The Cayuga Nation (Guyohkohnyoh), meaning the People of the Great Swamp, was one of the five original members of the Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) Confederacy. Their traditional homeland lay in the Finger Lakes region along Cayuga Lake, between the Onondaga and Seneca nations. The Haudenosaunee decided to remain neutral during the American Revolutionary War. However, political relations between the Cayuga, the British, and the colonists during the American Revolution were complicated. Generally the Cayuga favored the British. The Cayuga were the only Haudenosaunee nation left without a reservation in the US. Some members of the Cayuga Nation today live with the Seneca Nation in western New York. There are three Cayuga bands. The two largest, the Lower Cayuga and the Upper Cayuga, still live in Ontario, at Six Nations of the Grand River.
There are 4 Cayuga communities in the United States and Canada shown in blue on the map above.
Click on the images below for information on each of the four Cayuga communities.
Click the arrows to move to the next slide.
Photographs of Cattaraugus contributed by Lily Jones, Seneca Bear Clan
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