When you say “Native American” at the New York State Fair, chances are good that you mean the six nations of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, popularly called the Iroquois.
Of course, “Iroquois” is a French word for the allied nations–the Cayugas, Onondagas, Oneidas, Mohawks, Senecas and Tuscaroras–not the historically accurate term for the People of the Long House.
While the Fair has many fundamental characteristics, you can certainly say that it wouldn’t be our Fair without the indigenous inhabitants of our neighborhood. Every day they present native dancers, festooned in colorful and finely-detailed costumes, performing historically-significant and traditional dances on the turtle mound.
The bucolic serenity of the mini-reservation features home-cooked meals, prepared in the cook house surrounded by huts featuring Six- Nations crafts and exhibits. While you’re there, be sure to pick up a one-dollar bottle of water in the courtyard.
The Six Nations were here centuries before anyone called this part of the world “New York,” and it wouldn’t be the Fair without them.
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