel through the different nations of the Haudenosaunee. You know that there are people willing to welcome you to their lands as being part of their family.
The role of clans also plays a part in marriage. When a young person looks to marry, they look to individuals from other clans. Even if you are not of “blood relations”, they are a part of your clan family. Since clan members no longer all live in one longhouse, mothers, grandmothers, and aunts watch to make sure that its a good match.
Our clan system is also important in our way of life. When you are in need of help in tough times such as sickness or death, it is the duty of the members of the other clans to help. The Creator gave us this method of helping each other to make sure that we care one another to make us strong which has helped us survive as a people for countless centuries. We look to our relations in the other clans for help. https://www.onondaganation.org/culture/
History
Onondaga, self-name Onoñda’gega’ (“People of the Hills”), tribe of Iroquoian-speaking North American Indians who lived in what is now the U.S. state of New York. The Onondaga traditionally inhabited villages of wood and bark longhouses occupied by related families. They moved these houses periodically to plant new fields, to seek fresh supplies of firewood, and to be nearer fish and game. They grew corn (maize), beans, squash, sunflowers, and tobacco. A council of adult males in each community guided the village chiefs.
The Onondaga tribe, one of the five original nations of the Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) Confederacy, was the political and geographical centre of the league. With 14 seats in the council, the Onondaga furnished the chairman and the archivist, who kept the records of transactions in wampum belts.
In the 18th century a sizable faction of Onondaga favouring the French interest migrated to Jesuit mission settlements along the St. Lawrence River. Another faction remained loyal to the British, and, upon the breakup of the Iroquois Confederacy after the American Revolution, a small party followed other members to Grand River in what is now Ontario. The majority, however, remained in their ancestral valley. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Onondaga-people
Hanadagá•yas - Town Destroyer
The Onondaga and the Haudenosaunee saw the colonists growing and uniting to become a new government called the United States of America. After fighting with the Haudenosaunee in the French and Indian War, the colonists called upon the Haudenosaunee to a meeting at Ft. Pitt in 1775 to ask in their aide in the upcoming revolution against the British.
The Haudenosaunee pledged neutrality with this statement, “We see this as a fight between father and son. We will not join either side. But we are free men, if any choose to fight for you, they may.”
During the American Revolution, some Mohawks led by Joseph Brant chose to fight with the British and to defend the Proclamation Line. This line was established after the French and Indian War by King George as a boundary between the colonists and Native lands. The Mohawks saw the colonial settlements in violation of the Proclamation Line and trespassers in their territory. Many colonial homes were attacked.
With the Haudenosaunee standing in the way of westward expansion of the new Republic and with General George Washington seeking revenge against the raids of colonial homes, he ordered the termination of the Haudenosaunee and sent these orders to General Sullivan, known today as the Sullivan Campaign.
“The Expedition you are appointed to command is to be directed against the hostile tribes of the Six Nations of Indians, with their associates and adherents. The immediate objects are the total destruction and devastation of their settlements, and the capture of as many prisoners of every age and sex as possible. It will be essential to ruin their crops now in the ground and prevent their planting more.”
“I would recommend, that some post in the center of the Indian Country, should be occupied with all expedition, with a sufficient quantity of provisions whence parties should be detached to lay waste all the settlements around, with instructions to do it in the most effectual manner, that the country may not be merely overrun, but destroyed.”
In April 1779, the colonial army attacked the capital of the Haudenosaunee, the Onondaga Nation. The Onondagas, who were honoring the neutrality agreement, were not prepared for the attack. For over 8 miles south of Onondaga Lake, the colonial army followed the orders of General Washington killing and burning.
The surviving Onondaga were homeless; some began to rebuild; some headed west to find shelter with their brother nations the Cayuga and Seneca. In August and September, the Sullivan campaign resumed with multiple attacks against the Cayuga and Seneca Nations with the army again killing Haudenosaunee people and destroying their villages. Often it took the army days to completely destroy all of the longhouses, fields, orchards and food stores. The homeless traveled to Fort Niagara for safety and shelter but found none with the British there. Many Haudenosaunee froze or starved to death that winter. The spring of 1780 saw the surviving Haudenosaunee forced to rebuild their lives with broken families and destroyed villages.
