Onondaga was a village that served as the capital of the Iroquois League and the primary settlement of the Onondaga nation. It was the meeting place of the

Iroquois Grand Council The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian Peoples, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Indigenous confederations in North America, confederacy of First Nations in Canada, First Natio ...

. The clan mothers named the men representing the clans at village and tribal councils and appointed the 49 sachems who met here periodically as the ruling council for the confederated Five Nations. The location of the village changed periodically. In 1600, it was located near present

Cazenovia, New York Cazenovia is an incorporated Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Madison County, New York. The population was 6,740 at the time of the 2020 census. The town is named after Theophilus Cazenove , Theophile Cazenove, the ''Agent Gener ...

. From 1609 to 1615, it was situated the site of present-day

Pompey, New York Pompey is a town in the southeast part of Onondaga County, New York. The population was 7,080 at the time of the 2010 census. The town was named after the Roman general and political leader Pompey by a late 18th-century clerk interested in the Clas ...

.Francis Jennings, ed., ''The History and culture of Iroquois diplomacy: an interdisciplinary guide to the treaties of the Six Nations and their league'' (Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press, 1985; ), 221. After that, Onondaga was located at several sites near present Delphi Falls, New York, until 1640, when it moved to what developed as present-day

Manlius, New York Manlius is a town in Onondaga County, east of the city of Syracuse, New York, United States. The population was 33,712 at the 2020 census, making it the third largest suburb in metropolitan Syracuse. In 2005, the town was ranked 98th on CNN's ...

. In 1720, it was moved to Onondaga Creek. After many Onondaga warrior bands had sided with the British in the American Revolutionary War, the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies (the Thirteen Colonies) in the Revolutionary-era United States. It was formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, and was establis ...

attacked the village of Onondaga in an expedition led by Col. Goose Van Schaick. In April 1779, the Onondaga of the village, mostly older men, women and children, fled as the army approached. American troops methodically destroyed the abandoned settlement, razing about 50 houses along Onondaga Creek and burning winter stores.Robert Steven Grumet, ''Historic Contact: Indian People and Colonists in today's northeastern United States in the Sixteenth through Eighteenth Centuries'' (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1995; ), 393. The present meeting place of the Iroquois Grand Council is on the Onondaga Reservation in New York.

References

{{NewYork-stub Former national capitals Former Native American populated places in the United States Iroquois populated places Onondaga Former populated places in Onondaga County, New York 1779 disestablishments in the United States Cazenovia, New York