Cayuga nation
Encyclopedia
The Cayuga people was one of the five original constituents of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois
), a confederacy of American Indians
in New York
. The Cayuga homeland lay in the Finger Lakes
region along Cayuga Lake
, between their league neighbors, the Onondaga
to the east and the Seneca to the west. One current spelling of the Cayuga name is Gayogohó:no’. Today Cayuga people belong to the Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation in Ontario
, the Cayuga Nation of New York
and the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma
.
, and the Thirteen Colonies
during the American Revolution
were complicated and variable, with Cayugas fighting on both sides (as well as abstaining from war entirely). Most of the Iroquois nations allied with the British, in part hoping to end encroachment on their lands by colonists.
In 1779, General George Washington
of the Continental Army
appointed General John Sullivan
and James Clinton
to lead the Sullivan Expedition
, a military campaign designed to unseat the Iroquois Confederacy and prevent the nations from continuing to attack New York militias and the Continental Army. The campaign mobilized 6200 troops and devastated the Cayuga and Iroquois homelands, destroying 40-50 villages, including major Cayuga villages such as Cayuga Castle
and Chonodote
(Peachtown). The expedition, with attacks from the spring through the fall, also destroyed the crops of the Indians, to drive them out of the land. Survivors fled to other Iroquois tribes, or to Upper Canada
. Some were granted land there by the British in recognition of their loyalty to the Crown. The Cayuga in the United States were the only Haudenosaunee nation to be left without a reservation.
Some Senecas and Cayugas had left the area earlier, going to Ohio. After the Sullivan Campaign, more Cayugas joined them, as well as some other bands of Iroquois who left New York before the end of the Revolutionary War. In 1831 those Indians left Ohio for removal to the Indian Territory in what became Oklahoma. The Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma
is a federally recognized tribe.
On November 11, 1794, the (New York) Cayuga Nation (along with the other Haudenosaunee nations) signed the Treaty of Canandaigua
with the United States by which they ceded much of their lands in New York to the United States. It was the second treaty the United States entered into. It recognized the rights of the Haudenosaunee as sovereign nations. The Treaty of Canandaigua remains an operating legal document; the U.S. government continues to send the requisite gift of muslin fabric to the nations each year.
The state of New York made additional treaties. It went on to arrange sales of more than 5 million acres (20,234.3 km²) of former Iroquois lands to encourage development in the state. Land-hungry Yankees from New England flooded into New York in waves of new settlement.
, both at Six Nations of the Grand River. Two federally recognized tribes of Cayuga are in the United States: the Cayuga Nation of New York
in Seneca Falls
, New York, and the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma
.
The Cayuga Nation of New York does not have a reservation. Members of the former Cayuga Nation live among the Seneca Nation on their reservation.
In December 2005, the S.H.A.R.E. (Strengthening Haudenosaunee-American Relations through Education) Farm was signed over to the Cayuga nation by the United States citizens who purchased and developed the 70 acres (283,280.2 m²) farm in Aurora, New York
. This is the first property which the Cayuga Nation has owned. It is the first time they have lived within the borders of their ancestral homeland in more than 200 years. The Cayuga continue to debate the issue of establishing a Land Trust
for the property through the Bureau of Indian Affairs
.
The first land reclaimed was in 1996. On July 17, 1996, the Cayuga People purchased 14 acres (56,656 m²) in Seneca Falls, NY within their 64000 acres (259 km²) land claim area. On August 2, 1997 a dedication was held where members of all the Iroquois Confederacy were present. This purchase began the return of the Cayuga People to their ancestral homelands. A pine tree was planted at this dedication as a symbol that the Cayuga People are still alive and wanting to return. The elder women of the Cayuga Nation unitedly broke the ground and planted the pine tree to welcome the return of their people to the territory.
to pursue legislative and monetary restitution for land taken from it by the State of New York during the 18th and 19th centuries. New York entered into land sales and leases with the Cayuga Nation after the signing of the Treaty of Canandaigua
after the American Revolutionary War
. Its failure to get approval of the United States Congress
meant the transactions were illegal. The Treaty of Canandaigua holds that only the United States government may enter into legal discussions with the Haudenosaunee.
