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 A medical degree is a professional degree admitted to those who have passed coursework in the fields of medicine and/or surgery from an accredited medical school. Obtaining a degree in medicine allows for the recipient to continue on into special ...

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 Sachems and sagamores are paramount chiefs among the Algonquians or other Native American tribes of northeastern North America, including the Iroquois. The two words are anglicizations of cognate terms (c. 1622) from different Eastern Al ...

," 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 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 ...

land lost through fraud. Wa-o-wa-wa-na-onk petitioned the

New York State Legislature The New York State Legislature consists of the two houses that act as the state legislature of the U.S. state of New York: The New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly. The Constitution of New York does not designate an official ...

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 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 Cayuga people. He also urged groups to support

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...

References

External links

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