Daguerreotype of Wa-o-wa-wa-na-onk

Cased in leather, this daguerreotype of Cayuga tribal chief Wa-o-wa-wa-na-onk, also known as Peter Wilson, was made in the 1850s. Handwritten inside the case is “Wa-o-wa-wa-na-onk to his friend P.E. Thomas—Sa-ga-oh.” Wilson was a signatory to the 1838 Second Buffalo Creek Treaty, which attempted to relocate the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois Confederacy) nations from New York state. However, he later said the treaty was fraudulent. He earned a medical degree from Geneva Medical College in 1844. P25296A. Photo by Philip E. Thomas