ONONDN'GAS, one. the fire tribes of Iroquois Indians whicihAnhalaed and gave their name to thionagaotibty, N. five tribes fcirraingzi Confederacy, which was ruled over successively by 14 great sachems, the atotarko, the Onondaga chief, being the first; they had charge of the wampum belts, the treaties, arid the council tires, and their dialect was considered the purest and grandest of the confederacy. Their principal village was about 5 in. from Syracuse. It is not known in what year the confederacy was formed, but as early as 1609 they were waging war with their neighbors, the Iturons, against whom they were bitterly hostile; and in 1649 gathered their forces and devastated the settlement of the Hurons, many of whom were killed and some made prisoners, the whole tribe being scattered. Then followed an unsuccessful war with the and Susquehannas. In 1653 a treaty of peace of short duration was effected with the French, who, at tee solicitation of the Onondagas, sent missionaries among them, amid established a settlement there, which was abandoned a year later on the settlers dis covering a plot for their massacre by tha Indians. The Onondagas were continually at
war with the Algonquins of Canada, and in 1662 they devastated Montreal island and killed the renowned Indian fighter Lambert Closse. in 1668 the French again settled among them. Onondaga county became alternately the rendezvous for the French and English; the latter a few years later building a fort there, which was demolished by the Indians before their withdrawal from the town during Frontenae's incursion in 1696. A general treaty of peace was signed in 1700, between the.Fretich and the Onondagas at Moutreal,which lasted 9 years. They took sides with the English in the French and Indian war, 1759-63, and also during the latter part of the revolutionary war, in which they suffered severely. They ceded the most of their land to New York in 1798, reserv ing it small portion for themselves, where about 340 of them still remain, sonic of whom have been converted to Christianity. About 400 of the tribe are found in Ontario, Canada, and a few have joined the Senecas and Tuscaroras. They number about 860 iu all.