One day while Vinny & Trenten were at school, Landy was working, and Julie was grocery shopping David and I went to the Ganondagan Historical Site located right there in town
The Ganondagan State Historic Site is a Haudenosaunee (Iroquois confederation) site located atop a hummocky glacial topography in a glorious setting on Boughton Hill. The large visitors center is well curated and loaded with artifacts and dioramas depicting life in the settlement. Since we had followed the Seneca trail on most of our journeys to and from West Virginia to New York in the K2R2 it seemed only natural to stop and visit the only reconstructed Haudenosaunee longhouse.
An agricultural powerhouse, Ganondagan was composed of 150 houses, each housing a family unit of around 12-40 people. The surrounding fields produced a majority of the corn, squash and beans (called the “Three Sisters” by “the nations”) for the area. One of the longhouses has been reconstructed based upon the archeological evidence and historical writings to its original likeness. Inside the nearly two story structure one finds that it has been meticulously decorated in furnishings, personal items, and tools so as to look like the inhabitants stepped out only moments earlier. Fire hardened tree poles driven into the ground and lashed together with long strips of bark that was then covered with large panels of unrolled tree bark that was then woven into the frame made a weatherproof dwelling. A large open seam in the apex allowed for smoke to escape from a series of fires built in the middle of the longhouse between bunk beds located along the walls. Large doors were located at each end of the longhouse. Inside it is easy to imagine an extended family living together in an environment with no privacy that did not allow many secrets, grudges or anger to fester.
The surrounding 150 acres has miles of trails, some with interpretive placards and are great for hiking. And the gift shop, although closed during our visit, looked excellent.
