The Central Fire of the Iroquois

A comprehensive history of the Native American community at the heart of the Haudenosaunee

The people of the Onondaga Nation have lived in central New York State for hundreds of years. This is the incredible story of their survival and of the Nation’s commitment to their land, rituals, and cultural values. Michael Leroy Oberg traces the Onondaga from their emergence, through the formation of the Iroquois League, and into the present day. Oberg describes how despite military invasions, outbreaks of epidemic disease, efforts to deprive them of their lands and traditional government, and attempts to eradicate their culture, the Onondaga have endured. Indeed, even today, just south of Syracuse, New York, the Central Fire still burns at the center of the Haudenosaunee Longhouse, and the site remains an Indigenous capital.

Drawing on meticulous archival work and interviews with members of the Onondaga Nation, this book not only sheds light on the resilience of a vibrant and influential culture but examines the intricate diplomatic politics that shaped the relationship between the Onondaga—and the entire Haudenosaunee Confederacy—and the emerging American states, and how the legacy of these early encounters continues to resonate in the twenty-first century.