Research Guides: The Land You’re On: Acknowledging the Haudenosaunee: Episode 1: The Land Acknowledgment

The Land Acknowledgment

How can you acknowledge what you don't understand? Neal Powless defines key terms in the Syracuse University Land Acknowledgment.

Episode 1 Transcript
The Land You're On: Acknowledging the Haudenosaunee, transcript of Episode 1: The Land Acknowledgement

Syracuse University Land Acknowlegement Statement

We acknowledge with respect the Onondaga Nation, firekeepers of the Haudenosaunee, the Indigenous people on whose ancestral lands Syracuse University now stands.

The Flag of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy as Representation of The Land You're On

Left: The flag of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy flying at Syracuse University; photo by Sreynoch Van. Right: The flag of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy; Source: Added Wikipedia users @Himasaram and @Zscout370c. Public Domain, Wikipedia Link.

The Haudenosaunee Flag and Its Representation of the Land You're On

The flag of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy derives from the Hiawatha Wampum Belt, which symbolizes the original Five Nations of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy—the Mohawk Nation, the Oneida Nation, the Onondaga Nation, the Cayuga Nation, and the Seneca Nation—moving right to left across the flag, representing the Nations' geographic position moving east to west. The confederacy dates its formation among those five nations to have taken place over 1,000 years ago. In addition to those five Nations, since 1722, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy has include a sixth nation, the Tuscarora Nation, whom the flag also represents as part of the Six Nations of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy.

The geographic locations are symbolized in the form of a Ganoñhsésgeh, or longhouse, the traditional form of shelter of the nations of the confederacy, to represent the nations' status as forming a cohesive unit, symbolically under one roof. The word Haudenosaunee itself means "People of the Longhouse". At the ends of the flag stand the Mohawk Nation, as the Eastern Doorkeeper, and the Seneca Nation, the Western Doorkeeper, whose permissions were required to enter Haudenosaunee territories, respectively from the east or west. The Oneida and Cayuga Nations are within the longhouse on the east and west sides, respectively.

In the center of the flag, is a symbol that represents the Onondaga Nation, whose lands serve as the capital of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. The symbol can be interpreted in multiple ways. It symbolizes the Tree of Peace, where the nations made peace and buried their weapons upon forming the confederacy. It also represents a flame in the center of the longhouse and the Onondaga Nation's status as the Firekeepers of the Haudenosaunee, who are obligated to keep the fire burning for the confederacy to assemble. Finally, if the flag is inverted, the symbol resembles a heart and the Onondaga Nation's location at the heart of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and its territory.

Source: The Onondaga Nation: https://www.onondaganation.org/

The Taking of the Onondaga Nation's Land

The American Revolutionary War and Its Aftermaths for the Onondaga Nation

In 1779, at the height of the American Revolutionary War, George Washington tasked Major General John Sullivan and Brigadier General James Clinton with launching a campaign against the Haudenosaunee Nations that had allied with the British. This included the Onondaga Nation, as well as Mohawk, Cayuga, and Seneca Nations; the Oneida and Tuscarora Nations largely allied themselves with the United States Continental Army. The troops under Sullivan and Clinton burned Haudenosaunee settlements to the ground.

Central New York Military Tract map drawn by Simeon DeWitt and colored in by Wikipedia user @Nonenmac. Public Domain. Wikipedia Link.

At the conclusion of the war, the land taken by the United States from the Haudenosaunee Confederacy was turned into the Military Tract of Central New York and largely given to veterans of the Continental Army in return for their service to the United States in the American Revolutionary War. Some territory became reservations for nations of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, including the Onondaga Nation territory (in yellow in the map above), that occupied much of what is now Onondaga County.

Most of that land was bargained away in illegal treaties with the State of New York by Ephraim Webster, a white settler who befriended the Onondaga Nation and then proceeded to ostensibly negotiate on their behalf, illegally selling most of the original Onondaga Reservation until all that remained was the territory that constitutes the Onondaga Nation today.

The names of the individuals responsible for taking and appropriating the lands of the Onondaga Nation continue to be present in the names of area locations such as Webster Pond in Syracuse (named after Ephraim Webster); Clinton Square in Syracuse (named after James Clinton's son); the town of DeWitt, New York (named after a cousin of Simeon DeWitt, who was also a nephew of James Clinton); and Sullivan County, New York, and the Town of Sullivan, New York (named after John Sullivan).

