ON THE TRAIL OF THE IROQUOIS

Summer Travel Special

On the Trail of the Iroquois

By Rachel Dickinson

The interior of the Seneca Bark Longhouse at Ganondagan State Historic Site.The longhouse is 60 feet long by 20 feet wide. Its dimensions are based on a 17th-century longhouse excavated in 1965.

Beautiful Upstate New York is the traditional home of the Iroquois. Once a confederation of five Indian nations—the Mohawk, Cayuga, Oneida, Onondaga, and Seneca (later, six, when the Tuscarora joined)—Iroquois villages and towns stretched from present day Quebec City to Warren, Pennsylvania, and from Albany to Toronto. Today, a significant number of the Iroquois remain in New York State, while others reside in various parts of the United States and Canada.

There are prettier ways to cross the state than I-90 (often referred to as “the Thruway”), but it will take you through the traditional home territories of the five nations—Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca—in an expeditious fashion.

Begin at the New York State Museum in Albany, which has an extensive collection of Iroquois artifacts. A significant portion of the first floor of the museum is given over to an explanation of historic Native American culture in the state. In a series of life-sized dioramas, visitors learn about many aspects of Iroquoian life from hunting to agriculture to social structure. Each diorama has a touch screen that gives you a more in-depth explanation of a particular artifact. For example, I knew about the “three sisters” system of agriculture (planting corn, bean, and squash together) but seeing hills oflife-sized stalks of corn with beans growing up around the stalks holding them upright and then squash plants trailing about between the hills made me want to go home and replant my garden.

The Iroquois Longhouse is in the Mohawk Iroquois Village at the New York State Museum.For every hour spent building the longhouse,probably five hours were spent on the collection and preparation of its raw materials.

The Fenimore Art Museum’s Thaw Gallery boasts an impressive North American Indian collection that is arranged into six major cultural areas. The National Shrine of Kateri Tekakwitha and the Mohawk-Caughnawaga Museum are located in Fonda,New York.The shrine and museum are housed in a 200-year-old barn.

A very impressive replica of a Mohawk longhouse stands in a back corner of the museum. The Iroquois built longhouses that accommodated extended matrilineal families and served as sites for ceremonial gatherings. The Seneca-Onondaga word for the Iroquois is Haudenosaunee, or “the People building a Longhouse.” As you enter the longhouse, it takes a minute for your eyes to adjust to the dim light and then you begin to notice details— gourds hanging from the sapling frame, built-in sleeping bunks along the sides, the fire pit placed beneath the opening in the roof, the framework lashed together with bark strips, pelts drying—and you’re drawn to the recorded voice of an old woman telling stories. You stand and listen, like generations of Iroquois listened in the past. Heading west on the Thruway, take a detour onto I-88 west, which is lightly traveled and one of the loveliest routes in New York State. As you first get on to I-88, look to your right and you’ll see the rounded peaks of the southern Adirondack Mountains. Get off at exit 22 and head toward Howe Caverns, which you’ll see written in white on the side of the hill. Follow the signs for the caverns—the Iroquois Indian Museum is on the right near the entrance to the caverns.

The museum’s mission is to educate the public about Iroquois art, culture, and history. The design of the building is reminiscent of a longhouse. They offer a wide range of programs and special events including two annual Iroquois festivals, which bookend the summer on Memorial Day and Labor Day. On these days visitors can see Iroquois social dancing and storytelling, as well as eat Iroquois food. Works of many of the Iroquois artists and craftspeople are also on display. The museum sits on a 45-acre nature park with three trails that lead through the woods.

Travel further west on I-88 and follow the signs for Cooperstown. The Farmer’s Museum is a collection of mid-19th-century buildings arranged in a village setting complete with costumed interpreters. You can watch artisans make wallpaper or weave a coverlet or throw together a broom. There’s a fabulous collection of heirloom

breeds of sheep, cattle, and poultry roaming the grounds. Across the street is the Fenimore Art Museum, which boasts the Eugene and Clare Thaw Collection (see Events, p. 5). This collection contains more than 800 American Indian objects, including some impressive Iroquois artifacts, dating from pre-contact times. In the middle of town you can get your baseball history fix at the National Baseball

Hall of Fame and Museum.

