Kanadaseaga (aka Kanadesaga or Kanatasaka or Kanadasaga or Canasadego or Ganûndase?'ge? or Seneca Castle or Canadasaga), was a major village, perhaps a capital, of the

Seneca nation 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 ...

of the

Iroquois The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...

Confederacy in west-central

New York State New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. stat ...

, United States. It was located between the northern ends of

Seneca Seneca may refer to: People and language * Seneca (name), a list of people with either the given name or surname * Seneca people, one of the six Iroquois tribes of North America ** Seneca language, the language of the Seneca people Places Extrat ...

and

Canandaigua Canandaigua (; ''Utaʼnaráhkhwaʼ'' in Tuscarora) is a city in Ontario County, New York, United States. Its population was 10,545 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Ontario County; some administrative offices are at the county compl ...

lakes, one and a half miles northwest of the present-day city of

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

in the township of

. The village was situated on both sides of Kanadaseaga Creek. The Seneca established this village at least as early as 1687. It was likely established by the former residents of

Ganondagan Ganondagan State Historic Site, (pronounced ga·NON·da·gan) also known as Boughton Hill, is a Native American historic site in Ontario County, New York in the United States. Location of the largest Seneca village of the 17th century, the site ...

, after its destruction by the French. Around 1754, the Senecas moved north from the nearby New Ganechstage village (and prior to that, the White Springs village) to a settlement that would become known as Kanadesaga. A blockhouse was built here in 1756 by

Sir William Johnson Sir William Johnson, 1st Baronet of New York ( – 11 July 1774), was a British Army officer and colonial administrator from Ireland. As a young man, Johnson moved to the Province of New York to manage an estate purchased by his uncle, Royal Na ...

, the remains of which were in existence in 1779. During the Revolutionary War, the British added defensive fortifications against the Americans. The village contained about sixty well-built houses. Long known for being one of the most powerful Iroquois towns, it was destroyed by the American army

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, on September 9, during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. American army forces were seeking to punish the Iroquois for their raids and attacks on frontier settlements, especially in the Mohawk, Cherry and Schoharie valleys. 175px, Marker, near Geneva, NY Front view

References

{{authority control Iroquois populated places 1779 disestablishments in the United States Pre-historic cities in the United States Former populated places in New York (state) Former Native American populated places in the United States Native American history of New York (state)