Chittenango, New York

Chittenango is a village located in Madison County, New York, in the United States. The village is in the south part of the Town of Sullivan. The population was 5,081 at the 2010 census.

History

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 Onedia terms for "Chittenango Creek" (Chu-de-nääng′) and "creek" (Ga-hun′-da).