"
In 1691, the governor and council of the province of New York sent an
address to the king of England, from which the following extract is
made:
"Albany lies upon the same river, etc. Its commerce extends itself as
far as the lakes of Canada and the Sinnekes Country in which is the
Susquehannah River."
It appears that the ownership of the Susquehanna was the subject of no
little dispute among the tribes composing the Six Nations.[A] The
Onondagas claimed the country.
[Footnote A: From a record of a meeting of the mayor and aldermen of
Albany in 1689 the Onondagas are called Ti-onon-dages.
In an old map found among the papers of Sir Guy Johnson the Schenevus
creek or valley is called Ti-ononda-don. The prefix _Ti_ appears to
have been quite common among Indian names, sometimes used and
sometimes omitted. Doubtless _Ononda_ is the root of the word
_Ti-ononda-don_. As the Onondagas had claimed the Susquehanna country,
the Indian etymologist might naturally inquire whether there was any
kinship between Tionondaga, Tionondadon, Onondaga and the word
Oneonta. His belief in a common etymon might be somewhat strengthened
by a quotation from a "Journal of What Occurred between the French and
Savages," kept during the years 1657-58.
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