Wa-o-wa-wa-na-onk or Peter Wilson (died 1871, alternate spellings are Waowawanaonk, Wau-wah-wa-na-onk, and De jih'-non-da-weh-hoh) was a

Cayuga Cayuga often refers to: * Cayuga people, a native tribe to North America, part of the Iroquois Confederacy * Cayuga language, the language of the Cayuga Cayuga may also refer to: Places Canada * Cayuga, Ontario United States * Cayuga, Illinois ...

physician and possible chief. His name translates roughly to "They Heard His Voice" or "The Pacificator." Wa-o-wa-wa-na-onk was raised on the Seneca Buffalo Reservation and was educated in

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

schools on the reservation. He graduated with a medical degree from

Geneva Medical College Geneva Medical College was founded on September 15, 1834, in Geneva, New York, as a separate department (college) of Geneva College, currently known as Hobart and William Smith Colleges. In 1871, the medical school was transferred to Syracuse ...

in 1844. He was one of the first Native Americans to earn a medical degree. Wa-o-wa-wa-na-onk also worked as an interpreter on the

Cattaraugus Reservation Cattaraugus Reservation is an Indian reservation of the federally recognized Seneca Nation of Indians, formerly part of the Iroquois Confederacy located in New York. As of the 2000 census, the Indian reservation had a total population of 2,412. Its ...

. Some records list him as a chief, or a "Grand Sachem," but it was uncertain if he officially held the title. Wa-o-wa-wa-na-onk was a signatory on a fraudulent land treaty executed in 1838 and signed as a chief. He worked with the Quakers to have the treaty reversed, creating another treaty in 1842. On behalf of the Cayuga people in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, he wrote a letter to the Governor of New York in 1843. In 1846, Wa-o-wa-wa-na-onk spoke to the

New York Historical Society The New-York Historical Society is an American history museum and library in New York City, along Central Park West between 76th and 77th Streets, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The society was founded in 1804 as New York's first museum. ...

about regaining Iroquois land lost through fraud. Wa-o-wa-wa-na-onk petitioned the New York State Legislature in 1853 in order to address the issue of State compensation to the Cayuga's loss of land. He continued to seek the case in 1861 after the state did not appropriate funds for the Cayuga. He often spoke to different groups in New York in order to obtain allies in his cause to maintain the homeland of both the Seneca and Cayuga people. He also urged groups to support women's suffrage.

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Speech of Wa-o-wa-wa-na-onk, an Indian chief
{{Authority control Cayuga people Native American physicians Date of birth missing 1871 deaths Geneva Medical College alumni 19th-century American physicians Physicians from New York (state) Native American suffragists