In 1981, the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma
was added as a plaintiff in the claim. A jury trial on damages was held from January 18-February 17, 2000. The jury returned a verdict in favor of the Cayuga Indian Nation of New York and the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma, finding current fair market value damages of $35 million and total fair rental value damages of $3.5 million. The jury gave the state a credit for the payments it had made to the Cayugas of about $1.6 million, leaving the total damages at approximately $36.9 million. On October 2, 2001, the court issued a decision and order which awarded a prejudgment interest award of $211 million and a total award of $247.9 million.
Both the plaintiffs and the defendants appealed this award. On June 28, 2005, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
rendered a decision that reversed the judgment of the trial court. It ruled in favor of the defendants, based on the doctrine of laches
. Essentially the court ruled that the plaintiffs had taken too long to present their case, when it might have been equitably settled earlier.
The Cayuga Indian Nation of New York sought review of this decision by the Supreme Court of the United States
which was [ denied on May 15, 2006]. The time in which the Cayuga Indian Nation could ask the U.S. Supreme Court to rehear the case has passed.
In 1995 there were nearly 450 Cayuga members in New York, and today there are about 4,892 combined members of the Cayuga-Seneca Nation in Oklahoma.
The total number of Iroquois is difficult to establish. About 45,000 Iroquois lived in Canada in 1995. Iroquois tribal registrations in the United States in 1995 numbered about 30,000. In the 2000 US Census, 80,822 people in the United States claimed Iroquois ethnicity, with 45,217 claiming only Iroquois background.
Iroquois
The Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America...
), a confederacy of American Indians
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. The Cayuga homeland lay in the Finger Lakes
Finger Lakes
The Finger Lakes are a pattern of lakes in the west-central section of Upstate New York in the United States. They are a popular tourist destination. The lakes are long and thin , each oriented roughly on a north-south axis. The two longest, Cayuga Lake and Seneca Lake, are among the deepest in...
region along Cayuga Lake
Cayuga Lake
Cayuga Lake is the longest of central New York's glacial Finger Lakes, and is the second largest in surface area and second largest in volume. It is just under 40 miles long. Its average width is 1.7 miles , and it is at its widest point near Aurora...
, between their league neighbors, the Onondaga
Onondaga (tribe)
The Onondaga are one of the original five constituent nations of the Iroquois Confederacy. Their traditional homeland is in and around Onondaga County, New York...
to the east and the Seneca to the west. One current spelling of the Cayuga name is Gayogohó:no’. Today Cayuga people belong to the Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation in Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, the Cayuga Nation of New York
Cayuga Nation of New York
The Cayuga Nation of New York is a federally recognized tribe of Cayuga people, based in New York, United States. The other tribes with Cayuga members are Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma and the Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation.- History :...
and the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma
Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma
The Seneca–Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma is a federally recognized tribe of Seneca and Cayuga people, based in Oklahoma, United States. They have a tribal jurisdictional area in the northeast corner of Oklahoma are headquartered in Grove, Oklahoma.- History :...
.
History
Political relations between the Cayuga, the BritishKingdom of Great Britain
The former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...
, and the Thirteen Colonies
Thirteen Colonies
The Thirteen Colonies were English and later British colonies established on the Atlantic coast of North America between 1607 and 1733. They declared their independence in the American Revolution and formed the United States of America...
during the American Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
were complicated and variable, with Cayugas fighting on both sides (as well as abstaining from war entirely). Most of the Iroquois nations allied with the British, in part hoping to end encroachment on their lands by colonists.
In 1779, General George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
of the Continental Army
Continental Army
The Continental Army was formed after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War by the colonies that became the United States of America. Established by a resolution of the Continental Congress on June 14, 1775, it was created to coordinate the military efforts of the Thirteen Colonies in...
appointed General John Sullivan
John Sullivan
John Sullivan was the third son of Irish immigrants, a United States general in the Revolutionary War, a delegate in the Continental Congress and a United States federal judge....
and James Clinton
James Clinton
James Clinton was an American Revolutionary War soldier who obtained the rank of major general.He was born in Ulster County in the colony of New York, in a location now part of Orange County, New York...
to lead the Sullivan Expedition
Sullivan Expedition
The Sullivan Expedition, also known as the Sullivan-Clinton Expedition, was an American campaign led by Major General John Sullivan and Brigadier General James Clinton against Loyalists and the four nations of the Iroquois who had sided with the British in the American Revolutionary War.The...