Learn More

Websites

Then and Now: Sullivan-Clinton Campaign
A multimedia website with maps, images and videos about the Sullivan-Clinton campaign against the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. Created by the Indigenous Values Initiative, an organization dedicated to articulating, disseminating and promoting values expressed by the leadership of the Onondaga Nation.
U.S. National Parks Service Chronicle of the Sullivan-Clinton Campaign
This page from the U.S. National Parks Service chronicles the major events of the Sullivan-Clinton campaign that led to the destruction of settlements of nations of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and the displacement of the people of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy's member nations.

Books

And Grandma Said by Tom Porter (Sakokweniónkwas)
Call Number: E99.I7 P676 2008
ISBN: 9781436335669
Publication Date: 2008-07-09
Raised in the home of a grandmother who spoke only Mohawk, Sakokweniónkwas (Tom Porter) was asked from a young age, to translate for his elders. After such intensive exposure to his grandparents' generation, he is able to recall in vivid detail, the stories and ceremonies of Haudenosaunee culture. After devoting most of his adult life to revitalizing the culture and language of his people, Tom records here, the teachings of a generation of elders who have been gone for more than twenty years, working his way chronologically through the major events embedded in Haudenosaunee oral history and ceremony, from the story of creation, to the beginnings of the clan system, to the four most sacred rituals, to the beginnings of democracy, brought to his people by the Peacemaker.
To Become a Human Being by Leon Shenandoah and Steve Wall
Call Number: E98.P5 S54 2001
ISBN: 9781571743411
Publication Date: 2002-03-01
To Become a Human Being--to rise to an expanded level of consciousness by living on the Earth as it was intended for us to live--captures the essence of Native American wisdom, in the words of Tadodaho Chief Leon Shenandoah, high chief among the Six Nations Iroquois Confederacy, and revered spiritual leader. Using tapes of conversations made over a thirteen-year period, the book describes Chief Shenandoah's message for humanity.
Conspiracy of Interests by Laurence M. Hauptman
Call Number: E99.I7 H28 2001
ISBN: 9780815607120
Publication Date: 2001-04-01
The period between the American Revolution and the middle nineteenth century dramatically changed New York State and the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. Burgeoning Upstate metropolises--Utica, Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo--were founded and helped make New York State one of the fastest-growing regions in the country. This book documents how state transportation interests, land speculating companies, and national defense policies worked to undermine the Haudenosaunee, including efforts by officials in Albany to displace and exercise jurisdiction and taxation power over the peoples of the confederacy.
Neighbor to neighbor, nation to nation : readings about the relationship of the Onondaga Nation with Central New York, USA by Neighbors of the Onondaga Nation
Call Number: E99.O58 N4 2014
Publication Date: Revised & expanded 2014
A booklet held at the Syracuse University Special Collections Research Center that is dedicated to the continuing friendship between the peoples of the Haudenosaunee and Central, New York.
The Divided Ground by Alan Taylor
Call Number: E99.I7 T299 2006
ISBN: 9780679454717
Publication Date: 2006-02-21
Told through the lens of a severed friendship between a Mohawk man and a colonial clergyman, this book examines the precarious position of Indigenous nations that were caught in the middle of the geopolitics along the border between British Canada and the newly independent United States, and the efforts by those nations to stave off colonial settlers' interests in their land.

Building on Land Acknowedgements with Concrete Actions

General Guiding Principles

Beyond Land Acknowledgment: A Guide from the Native Governance Center
Land Acknowledgements represent an important first step in rectifying the injustices committed against Indigenous Peoples. However, they need to followed through with actions.
The Native Governance Center (an organization that helps build the capacity of Indigenous Nations for advocacy) offers suggestions for actions communities can take to build upon Land Acknowledgements to generate concrete results for Indigenous Peoples.

Efforts by Indigenous Students and Alumni at Syracuse University

Undergraduate and Graduate Indigenous Student Concerns and Solutions, December 3, 2019
In reaction to the bias incidents of 2019 that galvanized the #NotAgainSU movement on the Syracuse University campus, Indigenous students and alumni submitted an outline of their concerns and proposed solutions for improving the campus climate for Indigenous students. This is the initial document the students and alumni created and submitted in December 2019.
Pledged Responses by Syracuse University to the Undergraduate and Graduate Indigenous Student Concerns and Solutions
These are the details of the version of the concerns and recommendations presented by Indigenous students of Syracuse University that was signed by Chancellor Kent Syverud on Oct. 8, 2020.