Take scenic Route 80 north, cross the Mohawk River and head east on Route 5 along the river. About 12 miles down the road you’ll come to the National Shrine of

Kateri Tekakwitha and the Mohawk–Caughnawaga

Museum. Kateri, a Mohawk, was born in the mid-17th century and lived in the Caughnawaga village for the first 25 years of her life during which time she converted to Catholicism. In 1679 she moved to Canada, where she lived her remaining days educating children and ministering to the poor. In 1980, Pope John Paul II named Kateri “blessed,” making her the first Native American on her way to saint-

hood. She is the blessed patroness of peace and ecology.

Excavation of the Caughnawaga village began in the 1930s. Today, visitors can see the outlines of 12 longhouses and remnants of a stockade, which sit on a hill above the Mohawk-Caughnawaga Museum. The museum is housed, along with the shrine chapel, in a converted 200-year-old barn. Franciscan Friars maintain the shrine and the grounds.

Get back to the Thruway and travel west. Take the exit for Route 5 west and head toward St. Johnsville and Fort Klock. This fortified stone house was constructed in 1750 as part of a line of fortifications that stretched across the Mohawk Valley and served as protection for settlers during the French and Indian War and the War for Independence. Today, Fort Klock is designated a National Historic Landmark. This is an excellent example of a mid-18th-century fur trading post and fortified stone structure.

The house at Fort Klock has been restored and is open to the public, as are numerous outbuildings on the grounds (including an 1825 schoolhouse). The fort hosts various events during the summer months. This year is the 225th anniversary of the battles of Stone Arabia and nearby Klock’s Field, which will be re-enacted on September 24 and 25. Come and watch Loyalists, Indians, and British troops attack the Fort Klock farmhouse on their way to the Klock’s Field battle.

Return to the Thruway and travel west toward Syracuse. You’ll pass by Utica and Rome (home of Fort Stanwix), and as you near Syracuse look for exit 38. Take a right onto Route 57 to Liverpool. The museum entrance of Sainte Marie among the Iroquois is off the Onondaga Lake Parkway. This is a re-creation of the 1657 French Mission that once stood here.

Onondaga Lake is sacred to the Iroquois, for on its southern shore the five-nation confederacy began when former Onondaga chief Hiawatha persuaded Tadodaho to relinquish control over the Onondagas and allow the formation of the confederacy. Annual gatherings of all the

Fort Klock was built in 1750 and is now a National Historic Landmark. The house at Fort Klock has been restored and is open to the public. This bear effigy comb dates to the late 17th century.It was recovered from the Ganondagan State Historic Site near Victor,New York.

clan chiefs from the five nations were held in the great longhouse of the Onondaga, which was centrally located, and it was here that all important government decisions were made. Located between the French and their Indian allies to the north in Canada and the British-held colonies to the east and south, the Onondaga skillfully played the French and British against each other.

The museum at Sainte Marie among the Iroquois is filled with artifacts and interpretations of 17th-century Haudenosaunee culture, and the culture of early French missionaries. Costumed interpreters help bring the 1650s to life.

Since you’re so close to Syracuse, if you have the time and inclination to really delve into a particular aspect of native culture, you might want to check out the Onondaga Historical Association, which has extensive files and documents about the Iroquois, particularly the Onondagas, many of whom still live in the area. Some artifacts, such as projectile points, are also on display.

Get back on the Thruway and continue westward. As you approach the northern end of the Finger Lakes, you’re within a stone’s throw of the Erie Canal, the early 19thcentury canal system that crossed the state and linked Albany to Buffalo.

If you go down along the east side of Cayuga Lake, you’ll come across some historical markers near Aurora,

WHEN YOU GO

New York State Museum

Empire State Plaza, Albany, New York • (518) 474-5877 www.nysm.nysed.gov Hours: Daily from 9:30 a.m.–5 p.m. Admission: Donations accepted

Iroquois Indian Museum

324 Caverns Road,Howes Cave,New York • (518) 296-8949 www.iroquoismuseum.org Hours: April 1–June 30 Tues.–Sat. 10–5,Sun. 12–5 July 1–Labor Day Weekend Mon.–Sat. 10–5,Sun. 12–5 After Labor Day–Dec. 31 Tues.–Sat. 10–5,Sun. 12–5 Admission: Adults $7; seniors $5.50; students (12–17) $5.50; children 5–12 $4; under 5 free

The Farmers’ Museum

Cooperstown,New York • (888) 547-1450 www.farmersmuseum.org Hours: May 18–October 11 daily,10 a.m.–5 p.m. Admission: Adults (13–64) $9; seniors (65 and over) $8; juniors (7–12) $4; children free