, a military campaign designed to unseat the Iroquois Confederacy and prevent the nations from continuing to attack New York militias and the Continental Army. The campaign mobilized 6200 troops and devastated the Cayuga and Iroquois homelands, destroying 40-50 villages, including major Cayuga villages such as Cayuga Castle
Goiogouen
Goiogouen , was a major village of the Cayuga nation of Iroquois Indians in west-central New York State...
and Chonodote
Chonodote
Chonodote was an 18th-century village of the Cayuga nation of Iroquois Indians in what is now upstate New York, USA. It was located about four and a half miles south of Goiogouen, on the east side of Cayuga Lake...
(Peachtown). The expedition, with attacks from the spring through the fall, also destroyed the crops of the Indians, to drive them out of the land. Survivors fled to other Iroquois tribes, or to Upper Canada
Upper Canada
The Province of Upper Canada was a political division in British Canada established in 1791 by the British Empire to govern the central third of the lands in British North America and to accommodate Loyalist refugees from the United States of America after the American Revolution...
. Some were granted land there by the British in recognition of their loyalty to the Crown. The Cayuga in the United States were the only Haudenosaunee nation to be left without a reservation.
Some Senecas and Cayugas had left the area earlier, going to Ohio. After the Sullivan Campaign, more Cayugas joined them, as well as some other bands of Iroquois who left New York before the end of the Revolutionary War. In 1831 those Indians left Ohio for removal to the Indian Territory in what became Oklahoma. The Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma
Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma
The Seneca–Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma is a federally recognized tribe of Seneca and Cayuga people, based in Oklahoma, United States. They have a tribal jurisdictional area in the northeast corner of Oklahoma are headquartered in Grove, Oklahoma.- History :...
is a federally recognized tribe.
On November 11, 1794, the (New York) Cayuga Nation (along with the other Haudenosaunee nations) signed the Treaty of Canandaigua
Treaty of Canandaigua
The Treaty of Canandaigua is a treaty signed after the American Revolutionary War between the Grand Council of the Six Nations and President George Washington representing the United States of America....
with the United States by which they ceded much of their lands in New York to the United States. It was the second treaty the United States entered into. It recognized the rights of the Haudenosaunee as sovereign nations. The Treaty of Canandaigua remains an operating legal document; the U.S. government continues to send the requisite gift of muslin fabric to the nations each year.
The state of New York made additional treaties. It went on to arrange sales of more than 5 million acres (20,234.3 km²) of former Iroquois lands to encourage development in the state. Land-hungry Yankees from New England flooded into New York in waves of new settlement.
Today
Today, there are three Cayuga bands. The two largest, the Lower Cayuga and Upper Cayuga, still live in OntarioOntario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, both at Six Nations of the Grand River. Two federally recognized tribes of Cayuga are in the United States: the Cayuga Nation of New York
Cayuga Nation of New York
The Cayuga Nation of New York is a federally recognized tribe of Cayuga people, based in New York, United States. The other tribes with Cayuga members are Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma and the Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation.- History :...
in Seneca Falls
Perrysburg (town), New York
Perrysburg is a town in Cattaraugus County, New York, United States. The population was 1,771 at the 2000 census. The Town is named after Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry.The Town of Perrysburg is in the northeast corner of the county...
, New York, and the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma
Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma
The Seneca–Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma is a federally recognized tribe of Seneca and Cayuga people, based in Oklahoma, United States. They have a tribal jurisdictional area in the northeast corner of Oklahoma are headquartered in Grove, Oklahoma.- History :...
.
The Cayuga Nation of New York does not have a reservation. Members of the former Cayuga Nation live among the Seneca Nation on their reservation.
In December 2005, the S.H.A.R.E. (Strengthening Haudenosaunee-American Relations through Education) Farm was signed over to the Cayuga nation by the United States citizens who purchased and developed the 70 acres (283,280.2 m²) farm in Aurora, New York
Aurora, Cayuga County, New York
Aurora is a village and college town in Cayuga County, in the Town of Ledyard, north of Ithaca, New York, United States. The village had a population of 720 at the 2000 census, of which more than 400 were college students....
