In Western New York State, right by the border with Pennsylvania is the Allegheny Territory

that belongs to the Ono Duaga people.

People of the Great Hills, that's what it translates to in our language, so most people

call us like Seneca.

It's hard to say exactly when the Ono Duaga first came to New York, but it's been at

least a millennia and there's evidence of native habitation in the region going back

many, many, many thousands of years.

I would just say that we've always been here because nobody can prove that we haven't.

And on that land today is the Ono Següente Cultural Center, a 33,000 square foot all-purpose

space meant to educate the public on the culture of the Ono Duaga people.

And a visit to the center will show the diversity of the Ono Duaga culture as it relates

to their living on the land and how they interact with each other over the years.

For example, one is the way they settled major disputes.

They did it through a game we now call La Crosse.

And even though the modern European game of La Crosse differs from its Native American

roots, there is an exhibit at the Cultural Center, which shows how the history of La Crosse

even into the present day still intersects with the Ono Duaga people's fight for their

sovereignty.

I'm Dylan Therese and this is Atlas Obscura, celebration of the world's strange, incredible

and wondrous places.

Today, we go to the Allegheny territory of the Ono Duaga people to learn about the creators

game and the constant fight to be recognized.

...