Handsome Lake

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Handsome Lake
Drawing by Jesse Cornplanter
Born	Hadawa'ko 1735 Canawaugus
Died	August 10, 1815 (aged 79–80)
Nationality	Seneca
Other names	Sganyadái:yo; Sganyodaiyo; Θkanyatararí•yau•; Skanatalihyo; Ganioda'yo; Ganiodaio; Conudiu; Conudia; Ga-Nyah-Di-Yoh; Kaniatario
Occupation	Prophet
Known for	The Code of Handsome Lake (Kaliwihyo/Gaihwi:io)

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Anthropology of religion
Basic concepts Afterlife Animism Augury Communitas Comparative religion Divination Divine language Evolutionary origin of religion Fetishism Great Spirit Henotheism Initiation Laying on of hands Liminality Magic Mana Monotheism Nympholepsy Oracle Pilgrimage Polytheism Rite of passage Ritual Sacred language Sacred–profane dichotomy Sacred site Shamanism Soul dualism Superstition Theories about religion Totem Transtheism Veneration of the dead
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Related articles The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life Purity and Danger Myth and ritual Archaeology of religion and ritual Poles in mythology Lived religion Elite religion
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Handsome Lake (Ganyodaiyo') (1735 – 10 August 1815) was a Seneca religious leader of the Iroquois people. He was a half-brother to Cornplanter (Gayentwahgeh), a Seneca war chief.^[1]

Handsome Lake, a leader and prophet, played a major role in reviving traditional religion among the Haudenosaunee (People of the Longhouse), or Six Nations Iroquois Confederacy. He preached a message that combined traditional Haudenosaunee religious beliefs with a revised code meant to revive traditional consciousness to the Haudenosaunee after a long period of cultural disintegration following colonization. This message was eventually published as the "Code of Handsome Lake" and is still practiced today.