. This is the first property which the Cayuga Nation has owned. It is the first time they have lived within the borders of their ancestral homeland in more than 200 years. The Cayuga continue to debate the issue of establishing a Land Trust
Land trust
There are two distinct definitions of a land trust:* a private, nonprofit organization that, as all or part of its mission, actively works to conserve land by undertaking or assisting in land or conservation easement acquisition, or by its stewardship of such land or easements; or* an agreement...
for the property through the Bureau of Indian Affairs
Bureau of Indian Affairs
The Bureau of Indian Affairs is an agency of the federal government of the United States within the US Department of the Interior. It is responsible for the administration and management of of land held in trust by the United States for Native Americans in the United States, Native American...
.
The first land reclaimed was in 1996. On July 17, 1996, the Cayuga People purchased 14 acres (56,656 m²) in Seneca Falls, NY within their 64000 acres (259 km²) land claim area. On August 2, 1997 a dedication was held where members of all the Iroquois Confederacy were present. This purchase began the return of the Cayuga People to their ancestral homelands. A pine tree was planted at this dedication as a symbol that the Cayuga People are still alive and wanting to return. The elder women of the Cayuga Nation unitedly broke the ground and planted the pine tree to welcome the return of their people to the territory.
Land claims
The Cayuga Nation of New York commenced an action on November 19, 1980, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of New YorkUnited States District Court for the Northern District of New York
The United States District Court for the Northern District of New York serves one of the 94 judicial districts in the United States and one of four in the state of New York. The U.S. Attorney for the district is Richard S. Hartunian...
to pursue legislative and monetary restitution for land taken from it by the State of New York during the 18th and 19th centuries. New York entered into land sales and leases with the Cayuga Nation after the signing of the Treaty of Canandaigua
Treaty of Canandaigua
The Treaty of Canandaigua is a treaty signed after the American Revolutionary War between the Grand Council of the Six Nations and President George Washington representing the United States of America....
after the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
. Its failure to get approval of the United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
meant the transactions were illegal. The Treaty of Canandaigua holds that only the United States government may enter into legal discussions with the Haudenosaunee.
In 1981, the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma
Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma
The Seneca–Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma is a federally recognized tribe of Seneca and Cayuga people, based in Oklahoma, United States. They have a tribal jurisdictional area in the northeast corner of Oklahoma are headquartered in Grove, Oklahoma.- History :...
was added as a plaintiff in the claim. A jury trial on damages was held from January 18-February 17, 2000. The jury returned a verdict in favor of the Cayuga Indian Nation of New York and the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma, finding current fair market value damages of $35 million and total fair rental value damages of $3.5 million. The jury gave the state a credit for the payments it had made to the Cayugas of about $1.6 million, leaving the total damages at approximately $36.9 million. On October 2, 2001, the court issued a decision and order which awarded a prejudgment interest award of $211 million and a total award of $247.9 million.
Both the plaintiffs and the defendants appealed this award. On June 28, 2005, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals...
rendered a decision that reversed the judgment of the trial court. It ruled in favor of the defendants, based on the doctrine of laches
Laches (equity)
Laches is an "unreasonable delay pursuing a right or claim...in a way that prejudices the [opposing] party" When asserted in litigation, it is an equitable defense, or doctrine...
. Essentially the court ruled that the plaintiffs had taken too long to present their case, when it might have been equitably settled earlier.
The Cayuga Indian Nation of New York sought review of this decision by the Supreme Court of the United States
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
which was [ denied on May 15, 2006]. The time in which the Cayuga Indian Nation could ask the U.S. Supreme Court to rehear the case has passed.
Current population
In 1995 there were nearly 450 Cayuga members in New York, and today there are about 4,892 combined members of the Cayuga-Seneca Nation in Oklahoma.
The total number of Iroquois is difficult to establish. About 45,000 Iroquois lived in Canada in 1995. Iroquois tribal registrations in the United States in 1995 numbered about 30,000. In the 2000 US Census, 80,822 people in the United States claimed Iroquois ethnicity, with 45,217 claiming only Iroquois background.
External links
- Cayuga Nation
- Dr. Bob Spigelman, "How the Sullivan-Clinton Campaign Dispossessed the Cayuga", Sullivan-Clinton Campaign: Then and Now