Seneca Nation president calls on Trump to rescind order renaming Lake Ontario
Seneca Nation President J. Conrad Seneca has condemned President Donald Trump’s executive order to rename Lake Ontario as Lake America,considering it a disrespectful act toward Indigenous peoples,notably the haudenosaunee nations including the Seneca. He urges the order’s rescission, emphasizing the lake’s indigenous roots, as reflected in historical agreements like the 1794 Treaty of Canandaigua. The move comes amid heightened U.S.-Canada trade tensions, with tariffs impacting Canadian goods and reciprocal Canadian tariffs being enacted. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney also acknowledged Lake Ontario’s Indigenous heritage,noting the lake’s name originates from the Wendat word Ontari’io,meaning “the lake is lovely,the lake is big,” and predates both Canadian Confederation and U.S. independence. The president’s order affects only the U.S. government and does not alter international or Canadian designations of the lake.
Seneca Nation President J. Conrad Seneca is calling on President Donald Trump to reverse his executive order changing the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America.
One day after Trump inked an executive order on Thursday changing the name of the lake under the official U.S. government, Seneca called the move “unacceptable” and an act of “blatant disrespect toward the Seneca people, other Haudenosaunee nations, and all Indigenous people.”
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“The President cannot assert ownership over our culture or erase it through irresponsible political action,” Seneca said in a statement. “His order should be rescinded, and the name Lake Ontario should be left as it is, reflective of the Seneca people, other Haudenosaunee nations and all Indigenous people surrounding the lake.”
Seneca pointed to Lake Ontario’s indigenous roots, referencing a 1794 agreement then-President George Washington made with the Seneca Nation called the Treaty of Canandaigua. The treaty established peace between the United States and the Haudenosaunee Native American nations, of which the Seneca is a part. The Haudenosaunee nations surround Lake Ontario, in the area of New York and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec.
Trump’s order on Thursday came as part of escalating trade tensions between the U.S. and Canada, after the two countries failed to meet an agreement last Friday over tariff terms. On Aug. 22, the Trump administration’s 50% tariffs on about $20 billion worth of Canadian goods went into effect, prompting Canada to instate “dollar-for-dollar” reciprocal tariffs.
In Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney‘s response to Trump’s executive order renaming Lake Ontario on the U.S. side, he also noted the lake’s indigenous roots.
TRUMP SIGNED AN ORDER TO RENAME LAKE ONTARIO TO LAKE AMERICA — WHAT TO KNOW
“The name Lake Ontario comes from the Wendat word Ontari’io, which, appropriately, means ‘the lake is beautiful, the lake is big,’” Carney posted on X Thursday. “The name is more than 400 years old, predating both the Confederation of Canada and the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America.”
Trump’s order on the name change applies only to the U.S. government and not to any other foreign government bodies or entities.
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