Canawaugus, New York

Canawaugus (or Conawagus, or Ca-noh-wa-gas, or Conewaugus) (pronounced [kan-ɘ-wô′-gɘs]) was a Seneca Indian village.[1]:p.46 The village was located on the west side of the Genesee River, "about a mile above the ford",[2]:p.59 on the eastern edge of Caledonia. It was nearly opposite the Avon sulphur springs. The name (translated as "Cattaraugus" in other Iroquoian languages) means "stinking waters" because of the sulphur.[3]

Canawaugus was one of the most populous of the Seneca villages, with a population approaching 1000 people.[4]:p.166

The Seneca religious leader Handsome Lake was born here about 1735. Governor Blacksnake moved here shortly after his birth.[1]:p.46 Cornplanter was born here around 1750.

It is unclear whether or not the village was destroyed in the Sullivan Expedition of 1779.[4]:p.166

References
  1. Governor Blacksnake (July 1, 2005). Chainbreaker: The Revolutionary War Memoirs of Governor Blacksnake as Told to Benjamin Williams. U of Nebraska Press. p. 46. ISBN 9780803264502. Retrieved May 26, 2015.
  2. Doty, Edward L. (1876). A History of Livingston County, New York. Livingston County. Retrieved May 26, 2015.
  3. Czamota, Lorna (2014). Native American & Pioneer Sites of Upstate New York. The History Press. p. 140. ISBN 9781626192904.
  4. Norton, A. Tiffany (1879). History of Sullivan's Campaign Against the Iroquois. A.T. Norton. Retrieved May 26, 2015.
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