The Finger Lakes region is a central part of the
Iroquois homeland. The Iroquois tribes include the
Seneca and
Cayuga nations, for which the two largest Finger Lakes are named. The
Tuscarora tribe lived in the Finger Lakes region as well, from ca. 1720. The
Onondaga and
Oneida tribes lived at the eastern edge of the region, closer to their namesake lakes,
Oneida Lake and
Onondaga Lake. The easternmost Iroquois tribe was the
Mohawk. The Finger Lakes region contains sites of unknown cultural affiliation and age. The
Bluff Point Stoneworks is one such site as its age and who may have constructed these enigmatic stone structures has not been determined. During colonial times, many other tribes moved to the Finger Lakes region, seeking the protection of the Iroquois. For example, in 1753, remnants of several Virginia
Siouan tribes, collectively called the
Tutelo-
Saponi, moved to the town of
Coreorgonel at the south end of Cayuga Lake near present-day Ithaca and lived there until 1779, when their village was destroyed by the
Sullivan Expedition. Iroquois towns in the Finger Lakes region included the Seneca town of
Gen-nis-he-yo (present-day Geneseo),
Kanadaseaga (Seneca Castle, near present-day Geneva),
Goiogouen (Cayuga Castle, east of Cayuga Lake),
Chonodote (Cayuga town, present-day Aurora),
Catherine's Town (near present-day
Watkins Glen) and
Ganondagan State Historic Site in
Victor, New York. As one of the most powerful Indian nations during colonial times, the Iroquois were able to prevent European colonization of the Finger Lakes region for nearly two centuries after first contact, often playing the French off against the British interests in savvy demonstrations of political competence. The renowned ingenuity and adaptability of the Iroquois people were key tools of resistance against hostile European powers rapidly spreading throughout North America, eager to dominate and increasingly brutal toward Native Americans in the Finger Lakes and beyond. By the late 18th century, with the French governmental influence gone from Canada, Iroquois power had weakened relative to the steady growth in European-Americans' populations, and internal strife eroded the political unity of the
Iroquois Confederacy as it faced pressures from colonists itching to move west and a desire to keep them out of Amerindian lands. During the
American Revolutionary War, some Iroquois sided with the British and some with the Americans, resulting in civil war among the Iroquois. In the late 1770s, British-allied Iroquois attacked various American frontier settlements, prompting counter-attacks, culminating in the
Sullivan Expedition of 1779, which destroyed most of the Iroquois towns and effectively broke Iroquois power. After the Revolutionary War, the Iroquois and other Indians of the region were assigned reservations. Most of their land, including the Finger Lakes region, was opened up to purchase and settlement. Roughly the western half of the Finger Lakes region comprised the
Phelps and Gorham Purchase of 1790. The region was rapidly settled at the turn of the 19th century, largely by a westward migration from
New England, and to a lesser degree by northward influx from Pennsylvania. The regional architecture reflects these area traditions of the Federal and
Greek Revival periods. ==Notable places==