Prior to the European invasion of eastern North America, Native Americans lived in the Finger Lakes area of New York for more than 10,000 years. The last Indian culture to live in the area was the Iroquois nation. The Iroquois tribes included the Seneca and Cayuga tribes for which the two largest lakes are named. The Tuscarora also lived in the region and the Onondaga and Oneida tribes lived in the east where you find their namesake lakes. The Mohawks lived further east. Being one of the most powerful Indian nations during colonial times, the Iroquois kept European colonization out of the Finger Lakes for almost two hundred years after first contact.

During the Revolutionary War some of the tribes sided with the Colonists and others sided with the British.

This caused civil war among the Iroquois and constant raids on the European settlers. These raids went on until 1779. In 1779, George Washington assigned two generals, Sullivan and Clinton to mount a military campaign against the Iroquois tribes fighting with the British.. This campaign ruined the Iroquois nation; 40 Iroquois villages were destroyed and hundreds of acres of cultivated land was also devastated. After the Revolutionary War, the Iroquois were assigned to reservations.

South of Rochester in the town of Victor, lies Ganondagan (ga-NON-da-gan), the site of a Native American community that was a flourishing, vibrant center for the Seneca people that were part of many Indian nations that occupied the North American woodlands during the early seventeenth century. The Iroquois-speaking peoples included the Huron, Cherokee, Neutrals, Tuscarora, Wenro, Erie, and Susquehannock, as well as the political confederates known as the Five Nations Iroquois. The Seneca were part of the Five Nations Iroquois which also included the Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, and the Mohawk. The French called these nations the Iroquois, the English referred to them as the Five Nations, but they called themselves Haudenosaunee. In 1714, the Tuscarora came from what is now North Carolina to join the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, and became the Confederacy of the Six Nations.

Americans owe a debt to the Seneca people. Their democratic ideals served as an inspiration for the U.S. Constitution. The Seneca’s Matriarchal Society helped inspire the 1848 declaration of sentiments that eventually lead to a woman’s right to vote. The Seneca also developed one of the world’s most basic and healthy cuisines using natural foods that are still popular today, as are many of the natural medicines they used to treat illnesses. From politics and the environmental movement to food and medicine, the roots of contemporary society can be traced back to this historic site in Victor, New York.

The Haudenosaunee Confederacy was inspired by Huron brave (A Huron man who arrived among the Mohawks speaking of peace and an ordered society.) He was called the Peacemaker. It was his vision of a Great Peace which brought together the formerly warring nations of the Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, and Mohawk. The nations agreed to live peacefully under an imaginary longhouse that stretched across New York State from the home of the Senecas, the Keepers of the Western Door, to the home of the Mohawks, the Keepers of the Eastern Door. They would meet in the center of their territory at the home of the Onondagas, Keepers of the Central Fire. The central fire continues to burn today in Onondaga territory.

A single Haudenosaunee longhouse was home to several families, all belonging to the same clan. Each longhouse measured approximately 20 feet wide and from 40 to 200 feet long, depending upon the number of families living within it. The interior of the longhouse was divided into sections. Two-tiered bunks lined each wall. The first tier was used as sleeping quarters for one family. The upper tiers were used as storage for that family. Each pair of families shared a central fire.

Construction of a new longhouse began in the spring. First, a frame was built. Four large posts were sunk into the ground to serve as sturdy corner posts. Then young elm trees were cut for the frame of the longhouse. Once the frame was completed, strips of elm bark were cut to serve as siding. These bark strips were lashed to the frame using rope made of bark fiber. The only openings in the longhouse were the two doors, one on each end, and the smoke holes in the roof above each of the fires.On July 25, 1998 the dedication of the long-awaited Bark Longhouse at Ganondagan State Historic Site finally took place. The Bark Longhouse represents the return of a traditional Seneca dwelling to a site razed in 1687 by the French Marquis de Denonville. The Longhouse is now furnished as closely as possible to an original 1670 longhouse, complete with replicas of European and colonial trade goods and items created and crafted by the Seneca. Also in the longhouse are crops, herbs, and medicines grown, harvested, and preserved by the Seneca who lived atop the hill at Ganondagan.
The Bark Longhouse will provide opportunities to educate visitors about Haudenosaunee life and culture, both in the 17th century and the present.

Excerpts of this article were reprinted from the web site “The Friends Of Ganondagan” www.ganondagan.org/home.html. The Friends of Ganondagan are Native Americans and non-natives who share a common understanding of the significance of the past at the site.

In 1714, the Tuscarora came from what is now North Carolina to join the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, and became the Confederacy of the Six Nations.

Americans owe a debt to the Seneca people. Their democratic ideals served as an inspiration for the U.S. Constitution. The Seneca’s Matriarchal Society helped inspire the 1848 declaration of sentiments that eventually lead to a woman’s right to vote. The Seneca also developed one of the world’s most basic and healthy cuisines using natural foods that are still popular today, as are many of the natural medicines they used to treat illnesses. From politics and the environmental movement to food and medicine, the roots of contemporary society can be traced back to this historic site in Victor, New York.

The Haudenosaunee Confederacy was inspired by Huron brave (A Huron man who arrived among the Mohawks speaking of peace and an ordered society.) He was called the Peacemaker. It was his vision of a Great Peace which brought together the formerly warring nations of the Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, and Mohawk. The nations agreed to live peacefully under an imaginary longhouse that stretched across New York State from the home of the Senecas, the Keepers of the Western Door, to the home of the Mohawks, the Keepers of the Eastern Door. They would meet in the center of their territory at the home of the Onondagas, Keepers of the Central Fire. The central fire continues to burn today in Onondaga territory.

A single Haudenosaunee longhouse was home to several families, all belonging to the same clan. Each longhouse measured approximately 20 feet wide and from 40 to 200 feet long, depending upon the number of families living within it. The interior of the longhouse was divided into sections. Two-tiered bunks lined each wall. The first tier was used as sleeping quarters for one family. The upper tiers were used as storage for that family. Each pair of families shared a central fire.

Construction of a new longhouse began in the spring. First, a frame was built. Four large posts were sunk into the ground to serve as sturdy corner posts. Then young elm trees were cut for the frame of the longhouse. Once the frame was completed, strips of elm bark were cut to serve as siding. These bark strips were lashed to the frame using rope made of bark fiber. The only openings in the longhouse were the two doors, one on each end, and the smoke holes in the roof above each of the fires.On July 25, 1998 the dedication of the long-awaited Bark Longhouse at Ganondagan State Historic Site finally took place. The Bark Longhouse represents the return of a traditional Seneca dwelling to a site razed in 1687 by the French Marquis de Denonville. The Longhouse is now furnished as closely as possible to an original 1670 longhouse, complete with replicas of European and colonial trade goods and items created and crafted by the Seneca. Also in the longhouse are crops, herbs, and medicines grown, harvested, and preserved by the Seneca who lived atop the hill at Ganondagan.
The Bark Longhouse will provide opportunities to educate visitors about Haudenosaunee life and culture, both in the 17th century and the present.

Excerpts of this article were reprinted from the web site “The Friends Of Ganondagan” www.ganondagan.org/home.html. The Friends of Ganondagan are Native Americans and non-natives who share a common understanding of the significance of the past at the site.