ABORIGINAL PLACE NAMES OF NEW YORK III 



formly retained, and the present form is much nearer the original 

 than the one used in Livingston county. The hills as well as the 

 waters were once known by this name. On some early treaties and 

 maps it appears as Canassaderaga creek, but the usage of the word 

 has been remarkably uniform. One erroneous definition has been 

 big elk horn. Gansevoort's men came there from Sullivan's army, 

 September 23, 1779: "Arrived at Canasaraga, a handsome village 

 & capital of the Tuscarora tribe." 



Ca-na-sto'-ta is given by Morgan as Ka-ne-to'-ta, pi)ie tree stand- 

 ing alone, while another derivation has been made from kniste, a 

 group of pines, and stota, standing still. The following statement is 

 from Mrs Hammond's history of Madison county: "Captain Per- 

 kins repaired one of the blockhouses, which stood on an eminence 

 near where Dr Jarvis now lives built on an addition, and moved in 

 . . . Not far from Capt. Perkins' house stood the cluster of pines, 

 from which it is said, Canastota derived its name." In the same his- 

 tory " It is said that the name ' Canastota,' is derived from the Indian 

 word ' Kniste,' signifying ' cluster of pines,' and ' stota,' meaning 

 ' still, silent, motionless,' which has yet greater significance. The 

 lands were low, the stream sluggish. To the swamp north of the 

 village the Indians gave the name of 'Still Waters.' Col. Caldwell 

 remarked (as given in Judge Barlow's sketch) T have many times 

 heard the Indians bid their dogs be still by saying, 'stota! stota!' or 

 'be still ! be still !' Undoubtedly, both ideas, that of the 'cluster of 

 pines' and the 'still waters,' are intended to be conveyed in the word 

 ' Canastota.' " Undoubtedly is a strong word to use. 



Barber and Howe mentioned part of this interpretation : "The 

 village takes its name from a cluster of pine trees that united their 

 branches over the creek which passes through the center of the 

 village and bears its name, called in the native dialect of the 

 Oneidas, Knistee." David Cusick also defined Kaw-na-taw-te-ruh 

 as pineries, or pine woods, in another place, and the reference to 

 pines seem? clear. The Onondagas, however, knew Canastota as 

 Kanosta, frame of a house, from their admiration of the first one 

 built there. The resemblance of this word to Knistee is also plain, 

 and the frame of a house is but a chistcr of timbers. Zeisberger 

 has Zanaejatote as the Onondaga word for frame, which is more 



