Cayuga Tribe
How do you pronounce the word "Cayuga"? What does it mean?
Cayuga is pronounced "kye-OO-gah." It comes from their own name for
themselves, Gayogohono, which means "people of the swamp."
Where do the Cayuga Indians live?
The Cayugas are original residents of what is now New York state.
Many Cayuga people still live there today, though others were forced to
migrate to Wisconsin, Oklahoma, and Ontario, Canada.
Are the Cayuga Iroquois people?
Yes, the Cayuga tribe was one of the original members of
the Iroquois Confederacy. The other member nations were
the Mohawk, Seneca, Oneida, and Onondaga. Later a sixth
tribe, the Tuscarora, joined the confederacy. Today these
long-term allies refer to themselves as the Haudenosaunee
Iroquois flag
("people of the longhouse") or Six Nations.
How is the Cayuga Indian tribe organized?
The Cayuga nation had a tribal council chosen by the Cayuga clan
mothers (matriarchs, or female leaders.) But the Cayugas were also
subject to the decisions made by the Iroquois Great Council. Ten
Cayuga chiefs represented their tribe's interests in the Iroquois Council.
This is similar to American states which each have their own
government, but are all subject to the US government. In fact, the
Iroquois Confederacy was one of the examples of representative
democracy used as a model by America's founding fathers.
The Cayuga Indians lost their land in the 1700's, and today they do not
have a reservation of their own. In New York State, the Cayuga tribe
lives with their allies the Senecas and Onondagas, but they still have
their own council of clan chiefs distinct from the governments of the
other tribes. In Canada, Cayuga Indians share the Six Nations Reserve
with members of the other Iroquois nations. There are also Cayuga
people living on mixed reservations in Oklahoma and Wisconsin and in
smaller communities in New York.
What language do the Cayuga Indians speak?
Most Cayuga people speak English today, but some Cayugas,
especially in Canada, also speak their native Cayuga language.
Cayuga is a complex language with many sounds that are unlike the
sounds in English. If you'd like to know a few easy Cayuga words,
"sgÄ™:no" (pronounced similar to SGEH-no) is a friendly greeting, and
"nya:węh" (pronounced similar to NYAH-wenh) means 'thank you.'
You can also hear Cayuga being spoken on this site, or read a Cayuga
picture glossary here.
Today Cayuga is an endangered language because most children
aren't learning it anymore. However, some Cayuga people are working
to keep their language alive.
How do Cayuga Indian children live, and what did they do in the
past?
They do the same things all children do--play with each other,
go to school and help around the house. Many Cayuga
children like to go hunting and camping with their fathers. In
the past, Indian kids had more chores and less time to play,
just like colonial children. But they did have cornhusk dolls,
toys, and games, such as one game where Cayuga kids tried to
throw a dart through a moving hoop. Lacrosse was also a
popular sport among Iroquois boys as it was among adult men.
Like many Native Americans, Cayuga Indian mothers
Cornhusk dolls
traditionally carried their babies in cradleboard carriers on
their backs--a custom which many American parents have
adopted.
What were men and women's roles in the Cayuga tribe?
Cayuga men were in charge of hunting, trading, and war. Cayuga
women were in charge of farming, property, and family. These different
roles were also reflected in Cayuga government. Cayuga Indian clans
were always ruled by women, who made all the land and resource
decisions for each community. But Cayuga chiefs, who made military
decisions and trade agreements, were always men. Only men
represented the Cayuga tribe at the Iroquois Great Council, but only
women voted to determine who the Cayuga representatives would be.
Both genders took part in storytelling, artwork and music, and traditional
medicine.
What were Cayuga homes like in the past?
Iroquois longhouse sketch
The Cayuga Indians lived in villages of
longhouses, which are large wood-frame
buildings covered with sheets of elm bark.
Cayuga long houses were up to a hundred
feet long, and each one was home to an
entire clan (up to 60 people.) Here are some
pictures of longhouses like the ones Cayuga
Indians used, and a drawing of what a long
house looked like on the inside. Today,
longhouses are only built for ceremonial
purposes. Most Cayugas live in modern
houses and apartment buildings, just like
you.
What was Cayuga clothing like? Did they wear feather
headdresses and face paint?
Cayuga men wore breechcloths with leggings. Cayuga women
wore wraparound skirts with shorter leggings. Men did not
originally wear shirts in the Cayuga culture, but women often
wore a poncho-like tunic called an overdress or kilt. Cayuga
Indian people usually wore deerskin moccasins on their feet. In
colonial times, the Cayugas adapted European costume such as
cloth shirts and blouses, decorating them with fancy beadwork
Cayuga headdress and ribbon applique. Here is a webpage about traditional
Iroquois dress, and some photographs and links about
American Indian clothes in general.
Cayuga warrior
The Cayugas didn't wear long headdresses like the Sioux.
