Onondaga
/ˌɒnənˈdɑːɡə/noun
A member of a Native American people of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy, or the Iroquoian language they speak.
Did you know?Onondaga is the name of one of the original nations of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, and the English form preserves an Indigenous identity older than the colonial maps that later tried to rename it.
Etymological Timeline
Precolonial
Onondaga
Onontá'ke / Onundaga'
“A native ethnonym and place-name associated with the Onondaga people and their homeland”
17th Century
French
Onontagué / Onnontagué
“Early French transcription of the Onondaga name as heard from Indigenous speakers”
18th Century
English
Onondaga
“English spelling established for the people, their language, and the place-name in New York”
Modern English
English
Onondaga
“The name of an Indigenous nation, language, and related places and institutions”