Handsome Lake

Handsome Lake (Cayuga language: Sganyadái:yo, Seneca language: Sganyodaiyo) (Θkanyatararí•yau) (1735 – 10 August 1815) was a Seneca religious leader. He was an important religious leader of the Iroquois Confederacy. Handsome Lake was born in Canawaugus. His half-brother was Cornplanter. He signed the Treaty of Canandaigua (1794). He started the religious movement Gai’wiio (“Good Message”). He had been very ill and then recovered. He stopped drinking alcohol. Handsome Lake claimed that he got a revelation from spirits. The religious movement combines Iroquois and Christian elements. Handsome Lake said Natives should avoid adultery, drunkenness, laziness, and witchcraft. European colonies and disease had caused Natives to have social unrest and division. Natives welcomed this new religious movement. The Code of Handsome Lake was published in 1850.