Onondaga Lake as Sacred Space and Contested Space
Abstract
Onondaga Lake, located in what is now Central New York, is the sacred place of the founding of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. It is where the Peacemaker paddled his stone canoe and established the Great Law of Peace that has stood for centuries. In 1654 Simon Le Moyne, S. J. arrived on the shores of Onondaga Lake. In 1656 the French government, in accordance with the Christian Doctrine of Discovery, granted the Jesuits rights to the lake and the surrounding land, much prized for its abundant salt springs. They built a mission to lay claim to both the land and the souls who occupied it. It is this moment that sets off the contest for control of the lake and the history. The lake remains the sacred center of the Confederacy, which has survived despite attempts to eradicate it. The future of both is dependent on the recognition of its sacred status by those who have seen the lake as a source of profit and power as well as a convenient dumping ground. This is the story of that struggle.
Keywords
Sacred Space; Onondaga Lake
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Le Moyne College United States
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7198-0083
Holly Anne Rine holds a BA in History and an MA in History and Historic Preservation. After working as a professional Historic Preservationist, she earned her PhD from the University of New Hampshire in 2004. In addition to teaching World Civilizations and American History, she has developed courses on Colonial America and Revolutionary America as well as Native American History. Her research explores intercultural contact in the Hudson River Valley in the seventeenth century, connecting those events with others further removed from the region. By making these connections, Rine’s work demonstrates how seemingly localized struggles for power had far reaching consequences including the creation of a new diplomatic landscape of European and Indian affairs that was centered at Albany. Her interpretations of these cross cultural experiences maintains a focus on the active roles and motivations of the various American Indian groups who helped to shape the experiences and development of seventeenth-century North America.
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