Fenimore Art Museum

Cooperstown,New York • (888) 547-1450 www.fenimoreartmuseum.org Hours: May 18–October 11 daily,10 a.m.–5 p.m. Admission: Adults (13–64) $9; seniors $8; juniors (7–12) $4; children free

National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum

25 Main Street,Cooperstown,New York • (888) 425-5633 www.baseballhalloffame.org Hours: Memorial Day–Labor Day daily,9 a.m.–9 p.m.; Induction Weekend is July 29–August 1 Admission: Adults $9.50; seniors & members of veterans organizations $8; children (7–12) $4; under 7 free

National Shrine of Kateri Tekakwitha Mohawk—Caughnawaga Museum

P. O. Box 627,Fonda,New York (518) 853-3646 www.katerishrine.com Hours: May 1–Nov. 1 daily 9 a.m.–6 p.m. Admission: Free

Fort Klock Historic Restoration

St. Johnsville,New York • (518) 568-7779 www.threerivershms.com/fortklockweb.htm Hours: Memorial Day–mid-Oct. 9 a.m.–5 p.m. Tues.–Sun. Admission: Donations accepted

Sainte Marie among the Iroquois

Onondaga Lake Parkway,Route 370,Liverpool,New York (315) 453-6768 www.onondagacountyparks.com/sainte_marie Hours: May 7–Oct. 9,Sat.–Sun. 12–5 p.m.; Guided tours available Mon.,Wed.,Fri. from 12–2 p.m. Admission: Adults $2; seniors (62+) $1.50; children (6–17) $1; under 6 free

Onondaga Historical Association

321 Montgomery St.,Syracuse,New York • (315) 428-1864 www.cnyhistory.org Hours: Wed.–Fri. 12–4; Sat.–Sun. 11 a.m.–4 p.m. Admission: Free

Hill Cumorah Visitors’ Center

603 State Route 21,Palmyra,New York • (315) 597-5851 www.hillcumorah.org Hours: Pageant dates are July 8,9,12–16 Admission: Free

The New York State Museum offers a large collection of Iroquois artifacts.

Ganondagan State Historic Site

Victor, New York • (585) 924-5848 www.ganondagan.org Hours: Trails open year-round, 8 a.m. to sunset, weather permitting. Visitor Center: Open Tues.–Sun. 9 a.m.–5 p.m., mid-May through the end of Oct. Admission: Adults $3, children $2. Self-guided walks on trails are free.

Rochester Museum & Science Center

657 East Avenue,Rochester,New York • (585) 271-1880 www.rmsc.org Hours: Mon.–Sat.,9 a.m.–5 p.m.; Sun.,12–5 p.m. Admission: Adults $8; seniors/college students $7; children and teenagers (ages 3–18) $6; under 3 free

Strong Museum

One Manhattan Square,Rochester,New York • (585) 263-2700 www.strongmuseum.org Hours: Mon.–Thurs. 10 a.m.–5 p.m.; Fri. 10 a.m.–8 p.m; Sat. 10 a.m.–5 p.m.; Sun. 12–5 p.m. Admission: Adults $7; seniors/students $6; children 2–17 $5; under 2 free

George Eastman House

900 East Ave.,Rochester,New York • (585) 271-3361 www.eastmanhouse.org/ Hours: Tues.–Sat. 10 a.m.–5 p.m.; Thurs. 10 a.m.–8 p.m.; Sun. 1 p.m.–5 p.m.; closed Mondays Admission: Adults $8; seniors (60 and over) $6; students $5; children (5–12) $3; under 5 free

Seneca-Iroquois National Museum

814 Broad Street,Salamanca,New York • (716) 945-1760 www.senecamuseum.org Hours: April 1–mid-Oct.: Mon.–Sat. 9 a.m.–5 p.m.; Sun. 12–5 p.m. Admission: Adults $5; seniors and college students $3.50; children 7–13 $3; under 7 free

Niagara Falls State Park

Prospect Street,Niagara Falls,New York • (716) 278-1796 www.nysparks.state.ny.us Hours: Summer 8 a.m.–10 p.m.; Winter 8 a.m.–6 p.m. Admission: Free. $10 parking fee.

