Description
The Cayuga ("People of the Great Swamp") are one of the five original constituents of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois), a confederacy of Native Americans in New York. The Cayuga homeland lies in the Finger Lakes region along Cayuga Lake, between their league neighbors, the Onondaga to the east and the Seneca to the west. Political relations between the Cayuga, the British, and the Thirteen Colonies during the American Revolution were complicated and variable, with Cayuga warriors 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. ?Following the Revolutionary War, in 1779, General George Washington commissioned General John Sullivan and James Clinton to destroy the Cayugas and other members of the Haudenosaunee. These two Generals led 6,200 troops into many villages and crop fields of the Cayugas and the Haudenosaunee and destroyed them. There was no complete victory over the Haudenosaunee.
Language
Cayuga is a Northern Iroquoian language of the Iroquois Proper (also known as "Five Nations Iroquois") subfamily, and is spoken on Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation, Ontario, by around 240 Cayuga people, and on the Cattaraugus Reservation, New York, by fewer than 10.
Culture
The Cayuga Nation has a maternal ancestry, which means Cayuga mothers will have children of her same clan. Each Clan has a Clan Mother, a Chief or sub Chief or a Seat Warmer. The Haudenosaunee have ceremonies throughout the year representing the 13 moons throughout the year. The clans are represented by birds and animals and are divided into the three elements: water, land and air. The bear, wolf and deer represent the land element, the turtle, eel and beaver represent the water element and the snipe, hawk and heron represent the air element. Cayuga Nation has five clans. Each member of the Cayuga Nation belongs to one of these clans. The Cayuga Nation has a maternal ancestry, which means Cayuga mothers will have children of her same clan. Each Clan has a Clan Mother, a Chief or sub Chief or a Seat Warmer.