NEDROW, NY – Representatives of the Onondaga Nation have signed legal documents with Honeywell International for the return of 1,000 acres of land at the headwaters of Onondaga Creek, which sits within the original treaty footprint set aside for the Onondaga under the 1794 Treaty of Canandaigua.
That agreement transferring control of the land was facilitated by the U.S. Department of Interior and the State of New York under provisions of the U.S. superfund program. This is the first acreage returned to the stewardship of the Onondaga since New York State and the U.S government repeatedly broke the terms of the treaty, which originally set aside 2.5 million acres for the Onondaga.
The agreement is being filed in the office of the Onondaga County Clerk to complete the transfer.
“The headwaters of Onondaga Creek in the Tully Valley are part of the system of waterways leading into Onondaga Lake that have sustained our Nation for millennia, and we are grateful that the Department of the Interior and New York State have worked with us to return to our stewardship the first 1,000 acres of the 2.5 million acres of treaty-guaranteed land taken from us over the centuries,” said Onondaga Tadodaho (Chief) Sid Hill. “This is a small but important step for us, and for the Indigenous land back movement across the United States.”