London Museum of Archeology

1600 Attawandaron Road,London,Ontario • (519) 473-1360 www.uwo.ca/museum Hours: May–Aug. 10 a.m.–4:30 p.m.; Village Site open May–Nov. (weather permitting) Admission: Family $8 Canadian; adults $3.50; seniors and students $2.75; children 5–12 $1.50; under 5 free

Crawford Lake Conservation Area

Milton,Ontario,Canada • (905) 854-0234,ext. 221 www.conservationhalton.on.ca Hours: Open at 10 a.m. daily. Closing time varies by season: Nov.–June 10 a.m.–4 p.m.; July and Aug. 10 a.m.–5 p.m.; Sept.–Oct. weekdays 10 a.m.–4 p.m.; weekends 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Admission: Adults (15–64) $6 Canadian; seniors $5; children (5–14) $3.50; under 5 free

Royal Ontario Museum

100 Queen’s Park,Toronto,Ontario • (416) 586-5549 www.rom.on.ca Hours: Mon.–Thurs. 10 a.m.–6 p.m.; Fri. 10 a.m.–9:30 p.m.; Sat. and Sun. 10 a.m.–6 p.m. Admission: Adults $15 Canadian; seniors and students $12; children $10

Sainte-Marie among the Hurons

Highway 12 East,Midland,Ontario • (705) 526-7838 www.saintemarieamongthehurons.on.ca Hours: May 21–Oct. 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Admission: Adults $11 Canadian; seniors (65+) $9.50; students $9.50; children (6–12) $8; under 6 free This reconstructed 15th-century Iroquoian village is found at the Crawford Lake Conservation Area.It’s one of the most accurately dated pre-contact sites in Canada.

New York, telling of the destruction of Cayuga villages in the area in 1779 when colonial troops burned Iroquois crops and villages. Although the annual council of the Iroquois confederacy had proclaimed neutrality in the Revolutionary War, the colonists didn’t trust the Iroquois, which had sided with the British against the French in the French and Indian War a decade earlier.

As you get closer to western New York, you’ll start to notice long, narrow cigar-shaped hills with snub noses on the northern end. These are drumlins—glacial deposits left behind as the last continental glacier retreated from this area over 10,000 years ago. One of these drumlins near Palmyra is where an angel revealed golden tablets to Joseph Smith and is the birthplace of the Mormon religion. If you’re lucky enough to be in the area in mid-July, visit the Hill Cumorah and see the remarkable Hill Cumorah Pageant, a reenactment of the history of Mormonism.

Your next stop is the Ganondagan State Historic Site near Victor, New York. Over 300 years ago, Ganondagan

The Royal Ontario Museum exhibits the cultural and natural history of Canada and the world.

The fortress Sainte-Marie among the Hurons was built in 1639 and burned 10 years later.It was the headquarters for the French Jesuit mission to the Huron Nation and Ontario's first European community.

was capital of the Seneca nation and home to more than 1,000 Seneca Indians. This was also the home of Jikonsasay, the first Iroquois clan mother. In 1687, a large French army led by the Governor of Canada attacked and destroyed Ganondagan.

Today, visitors can tour a full-size replica of a 17thcentury Seneca longhouse, an amazing structure with hand-hewn poles lashed together with bark strips. The exterior is also covered with bark. There are self-guided trails with plenty of signage explaining different aspects of Seneca culture including details about a huge palisaded granary that stored hundreds of thousands of bushels of corn that was destroyed by the French army. The visitor center runs a 30-minute video outlining the history of Ganondagan and offers guided tours of the site. There’s also an exhibit about the development and importance of the clan system to Haudenosaunee culture.

Find your way back to Route 96 and travel north until it crosses 490. Take Route 490 west until you see an exit for East Avenue. Take East Avenue into the center of Rochester, where you’ll find yourself traveling down a street lined with huge houses, museums, and churches. The Rochester Museum & Science Center, your next stop, will be on the left.

This wonderful museum is a goldmine of Iroquois information and artifacts—most of the second floor is dedicated to anthropology and archaeology. An ongoing exhibit, “At the Western Door: The Seneca Indians, Europeans, and Americans in the Genesee Valley,” takes you from the development of the Iroquois Confederacy to the 1780s and the dispersal of the Iroquois nation after the Revolutionary War. There are many combs, pipes, and beads (particularly wampum) on display and the explanatory text is wonderful.

Another permanent exhibit displays exquisite arts and crafts produced by the Seneca Indian Arts Project, a WPA project during the Great Depression. Another exhibit, “Face to Face,” displays artifacts from many Native American tribes including Zuni pots, Navajo blankets, Iroquois combs and pipes, Sioux clothing, and masks from Pacific Northwest tribes.

While you’re in Rochester you might want to check out the fabulous toy collection at the Strong Museum, or the George Eastman House, the home of Kodak’s founder and repository of a fine photographic collection that spans the history of the medium.

