This research applies GIS and Least Cost Analysis to model the mobility patterns of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy between the years 1750 and 1766. My goal was to evaluate whether these computational methods could accurately reflect the culturally-specific travel behaviors of the Haudenosaunee during increased interactions and tensions with European colonists during the entanglement era. By incorporating the Haudenosaunee's extensive use of waterways, my model challenged prevailing colonialist myths and worked to evaluate methodologies for studying Indigenous mobility networks. I compared modeled paths to documented historic routes to assess the qualitative fit of models like these, underscoring the idea that GIS serves best as an exploratory tool that requires contextualization. Indigenous place names, which encapsulate connections, stories, and signal a deep and lasting connection to place, are explored as well with the collaboration of Gayogo̱hó:nǫˀ (Cayuga) Faithkeeper Steve Henhawk.
Gayogo̱hó:nǫˀ (Cayuga) place names in the study area of central New York and southern Ontario
Sources: Cayuga-English Dictionary (Froman et al. 2002) and Stephen Henhawk (2019)
Least Cost Analysis of the Hodinǫ̱hsǫ́:nih Landscape
Key research question: Can least-cost analysis generate models that reflect the culturally specific mobility choices within the Hodinǫ̱hsǫ́:nih homelands?
Issues addressed: Entanglement, colonialism and the importance of context-based historical inquiry, the Hodinǫ̱hsǫ́:nih as “landsmen” and bringing forward water travel’s prevalence and importance, consideration of the topological structure of past river networks, limitations of least-cost studies (and of GIS more broadly), integration of multiple modes of transportation in cost surface analysis, and the utility of spatial modeling and what questions it can help us to explore.
1 arc-second (30 m) DEM data from National Elevation Dataset and derived slope classifications
Vector stream data from USGS for the State of New York
Though travel on the river network was centrally important to the Hodinǫ̱hsǫ́:nih, there have been few GIS studies of it (and Haudenosaunee mobility in general) with notable exceptions from Dr. Elizabeth A. Little, Dr. Robert J. Hasenstab, and Dr. Kathleen M.S. Allen.
This study challenges prevailing narratives that disregard this, offering a more nuanced description of Hodinǫ̱hsǫ́:nih mobility networks and brings forward the assertion of Hodinǫ̱hsǫ́:nih sovereignty during the colonial entanglement period through the analysis of historic texts.
This study aimed to determine if GIS and least-cost methods can be used to retrodict the culturally specific travel decisions of the Hodinǫ̱hsǫ́:nih in this period. Research in this area has seen mixed results.
This study is based on the work of other researchers like Dr. Meghan C. L. Howey, Dr. Patrick Livingood, and Dr, Kisha Supernant, but also builds on their work and may provide some unique ideas to further explore.
One of the challenges was figuring out which waterways might have been navigable by canoe in the past. This was done by using velocity data, volume data, identification of navigable rivers in historic texts, and comparison to historic maps
Left: An example of antropogenic changes in waterways. Right: Accumulated Cost Surface
Georectified historic map of the Cayuga Lake region
Left: Waterways and assigned transition costs. Right: Derived slope from the original DEM
N.W. parts of New York, no. 156 (between 1750 and 1768)
Library of Congress
The Journals of Samuel Kirkland 1766
Least Cost Paths based on historical waypoints recorded by Cammerhoff and Zeisberger 1750 (in white and black) and Evans, Bartram, and Weiser 1743 (in red)
Left: a Least Cost Path based on a water affinity surface vs. a LCP based on slope solely (in dashes)
Right: A Low Cost Corridor based on a land affinity cost surface
Thesis sample pages (2023)
Haudenosaunee Regional Connectivity Paths (left) and georectified Indigenous paths traced from historic maps (right)
Locating the route of Cammerhoff and Zeisberber through Tompkins County, New York State using historic sources and Least Cost Paths
3D rendering of Cammerhoff and Zeisberger's Least Cost Path travelling over South Hill in Ithaca, New York (ArcGIS Pro)
Onǫdagę́hya:t
"at the end of the hill"
Final rendering, looking out from South Hill on to the Ithaca valley and Cayuga Lake
(TerreSculptor, ArcGIS Pro, Blender)
The Least Cost Path analysis shows some alignment with Norris' interpretation, converging at Spencer and Danby along South Hill. However, flooding likely blocked the more direct route north along Cayuta Creek that Norris proposed. Considering the historical evidence and Least Cost Path, South Hill's identification as the place where Cammerhoff and Zeisberger looked out on Cayuga Lake seems most probable, which is supported by Stephen Henhawk's confirmation of the original name Onǫdagę́hya:t meaning "end of the hill." 3D visualizations from South Hill provide added perspective, giving a sense of the elevated views described in Cammerhoff's accounts. While not definitive, complementing texts with visualizations can aid identifying places like Untagechiat when combined with other evidence.
