- Member since
December 2002
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Posted by SNOOPY
on Sunday, November 5, 2006 4:55 PM
 ajlafleche wrote: | | Kykeon wrote: | | I wonder why I find the name Onandaga attached to place names as far south as Missouri, when they are a tribe from New York? |
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Great question which forced me to find an answer... A number of Woodland nations wound up on the Oklahoma/Missouri border, including members of the some Seneca, who shared the Iroquoian language with the Onandaga. The term "Onandaga" means "people of the hill." |
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To give a little more background. The "Onondagas" the correct spelling, are still in Syracuse on a reservation on the southern part of Syracuse and Onondaga county. The Iroquio Conferderacy was started on the shores of Onondaga Lake. Some Iroquio Nations were split up and put on reservations in the Mid-West. Some of the Nations kept their real name and some choose to change their names to others. The Iroquois were the most feared group along the Eastern Seaboard ranging from Cananda and down past Delaware and into parts of Northern Virginia before the colonists of the French and British came. The five Nations of the Conderacy are Senecas, Onondagas, Cayugas, Oniedas, and I believe the fifth one is the Mohawks. The Syracuse Orangemen surname came from them until some tribesmen complained about it. How do I know this, I live in Onondaga County in Syracuse and have some very good friends that are Onondagas. Just thought you history buffs might like some background on it. Syracuse University teaches a real good course on Native Americans in the New York area.
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