Canawaugus (or Conawagus, or Ca-noh-wa-gas, or Conewaugus) () was a Seneca Indian village. The village was located on the west side of the

Genesee River The Genesee River is a tributary of Lake Ontario flowing northward through the Twin Tiers of Pennsylvania and New York in the United States. The river provided the original power for the Rochester area's 19th century mills and still provides h ...

, "about a mile above the ford", on the eastern edge of the Town of Caledonia. It was nearly opposite of the Avon

sulphur springs Mineral springs are naturally occurring springs that produces hard water, water that contains dissolved minerals. Salts, sulfur compounds, and gases are among the substances that can be dissolved in the spring water during its passage under ...

. The name (translated as "Cattaraugus" in other

Iroquoian languages The Iroquoian languages are a language family of indigenous peoples of North America. They are known for their general lack of labial consonants. The Iroquoian languages are polysynthetic and head-marking. As of 2020, all surviving Iroquoian ...

) means "stinking waters" because of the sulphur. Canawaugus was one of the most populous of the Seneca villages, with a population approaching 1000 people. The Seneca religious leader

Handsome Lake Handsome Lake ( Cayuga language: Sganyadái:yo, Seneca language: Sganyodaiyo) (Θkanyatararí•yau• in Tuscarora) (1735 – 10 August 1815) was a Seneca religious leader of the Iroquois people. He was a half-brother to Cornplanter, a Seneca ...

was born here about 1735.

Governor Blacksnake Tah-won-ne-ahs or Thaonawyuthe (born between 1737 and 1760, died December 26, 1859), known in English as either Chainbreaker to his own people or Governor Blacksnake to the European settlers, was a Seneca war chief and sachem. Along with other I ...

moved here shortly after his birth.

Cornplanter John Abeel III (born between 1732 and 1746–February 18, 1836), known as Gaiänt'wakê (''Gyantwachia'' – "the planter") or Kaiiontwa'kon (''Kaintwakon'' – "By What One Plants") in the Seneca language and thus generally known as Cornplant ...

was born here around 1750. It is unclear whether or not the village was destroyed in the

Sullivan Expedition The 1779 Sullivan Expedition (also known as the Sullivan-Clinton Expedition, the Sullivan Campaign, and the Sullivan-Clinton Genocide) was a United States military campaign during the American Revolutionary War, lasting from June to October 1779 ...

of 1779. Canawaugus was one of the 11 reservations retained by the Seneca tribe in the

Treaty of Big Tree The Treaty of Big Tree was a formal treaty signed in 1797 between the Seneca Nation and the United States, in which the Seneca relinquished their rights to nearly all of their traditional homeland in New York State—nearly 3.5 million acres. In ...

in 1797. It sold the reservation to the Ogden Land Company in 1826. The

Seneca Nation of Indians The Seneca Nation of Indians is a federally recognized Seneca tribe based in western New York. They are one of three federally recognized Seneca entities in the United States, the others being the Tonawanda Band of Seneca (also in western New Y ...

claims that the 1826 sale was never legal because it would have required a treaty be ratified by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

, and that the Canawaugus reservation was never disestablished. The Ogden Land Company would later purchase the Senecas' remaining lands in the Second Treaty of Buffalo Creek in 1838, before returning the Allegany, Cattaraugus and Oil Spring reservations in the Third Treaty of Buffalo Creek in 1842. In December 2022, the Seneca Nation of Indians purchased a plot that had been on the Canawaugus reservation and claimed sovereignty over it as a continuation of the original Canawaugus reservation.

References

{{reflist Iroquois populated places Livingston County, New York Native American history