Return Maple Bay ~ Restore Our Sacred Onondaga Lake
Heal the Reciprocal Relationship Between the Lake and Onondaga Nation #Lakeback
Onondaga Lake is the birthplace of democracy, lacrosse, the women's rights movement, and more. This lake is the ancestral home of the Onondaga Nation and the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. The United States agreed that the lake would always belong to the Onondaga Nation and the Haudenosaunee Confederacy with the 1794 Canandaigua treaty.
Water is Life
We aim to restore the reciprocal relationship of mutual care amongst Onondaga Lake, all its inhabitants, and Onondaga Nation beginning with the return of Maple Bay.
The Onondaga Nation has a mandated responsibility to care for our relatives including the earth, waters, and all beings. This is not ownership but a relationship of reciprocal care.
-Ganoñhéñ•nyoñ’- Giving thanks to all
-Planning for the next 7 generations as we borrow from them
-Taking no more than we need
-Sharing what we have with others
-Maintaining drinkable water
-Caring for native wildlife to ensure their good health
Located on the northwest shore, Maple Bay is a great place to start with returning Onondaga lake to Onondaga nation because it is one of the least polluted parts of the lake. It is a quiet, relatively secluded spot where there are many plants and animals. As a protected and secluded part of the lake it provides some privacy for the people who gather there.
Lake Back is a campaign to ensure that Maple Bay, on the shores of Onondaga Lake is returned to the Onondaga Nation. The County Legislature passed a resolution to return Maple Bay in a 2016 resolution, which replaced a previous County Legislature resolution from 2011. Lake Back will restore the relationship between the Onondaga Nation and our sacred Onondaga Lake. This campaign grows from the global LandBack movement. Our sister organization Honor the Earth says, “Land Back is a political movement of returning land to Indigenous people whose land and sovereignty were stolen by settler colonialism. With land at its core, Land Back is also about reclaiming our peoplehood, medicines, ceremonies, languages & our futures. It is about fighting for a world in which we all live in right relationship with the environment and each other.”
Our sister organization NOON has made a wonderful map showing the location of Maple Bay.
Unraveling the Roots of Colonization in New York State
Join us November 18, 6:30 PM EST for Unraveling the Roots of Colonization in New York State — a benefit for the #LandBack return of Onondaga Lake. We’ll explore how colonial legal doctrines still impact Indigenous lands today and hear from Onondaga Nation leaders
A sacred lake, a Columbus statue, and an Indigenous people’s long struggle for land
Before white settlers came to Onondaga Lake, before the city of Syracuse grew along its shore, before the pristine waters became one of the most polluted bodies of water in the United States, it was a sacred place for the Onondaga Nation.
Onondaga ‘LakeBack’ protest shades arrival of Seneca Chief with history of harm
As Central New Yorkers gathered to commemorate an ‘Erie Canal moment,’ Haudenosaunee remembered the canal’s long legacy of Indigenous harm.
Healing the Sacred: The Fight to Restore Onondaga Lake and Honor Indigenous Land
The Onondaga Nation is petitioning the Organization of American States (OAS) for land rights to Onondaga Lake, a notoriously polluted body of water in Central New York State.
Unraveling the Roots of Colonization in New York State
Join us November 18, 6:30 PM EST for Unraveling the Roots of Colonization in New York State — a benefit for the #LandBack return of Onondaga Lake. We’ll explore how colonial legal doctrines still impact Indigenous lands today and hear from Onondaga Nation leaders
A sacred lake, a Columbus statue, and an Indigenous people’s long struggle for land
Before white settlers came to Onondaga Lake, before the city of Syracuse grew along its shore, before the pristine waters became one of the most polluted bodies of water in the United States, it was a sacred place for the Onondaga Nation.
Onondaga ‘LakeBack’ protest shades arrival of Seneca Chief with history of harm
As Central New Yorkers gathered to commemorate an ‘Erie Canal moment,’ Haudenosaunee remembered the canal’s long legacy of Indigenous harm.
Healing the Sacred: The Fight to Restore Onondaga Lake and Honor Indigenous Land
The Onondaga Nation is petitioning the Organization of American States (OAS) for land rights to Onondaga Lake, a notoriously polluted body of water in Central New York State.