Iroquois men wore a gustoweh, which is a traditional feathered
cap with a different insignia for each tribe--the Cayuga
headdress has one eagle feather trailing behind. Women
sometimes wore beaded tiaras. In times of war, Cayuga men
often shaved their heads except for a scalplock or a crest down
the center of their head (the style known as a roach, or a
"Mohawk.") Sometimes they would augment this hairstyle
with splayed feathers or artificial roaches made of brightly
dyed porcupine and deer hair. Here are some pictures of these
different kinds of Native American headdress. Cayuga Indian
women only cut their hair when they were in mourning.
Otherwise they wore it long and loose or plaited into a long
braid. Here is a website with pictures of these Native hair
styles. Men sometimes tattoed their faces and bodies with tribal
designs, but Cayuga women generally didn't paint or tattoo
themselves.
Today, some Cayuga people still wear moccasins or a beaded
shirt, but they wear modern clothes like jeans instead of
breechcloths... and they only wear feathers in their hair on
special occasions like a dance.
What was Cayuga transportation like in the days before cars?
Did they paddle canoes?
Sometimes--the Cayuga Indians did use elm-bark or dugout
canoes for fishing trips, but usually preferred to travel by land.
Originally the Cayuga tribe used dogs as pack animals. (There
were no horses in North America until colonists brought them
over from Europe.) In wintertime, the Cayugas used laced
Iroquois snowshoes
snowshoes and sleds to travel through the snow.
What was Cayuga food like in the days before supermarkets?
The Cayuga tribe were farmers. Cayuga women planted
crops of corn, beans, and squash and harvested wild berries
and herbs. Cayuga men hunted deer and elk and fished in the
rivers and on the shores of Lake Ontario. Cayuga Indian
recipes included cornbread, soups, and stews, which they
Iroquois farmers
cooked on stone hearths. Here is a website with more
information about North American Indian food.
What were Cayuga weapons and tools like in the past?
Cayuga hunters used bows and arrows. Cayuga fishermen
used spears and fishing poles with bone hooks. In war,
Cayuga men used their bows and arrows or fought with
heavy war clubs and shields. Here is a website with
pictures and more information about Iroquois Indian
weapons.
Iroquois war club
Other important tools used by the Cayuga tribe included
stone adzes (hand axes for woodworking), flint knives for
skinning animals, and wooden hoes for farming. The
Cayugas and other Iroquois were skilled woodworkers,
steaming wood so that it could be bent to make curved
tools. Some Iroquois artisans still make lacrosse sticks
this way today.
What are Cayuga arts and crafts like?
The Cayuga tribe was known for their mask carving, which is
considered such a sacred art form that non-Iroquois are still
not permitted to view many of these masks. Iroquois
beadwork and the more demanding porcupine quillwork are
more common Cayuga crafts. The Cayuga Indians also crafted
wampum out of white and purple shell beads. Wampum beads
were traded as a kind of currency, but they were more
culturally important as an art material. The designs and
Iroquois beadwork
pictures on wampum belts often told a story or represented a
person's family.
What was Cayuga music like?
The two most important Cayuga instruments are drums and
flutes. Iroquois drums were often filled with water to give
them a distinctive sound different from the drums of other
tribes. Most Cayuga Indian music is very rhythmic and
consists mostly of drumming and lively singing. Flutes
were used to woo women in the Cayuga tribe. A young
Cayuga man would play beautiful flute music outside his
Cayuga water drum
girlfriend's longhouse at night to show her he was thinking
about her.
What other Native Americans did the Cayuga tribe interact with?
The most important neighbors of the Cayuga tribe were the other
Iroquois nations: the Seneca, Onondaga, Oneida, and Mohawk. Before
the Iroquois Confederacy the Cayugas sometimes fought wars with the
other Iroquois tribes, but once the alliance was formed they were loyal
to each other. Cayuga warriors fought against most of the other eastern
tribes, particularly the Wabanaki tribes, the Algonquin and Ojibway, and
the Mohican bands. The Cayugas also traded with their neighbors,
exchanging corn and woodcrafts for furs and quahog shells.
What kinds of stories do the Cayuga Indians tell?
There are lots of Cayuga legends and fairy tales. Storytelling is very
important to the Cayuga Indian culture. Here is a traditional Iroquois
story about the origin of mosquitoes.
What about Cayuga religion?
Religions are too complicated and culturally sensitive to describe
appropriately in only a few simple sentences, and we strongly want to
avoid misleading anybody. You can visit this site to learn more about
Iroquois mythology or this site about American Indian religions in
general.
Can you recommend a good book for me to read?
One book about the Cayuga tribe for younger readers is The Cayuga,
which has many photographs about traditional and contemporary
Cayuga life. Lacrosse: The National Game of the Iroquois is a lively look
at the origins of this sport and at Iroquois culture in general, tracing the
lives of three generations of Onondaga lacrosse players. Legends of the
Iroquois is a good collection of traditional Six Nations stories, retold by a
Mohawk author. Wampum Belts of the Iroquois is an interesting look at
the symbolism and significance of the different wampum belt designs
used by the Cayuga and other Iroquois peoples. If You Lived With The
Iroquois provides a good look at daily life in the Iroquois tribes in the old
days. You can also browse through our reading list of recommended
American Indian books in general.