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About Chittenango, NY

The name of the village is derived from the Oneida name for Chittenango Creek, Chu-de-nääng′, meaning "where waters run north." While the name "Chittenango" is often thought by locals to mean "river flowing north" or "where the waters divide and run north," a reference to the direction of water flow from the creek's point of origin to Oneida Lake, there is no derivation for these alternatives. On an 1825 map of the area, the village is called Chittening, a name used by early settlers which is thought to be derived directly from Chu-de-nääng′. According to American anthropologist Lewis H. Morgan who studied Iroquois customs and language in his 1851 book League of the Iroquois, the name "Chittenango" may have come from Chu-de-nääng′ Ga-hun′-da, a redundant combination of the Oneida terms for "Chittenango Creek" ( Chu-de-nääng′) and "creek" ( Ga-hun′-da). Initial growth of this village is largely attributed to the construction of the Erie Canal which officially opened in 1825, joining Buffalo on Lake Erie with Albany, the capital of New York, and the Hudson River.