The Haudenosaunee took notice of General George Washington’s actions. Years later when George Washington was elected President of the newly formed United States, Seneca Chief Corn Planter addressed President Washington in 1790.
“When your army entered the country of the Six Nations, we called you Hanadagá•yas (Town Destroyer): and to this day when that name is heard our women look behind them and turn pale, and our children cling close to the necks of their mothers. Our counsellors and warriors are men, and cannot be afraid; but their hearts are grieved with the fears of our women and children, and desire that it may be buried so deep as to be heard no more.”
Since that day, the Haudenosaunee have referred to all of the Presidents of the United States as Hanadagá•yas – The Town Destroyer. https://www.onondaganation.org/history/us-presidents-hanadagayas/
Today
The present-day territory of the Onondaga Nation (“People of the Hills”) is approximately 7,300 acres just south of Syracuse near Nedrow, New York.
Between 1788 and 1822, the Onondaga Nation lost possession of approximately 95% of its land through a series of illegal “takings” by the State of New York.
Onondaga (the keepers of the Central Fire) is considered to be the capital of the Haudenosaunee, a name meaning “People of the Longhouse”. The Haudenosaunee are sometimes referred to as the Iroquois Confederacy, or Six Nations.
The Haudenosaunee was founded at Onondaga after the Peace Maker visited the warring nations. This is estimated to have occurred around the year 1000 A.D. The five original nations of the Haudenosaunee were the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas and Senecas. The Tuscaroras joined the confederacy in the early 1700’s.
The nations of the Haudenosaunee came together after agreeing to work together peacefully rather than continuing to battle each other. They established a democratic system of government led by a Grand Council consisting of chiefs from each nation. These chiefs worked with clan mothers to ensure the preservation and well-being of the Haudenosaunee.
The Haudenosaunee is considered to be one of the oldest participatory democracies on earth, and provided an important structural model for the Founding Fathers developing the United States Constitution.
The Haudenosaunee became the greatest Indian power in colonial America, with a homeland that spanned northern New York between the Hudson and Niagara rivers and an influence that extended from the Ottawa River to the Chesapeake Bay and from New England to Illinois.
The Onondaga Nation maintains traditional cultural views and a traditional system of government. The Nation does not permit the sale of alcohol and has opposed casinos and online gaming.
The Haudenosaunee are known internationally as a peaceful people, with a heritage of statesmanship, government/law and an oral tradition passed from generation to generation.
Onondaga remains the meeting place for the Grand Council of Chiefs, the traditional ruling body for the Haudenosaunee. The Longhouse serves as a place of spiritual, cultural and social activities, the seat of government and symbol of security.
https://www.onondaganation.org/aboutus/facts/
Notable People
- Leon Shenandoah (1915–1996), Tadodaho
- Oren Lyons (Lives at Onondaga and holds a Faithkeeper title, but is Seneca)
- Tom Longboat (Six Nations)
- Canassatego, Hiawatha, Tadadaho of the Iroquois Confederacy
- Tadodaho Sidney Hill
- Samuel George, (Hononwirehdonh, 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)
- Erik J. Sorensen (chemist)
- Chief Thomas Webster (1826-1897), Onondaga Chief/Snipe Clan; One of the 15 chiefs and the Onondaga keeper of the wampum.
- Chief Ossahinta "Captain Frost" of the Onondaga, Tahtootahoo, (1760-1846) Onondaga/Turtle Clan, Tahtootahoo; A principal Chief of the Onondaga from 1830 until 1846, often referred to as "Captain Frost," was known for his high character and eloquent speech.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onondaga_people
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onondaga_Reservation
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/onondaga
Portrait of Ossahinta, Chief of the Onondaga Nation
https://americanart.si.edu/artwork/portrait-ossahinta-chief-onondag...