Work in Progress!
Thank you for visiting the Seneca Combs Project. This website is currently under construction, with more content added every day. We welcome suggestions, requests, or other feedback via the "Contact Us" form in the top right of the page.
The Hodinöhsö:ni' Confederacy
Carved antler and bone combs have a deep history across the Indigenous nations of the Great Lakes region of North America. This digital collection centers on the combs of the Seneca people, whose homelands are located to the south of Lake Ontario and to the east of Lake Erie. The Seneca are one of six nations that comprise the Hodinöhsö:ni' Confederacy, a historic and ongoing confederation of the Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, Mohawk, and Tuscarora Nations.
Visit the Official Website of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy to learn more
A Note on Names and Terminology
Many may be familiar with the names “Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, Mohawk, and Tuscarora,” and even more might be familiar with the term “Iroquois Confederacy.” What one may not know, however, is that these names are what we would call “exonyms.” Exonyms are terms assigned to groups of people by outsiders and often have negative or derogatory connotations. As such, many Indigenous communities that are more popularly known by their exonyms are making the push to inform the general public of their endonyms, or self-names. This website seeks to contribute to endonym education and will thus will use self-names throughout the site, outside of our URL (which reaches a wider audience!).
- Seneca Onöndowa'ga:'
- Cayuga Gayogohó:nǫˀ
- Onondaga Onoñda’gegá’
- Oneida Onᐱyoteˀa∙ká
- Mohawk Kanien'kehá:ka
- Tuscarora Ska:rù:rę'
- Iroquois Confederacy Hodinöhsö:ni' Confederacy (Onöndowa'ga:' spelling)