SENECA RELIGIOUS LEADER GANIODAIO (HANDSOME LAKE) DIED
Born in Ganowauges (near present Avon, New York) circa 1735, Handsome Lake, known by Ganiodaio (one of the chiefs in the Haudenosaunee’s Great Law), was half-brother of Cornplanter, noted Seneca war chief & leader at Allegany. He supported neutrality in the American Revolution, but when the Senecas joined the Mohawks, Onondaga & Cayugas against the Americans, he followed Cornplanter into battle at Wyoming Valley, Newtown, Susquehanna Valley & Schoharie. At war’s end, he signed the treaties of Fort Stanwix (1786), Canandaigua (1794) & Big Tree (1797). In 1799, waking from a coma, he told of visits from messengers of the Creator. From such visits, he created a way of life for Senecas known as the Gaiwiio. Quarrels with Cornplanter caused Ganiodaio & followers to move to Coldspring in 1803 and, in 1809, to the Tonawanda Reservation. He continued preaching to Indian communities in New York & the Ohio Territory until his death.
Source: “Handsome Lake. Ganiodaio. Turtle Clan. (c. 1735-1815),” RMSC - Louis Henry Morgan Website - Johnson Family Tree. Retrieved 2/4/2022. Sketch: Jesse Cornplanter (1889-1957), 1913. Public Domain. Source: https://archive.org/details/codeofhandsomela02hand
Indigenous America Calendar 