Gayogohó:nǫˀ Culture

About the Gayogohó:nǫˀ People

The Gayogohó:nǫˀ (Cayuga) people are part of the Six Nations of Hodinǫhsǫ́:nih (Haudenosaunee), sometimes referred to as "Iroquois." The other five nations are the Onǫdawáˀga:ˀ (Senecas), Onǫdagehó:nǫˀ (Onondagas), Onę́yotga:ˀ (Oneidas), Ganyę́gehó:nǫˀ (Mohawks), and Dahsgaó:węˀ (Tuscaroras). Other nations such as the Deyodi:ho:nǫˀ (Tutelo) were also hosted and sometimes adopted into the confederacy through the Gayogo̱hó:nǫˀ. Self-governance by the Hodinǫhsǫ́:nih and Gayogo̱hó:nǫˀ, here in what is now referred to as the Finger Lakes Region of New York State, was established long before the founding of both the United States of America and Canada.

During the Revolutionary War, George Washington ordered the Sullivan-Clinton campaign that destroyed Gayogo̱hó:nǫˀ villages and crops around Cayuga Lake and beyond. The winter that followed was extremely harsh. As a result of this campaign, groups of Gayogo̱hó:nǫˀ wound up at Oswé:gęˀ (Six Nations of the Grand River reserve in Canada), Onǫdawáˀga:ˀ (Seneca) territory in Western New York, and in Oklahoma. In the years since, traditional Gayogo̱hó:nǫˀ people have struggled against much additional adversity to keep their language and traditional culture alive. In recent years, Gayogo̱hó:nǫˀ people have been revitalizing their traditional language and culture and planting their traditional seeds once again in their ancestral lands.

Explore Further

Check out these resources to learn more about the Gayogo̱hó:nǫˀ people of yesterday and today:

• Read The Gayogo̱hó:nǫˀ People in the Cayuga Lake Region by Kurt Jordan.

• Read “A Brief History of Haudenosaunee–U.S. Relations,” an article originally published in the Fall 1999 issue of Haudenosaunee in Land Claim News.

• Read “Understanding Haudenosaunee Culture,” reprinted by Neighbors of the Onondaga Nation from the Six Nations website.

• Learn more about the devastating Sullivan-Clinton Campaign.