The next stop is the Allegheny Indian Reservation in Salamanca. Take the Thruway west to Buffalo then head south on 219 to Salamanca. Routes 219 and 417 merge and follow Route 417 through town to the Seneca-Iroquois National Museum (next to the Seneca Nation Library).

The museum displays traditional Iroquois materials such as baskets, corn husk dolls, beadwork, and silver work. There are several Seneca wampum belts on display as well. Of particular interest is an exhibit describing the construction of the Kinzua Dam built in 1964. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built this dam to control flooding on the Allegheny and Ohio rivers, to provide for pollution abatement, and to create recreation facilities. The dam’s reservoir flooded Seneca lands in Pennsylvania and all of New York’s Allegany Indian Reservation—more than 9,000 acres in all—and destroyed the Senecas’s spiritual center, the Cold Spring Longhouse. One hundred and thirty Indian families were forced to relocate. Congress gave the Seneca Nation $15 million for direct and indirect damages.

It’s unthinkable to visit this area without seeing spec-

This work of art,called “Turtle Island,”is made from the antler of a moose. It’s on display at the Iroquois Indian Museum in Howes Cave,New York.

A model of an Iroquoian village circa A.D.1600 is on display at the London Museum of Archaeology.The figures and structures were constructed in the 1930s by Amos and Wilfrid Jury,the museum’s founders.In 1985,these figures and structures were restored and incorporated into a diorama.

tacular Niagara Falls, so take I-90 and follow the signs to the city of Niagara Falls. Having seen the mesmerizing falls, cross the border into Canada and take Highway 405 to the QEW (Queen Elizabeth Way), and then proceed southwest on Highway 403 to London, where the London Museum of Archeology awaits.

This is a must-see for the serious amateur archaeologist. The museum is located next to the Lawson site, a 500year-old Neutral Indian village situated on a flat plateau overlooking the confluence of Medway River and Snake Creek in northwest London. Prehistoric Neutral Indians selected this location for a major village due to its defensible characteristics, access to water, and proximity to a wide variety of animals, fish, and wild plants. This site, one of the few preserved earthworks in Canada, was occupied by about 2,000 people.

The museum has a collection of over two million artifacts and its staff serves as consultants to the country’s parks and cultural resources department. A longhouse, palisades, and earthworks are being reconstructed on the Lawson site and the public is welcome to view the ongoing work.

From London take Highway 401 north to the Crawford Lake Conservation Area in Milton. The Crawford Lake Conservation Area sits on top of the Niagara Escarpment and offers spectacular views of the Nassagaweya Canyon. But the main reason to visit is the reconstructed 15th-century Iroquoian village that sits on the site of the original village. The park runs many school programs at the site so students can get a good idea of what life in a 15th-century Iroquoian village might have been like.

Continue north on 401 to Toronto and the Royal Ontario Museum, the largest museum in Canada. Unfortunately, the museum is undergoing extensive renovations and its Indigenous Peoples and Ontario Archaeology Galleries, along with a number of other displays, are closed. Nonetheless, it’s worth visiting for its many other exhibits.

Sainte-Marie among the Hurons, the final destination, is in Midland, north of Toronto on Route 400. This fortress, which was built in 1639 and then burned in 1649, was the headquarters for the French Jesuit mission to the Huron nation. The reconstructed village is located on beautiful Georgian Bay of Lake Huron. Huron is a French name for the Wendat people. By 1648, Sainte-Marie was home to 66 Frenchmen, representing one-fifth of the entire population of New France.

We know so much about this short-lived wilderness mission from the annual report written by the Superior at Sainte-Marie and then sent via Quebec to Paris. These accounts of day-to-day experiences are meticulous in their detail. The mission was abandoned and burned when nonChristian Iroquois attacked in 1649. Twentieth-century archaeological excavations and researchprovided data to support the reconstruction of many of the original mission

buildings. During the summer months the staff, attired in historical costumes, engage in various activities of that period.

In this tour you’ve traveled the width of New York State and have ended on the shores of beautiful Georgian Bay, deep into the Canadian province of Ontario. This covers a lot of territory both geographically and historically, and by the end of your journey, you should have a pretty fair understanding of Iroquois life and the cultural pressures brought about by European contact during the heyday of the Iroquois Confederacy.

This horseshoe-shaped beaded bag was made on the Onondaga Indian Reservation between 1860 and 1890.

RACHEL DICKINSON lives in upstate New York and writes about science, nature,and history.Two books that she’s written, Tools of Navigation and Tools of Ancient Rome, will be published this year.