On-On-Da-Ga

Current Sign Text

On-On-Da-Ga
Site of Indian Village and Stockade
Enclosing about Ten Acres,
With Forty Additional Acres
Adjoining Under Cultivation,
Located Just East of this Place
Burned by the Indians at the
Time of Frontenac's Invasion Aug. 3, 1696

Site of Father Lamberville's
Mission, Burned by the Indians
In 1709, Indians Removal from
Here to Lower Onondaga
Completed in 1720

Erected by the Syracuse Chapter S.A.R. (Sons of the American Revolution) and State of New York in 1933.

Problematic issues

- The generic "Indian" was used as late as 1933 rather than identify the Onondaga.

- The vast area of cultivation and agricultural activity is contrasted in the text against burning and destruction.

- Some Onondaga question the statement that they would burn their own village.

- Frontenac invaded in retaliation for "Indian" raids.

- Mission built to convert natives to the Christian religion. (See 2 below)

- The Onondaga burning the Mission implies savagery or militarism.

Location

Located on NYS 91 about 1 mile S of Jamesville. East side, 1.1 mile S of NYS 173

Significance

This marker identifies the western edge of a large area of Onondaga settlements. Other markers referencing this area are Deep Springs and Indian Hill.

Indigenous Place Names for Site

Circumstances of Marker Placement

Erected by the Syracuse Chapter S.A.R. (Sons of the American Revolution) and State of New York in 1933. Bronze tablet on boulder. "The State Historic Marker Program began in 1926 as a program of the State Education Department to commemorate the Sesquicentennial of the American Revolution. Over 2,800 of the small, cast iron site markers ... were erected statewide during the duration of this program (1926-1939)."

Additional Information

From Struggle for a Continent by John Ferling- Count Louis de Buade de Frontenac was "sent to America to implement a plan" to destroy the Iroquois and therefore take over New York from the English. Frontenac was 76 years old when he "led an army of 2,000 into Onondaga country, near present day Syracuse." From The Ambiguous Iroqouis Nation by Francis Jennings- "Frontenac invaded the Onondaga, where he destroyed houses and crops."

Sources

1. New York State Museum, "Outreach: State Historic Markers", [www.nysm.nysed.gov/services/marker/ srvmarker.html, downloaded January 23, 2011]

2. http://www.doctrineofdiscovery.org

Review Details

Sue Eiholzer, 2011