Chonodote facts for kids

Chonodote was an old village from the 1700s. It belonged to the Cayuga people, who are part of the larger Iroquois group of Native Americans. This village was located in what we now call upstate New York, USA. It was found about four and a half miles south of another village called Goiogouen, right on the east side of Cayuga Lake. Long ago, in the 1600s, this same village was known by a different name: Deawendote, which means Village of the Constant Dawn.

Chonodote: A Village of Peaches

Chonodote was special because it had a huge orchard with over a thousand peach trees! Because of all these trees, the American army called it "Peachtown." The village itself had about fourteen longhouses. These were long, shared homes where many families lived together. Chonodote was located very close to where the modern village of Aurora, New York is today.

The Sullivan-Clinton Campaign

On September 24, 1779, Chonodote became the last village to be destroyed during a military action known as the Sullivan-Clinton Campaign. This campaign was led by Colonel William Butler. The goal was to destroy the villages and food supplies of Native American groups who had sided with the British during the American Revolutionary War.

During this campaign, the soldiers destroyed everything in Chonodote:

The axes cut down every tree, even those full of ripe peaches. The freshly grown corn was gathered only to be destroyed. At 10 o'clock in the morning, the homes were set on fire. The flames rose high over the scene of destruction.

After the War

After the war ended, many Cayuga people had to move. A lot of them went to live on the Seneca reservation, which is called Tonawanda.

Finding Chonodote Today

Today, experts have used archaeological digging to find the likely spot of Chonodote. It's thought to be on the northern edge of Aurora. During these digs, they found pieces of pottery, called potsherds. They also found signs that people were using coal in the 1770s. You can even find a historical marker that points out the location of Chonodote (Peachtown). It's in front of the Aurora Inn, at N 42° 45.282 W 076° 42.164.

Honoring the Past

In September 2000, Wells College in Aurora held a special event called Return to Chonodote. This festival celebrated the area's Haudenosaunee past and present. Haudenosaunee is another name for the Iroquois Confederacy, which includes the Cayuga people. The event was put on by several groups working together. These included SHARE (Strengthening Haudenosaunee and American Relations through Education), members of the Cayuga Nation and Onondaga Nation, and Ithaca College.