Gayogohó:no’ Learning Project

The Gayogo̱hó:nǫˀ Learning Project is a collaboration of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people working to promote awareness and practice of Gayogo̱hó:nǫˀ (Cayuga) language and lifeways in their ancestral homelands and beyond. We hope to carry the idea of sgę́:nǫˀ gó:wah, the Great Peace, into our work, cultivating peace and cooperation through education and community outreach. Our partnership is based on a vision in which Indigenous and non-Indigenous people travel separate but parallel paths to engage in peaceful coexistence.

The Gayogohó:nǫˀ Learning Project is a fiscally sponsored project of the Center for Transformative Action (CTA). CTA, an educational 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, is legally and financially responsible for all our project activities.

The Problem

Gayogohó:nǫˀ people were largely displaced from their ancestral homeland (around Cayuga Lake) in the late 1700’s, when George Washington sent a military contingent to destroy crops and villages of the Gayogohó:nǫˀ and other members of the Hodinohsó:nih. Residents were scattered to Ohio, Canada, and Buffalo Creek, and later to Oklahoma and Six Nations of the Grand River reserve in Canada. Only a few remained in their ancestral lands.

Land fraud by white settlers and the State of New York further exacerbated the separation of the Gayogohó:nǫˀ people from their land, which is an integral part of their language and identity. Many Gayogohó:nǫˀ people were forced into residential schools and Indian Day Schools. Non-indigenous governmental structures hindered the passing-on of traditional culture and language.

Barely 250 years later, the Gayogohó:nǫˀ language is considered critically endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger. As of December 2021, there are less than a dozen first-language speakers remaining – one of whom is a member of our group. Most live on the Six Nations reserve in Canada. A few hundred people have learned or are learning Gayogohó:nǫˀ as a second language, but with efforts, such as those of our group, that number continues to grow.

The impacts to mental and physical health of separating indigenous peoples from their language, culture, and land are well-documented. Language and culture revitalization efforts provide paths by which to address the health, socio-economic, and ecological impacts of colonization.

Our Approach

Our project seeks to complement and amplify existing Gayogohó:nǫˀ (Cayuga) language revitalization efforts from within Gayogohó:nǫˀ ancestral lands by supporting educational programs and access to language resources, and increasing opportunities to hear and see the Gayogohó:nǫˀ language in public spaces. Through this work of tangibly teaching and using the Gayogohó:nǫˀ language in the place it developed, and by creating opportunities for dialogue around difficult topics such as colonization, we hope to increase understanding of the history and current status of Gayogohó:nǫˀ people, language, and culture. A key part of our work lies in providing support for Gayogohó:nǫˀ people and others working to revitalize the Gayogohó:nǫˀ language. Through our work, we hope to both explore and spread awareness of ways in which Gayogohó:nǫˀ and other Hodinohsó:nih languages and cultures are connected to the land of the Finger Lakes and explore ways in which all people might cultivate healthy relationships with the land.

Our Team

Stephen Henhawk – Gayogohó:nǫˀ, otahyǫ́:ni: (Wolf clan) Historian and first-language speaker. Stephen grew up in a traditional Gayogohó:nǫˀ household at Ohswé:gęˀ (Six Nations of the Grand River reserve in Canada). Stephen is our language teacher, historian and conveyer of the inspiration behind the Gayogohó:nǫˀ Language Project. The inspiration itself comes from the wisdom and strength of all Gayogohó:nǫˀ people who came before who maintained language and culture and ties to the land against much adversity.

Michelle Seneca, project leader – Gayogohó:nǫˀ, genyahdę: (Turtle clan). Grew up on the Seneca Cattaraugus reservation in Western New York and lived for a number of years in the Gayogohó:nǫˀ community at the north end of Cayuga Lake. She currently resides in Ithaca. Michelle holds our whole project together.

Jim Wikel, advisory board member - Jim Wikel ni gya:soh (I am called). From Onǫdowáˀga:ˀ Gayogo̲hó:nǫˀ neh:ni Gahnawiyóˀgeh (Seneca-Cayuga Nation of Oklahoma). Currently resides in Salem, OR. Began learning the language in 2015 in Oklahoma. Worked in the behavioral health/addiction field since 2008. Worked with Native clients, encouraged them to learn their own languages. Recovery means getting back something you thought was lost. Ogwa:węh means "It belongs to us." I am reclaiming what belongs to us.

Noah Mark, advisory board member – has been a student of Gayogo̱hó:nǫʼ nigawęnó:dę’ since June, 2021. The mission of the Gayogo̱hó:nǫʼ Learning Project resonates with him as someone who was born and raised on traditionally held Hodihnohso:nih lands and as a descendent of Japanese immigrants who underwent intergenerational loss of language and culture. His past work experience includes grassroots organizing and fundraising on environmental issues and sexual assault prevention, vegetable farming, and research on emerging contaminants. Currently, he serves as technical director of a citizen science-based nonprofit called the Community Science Institute.

Josephine Martell, advisory board member – has lived on Gayogohó:nǫˀ lands for the past ten years and is of French, Scottish, and German heritage. Josephine is a social scientist who studies how message framing and language affects decision making and behavior, and leads the Office of Research Development at Cornell University in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. She has over 20 years of experience in policy, research, advocacy, and grant writing. Josephine is a passionate mother of three children and an avid trail runner.

Karen Melamed Smith, advisory board member – has lived on Gayogohó:nǫˀ land for forty years. With a background in music, philosophy and education, she served as the education director of the Community School of Music and Arts (CSMA) from 1998-2018 and continues to teach piano and to perform with Music’s Recreation. Of Eastern European Jewish heritage, she has always wondered about the interrelationships of heredity, culture and place and feels honored to learn and support the language that is rooted here.

Shirley Brown, advisory board member

Contact information

gayogohono.learning.project@gmail.com