"Last year, I ambitiously sought to explore every trail in Ithaca. On one of those hikes, right around the corner from my house, I stopped to read a historical marker that stood at the trail head. Like a small tombstone for a mass demise, the sign marked the area that was once an Indian village across from Buttermilk Falls. I was about to tread upon sacred ground.

The Haudenosaunee, �The People of The Longhouse�, often referred to using the French term �Iroquois�, established themselves at least 1000 years ago on lands that stretched across twenty-five million acres of what is now New York State. The �longhouse� was the traditional Haudenosaunee dwelling of two or more matrilineal families and symbolically represents the great �family� of The Six Nations. United under Gawyehnehshehgowa, �The Great Law of Peace�, the Mohawk, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, Oneida, and later, Tuscarora, formed a powerful and efficient participatory democracy; one of the oldest surviving in the world. Their political integrity, renowned warrior skills, intimate knowledge of the lands, and sheer size made them both a feared enemy and a cherished ally.

The Cayuga (Gayogoho:no or People of the Marsh) were particularly recognized among other nations for having wise sachems (representatives in the Haudenosaunee Government), valiant warriors, and peaceful relationships with other tribes and the Europeans. Their lands spread around Cayuga Lake extending from Lake Ontario south almost to the Pennsylvania border and therefore were considered �The Keepers of the Southern Door� of the symbolic longhouse. Ithaca was once their cherished hunting and fishing grounds."

Get the Story:
Kristina Murty: Treading upon sacred ground (The Ithaca Journal 11/23)