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Onondaga Nation People of the Hills

Onondaga Nation

People of the Hills

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Ceremonies

Onondaga HoyaneThe Creator gave us a Way of Life. These guidelines help us remember our duties as Onondaga people. Part of duties is to take care of mother earth. Part of taking care of mother earth is to perform ceremonies and giving thanks to Creator and all of creation for still performing their duties. People responsible for ensuring that our ceremonies are still being performed, hold a great responsibility in the community. These men and women are commonly called “Faith Keepers”. These people refer to the seasons and the lunar calendar to decide on when our ceremonies are to take place.

There are many ceremonies that take place throughout the year. Our first ceremony to begin the new (lunar) year is called Midwinters. MidWinters lasts for 21 days. Each day we are giving thanks for many different things and performing different ceremonies. Midwinters provides a great feeling of harmony with the Creator and celebrating our time together on mother earth.

Listed below are our of our ceremonies that were given to us to perform by the Creator that are still being conducted in the longhouse today:

Midwinter Ceremonies
Maple Sap Ceremonies
Planting Ceremonies
Bean Ceremonies
Strawberry Ceremonies
Green Corn Ceremonies
Harvest Ceremonies

Lunar Calendar

The faith keepers who are responsible for initiating when these ceremonies begin rely on the lunar calendar. Below are the names of the moons and the translation of each.

Onondaga English

Hisatuh

Treacherous little winter

Ganahdoha

Leaf buds are on the leaves

Ganahdogo:nah

Moon of many leaves

Ohiaihah

Little ripening of the berries

Ohiaihgo:nah

Great ripening of the berries

Saskeh hah

Long daylight

Saskego:nah

Big, long daylight

Kendenhah

Deer has a short tail

Kendenhgo:nah

Deer has a long tail

Jotowehhah

Return of the little cold

Jotowego:nah

Return of the big cold

Disuh

Long nights, short days

Disgo:nah

Longer nights, shorter days

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