Trump Violated the 1794 Treaty of Canandaigua by Changing the Name of Lake Ontario to "Lake America."

By: Donald V. Watkins

Copyrighted on August 28, 2026

Map of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy (including the Cayuga, Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Seneca and Tuscarora Nations.

The Treaty of Canandaigua is a treaty signed after the American Revolutionary War between the Grand Council of the Six Nations and President George Washington, representing the United States of America. It was signed at Canandaigua, New York, on November 11, 1794, by fifty sachems and war chiefs representing the Grand Council of the Six Nations of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy (including the Cayuga, Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Seneca and Tuscarora Nations) and by Timothy Pickering, official agent of President Washington.

The Treaty of Canandaigua signing ceremony at Canandaigua, New York, on November 11, 1794.

The Treaty established peace and friendship between the United States and the Six Nations and affirmed Haudenosaunee land rights in the state of New York, and the boundaries established by the Phelps and Gorham Purchase of 1788.

Article One of the Treaty promises “perpetual peace and friendship” between America and the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. Article Two acknowledges lands belonging to the Oneida, Onondoga, and Cayuga, and gives them the legal right to sell the land if they so wish. Article Three legally defines the perimeter of Seneca territories. Article Four maintains that America must not “claim or disturb” any lands belonging to the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. Article Five legally acknowledges that the road from “Fort Schlosser to Lake Erie, as far south as Buffalo Creek” belongs to the Seneca Nation. Article Six promises $4,500 each year to the Haudenosaunee Confederacy from America. Article Seven states that if the “perpetual peace and friendship” between the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and America were disturbed in any way, the conflict would be resolved peacefully by a third party.

Lake Ontario lies within the boundaries established for the Six Nations in the Haudenosaunee Confederacy.

Lake Ontario lies within the Haudenosaunee Confederacy.

On August 27, 2026, Donald Trump signed an Executive Order renaming Lake Ontario to “Lake America.” As expected, Trump completely ignored the Treaty, which is still active today.

The Six Nations of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy never consented to the renaming of Lake Ontario to "Lake America."

Once again, the United States has broken another active treaty with Native Americans. During the Trump administration, America's word to Native Americans means nothing.