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The Oneida people ( ; : Onʌyoteˀa·ká·, Onyota'a:ka, the People of the Upright Stone, or standing stone, Thwahrù·nęʼRudes, B. Tuscarora English Dictionary Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1999 in Tuscarora) are a Native American tribe and First Nations band government. They are one of the five founding nations of the Iroquois in the area of upstate New York, particularly near the Great Lakes.
Originally the Oneida lived in what is now central New York, particularly around Oneida Lake and Oneida County. Today the Oneida have four federally recognized nations: the Oneida Indian Nation in New York, the Oneida Nation in and around Green Bay, Wisconsin, in the United States; and two in Ontario, Canada: Oneida at Six Nations of the Grand River, and Oneida Nation of the Thames in Southwold.
Older legends have the Oneida people identifying as Latilutakówa, the "Big Tree People", "People of big trees". Not much is written about this. Iroquoian elders would have to be consulted on the oral history of this identification. The association may correspond to Iroquoian concepts of the Tree of Peace and the associated belief system of the people. Oneida Language Tools – Oneida Dictionary
Individuals born into the Oneida Nation are identified according to their spirit name, or what may be called an Indian name, their clan, and their family unit within a clan. The people have a Matrilineality kinship system, and children are considered to be born into the mother's clan, through which descent and inheritance passes. Each gender, clan, and family unit within a clan has particular duties and responsibilities in the tribe. Clan identities go back to the Creation Story of the Onyota'a:ka peoples. The people identify with three clans: the Wolf, Turtle or Bear clans. Children take their social status from their mother's clan. Because of this, her eldest brother is a significant figure for the children, especially boys. He supervises the boys' passage into adulthood as men.
But ultimately the Oneida, as well, had to choose a side. Because of their proximity and relations with the rebel communities, most Oneida favored the revolutionaries. In contrast, some of the pro-British tribes were closer to the British stronghold at Fort Niagara. In addition, the Oneida were influenced by the Presbyterian missionary Samuel Kirkland, who had worked among them since 1764. A number of Oneida were baptized as Christians in the decade before the Revolution. Kirkland worked to help them with education and their struggles with alcohol. Through relations with him, many began to form stronger cultural links to the colonists.
The Oneida officially joined the rebel side and contributed in many ways to the war effort. Their warriors were often used to scout on offensive campaigns and to assess enemy operations around Fort Stanwix (also known as Fort Schuyler). The Oneida also provided an open line of communication between the rebels and their Iroquois foes. In 1777 at the Battle of Oriskany, about fifty Oneida fought alongside the colonial militia, this included Tyonajanegen and her husband Han Yerry. Many Oneida formed friendships with Philip Schuyler, George Washington, the Marquis de Lafayette, and other prominent rebel leaders. Polly Cooper was an Oneida woman who traveled to Valley Forge in 1777 during the American Revolution.Tiro, Karim. The People Of The Standing Stone. Amherst and Boston: University of Massachusetts Press. 2011 Under Skenandoa leadership, the Oneidas brought bushels of maize to General George Washington's starving Patriot army.Richards, Cara. The Oneida People. Phoenix: Indian Tribal Series. 1974. Print. Cooper showed Washington's people how to properly cook and eat the corn. Washington's intentions were to pay cash to Cooper for her generosity, but she refused to accept compensation because she said it was her duty to serve her country. As a token of appreciation, Martha Washington, wife of George Washington, brought Cooper to Philadelphia and bought her a shawl, hat, and bonnet.Wonderley, Anthony. Oneida Iroquois Folklore, Myth, And History. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press. 2004. Print. These men recognized the Oneida contributions during and after the war.
Although leaders of the tribe had taken the colonists' side, individuals within the decentralized nation could make their own decisions about alliances. A minority, who were already a faction supporting the sachems, supported the British. As the war progressed and the Oneida position became more dire, this minority grew more numerous. When rebel colonists destroyed the important Oneida settlement at Kanonwalohale, numerous Oneida defected from the rebellion and relocated to Fort Niagara to live under British protection.
In 1838 Daniel Bread (1800–1873) helped negotiate a treaty for the Oneida in Wisconsin by which they asserted their intention to hold their piece of land communally. The amount of land had been reduced by the U.S., as had happened to the Menominee-Stockbridge Indians.
Women Oneida activists pushed tribal land claims in the early 20th century. Laura "Minnie" Cornelius Kellogg and her attorney husband (from the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin), and Mary Cornelius Winder and her sister Delia Cornelius Waterman (from the Oneida Indian Nation of New York) were particularly influential from 1920 on in pressing land claims. The women worked from their homes in Prattsburg, New York, and Oneida, Wisconsin. Laurence M. Hauptman, The Iroquois Struggle for Survival: World War II to Red Power, Syracuse University Press, 1985, pp. 187–188 Particularly after the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, Winder and her sister reached out to the Oneida of Wisconsin, and both American branches of the nation pushed jointly for their land claim. At that point, the remaining Oneida in New York had no land, and were subject to the Onondaga sharing their reservation.
They were encouraged by passage of the Indian Claims Commission Act of 1946, as before that they were unable to bring claims against the US government.Hauptman (1985), The Iroquois Struggle, pp. 187–189
In 1970 and 1974 the Oneida Indian Nation of New York, Oneida Nation of Wisconsin, and the Oneida Nation of the Thames (made up of descendants of people who did not move to Canada until the 1840s) filed suit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York to reclaim land taken from them by New York without approval of the United States Congress. In 1998, the United States intervened in the lawsuits on behalf of the plaintiffs in the claim so the claim could proceed against New York State. The state had asserted immunity from suit under the Eleventh Amendment to the United States Constitution. The Defendants moved for summary judgment based on the U. S. Supreme Court's decision in City of Sherrill v. Oneida Indian Nation and the 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals' decision in Cayuga Indian Nation v. New York
On May 21, 2007, Judge Kahn dismissed the Oneida's possessory land claims and allowed the non-possessory claims to proceed. More recent litigation has formalized the split. It defines the separate interests of the Oneida tribe who stayed in New York and those who relocated to Wisconsin. The Oneida of Wisconsin have brought suit to reacquire lands in their ancestral homelands as part of the settlement of the aforementioned litigation.Land dispute resolved in New York State
Headwear: Oneida men and women wore different headwear. For the men, they would wear traditional Iroquois headdresses called kastoweh which would consist of feathers and insignia representing their tribe. The insignia for the Oneida Nation consists of three eagle feathers; two standing straight up and one falling downwards. Oneida women on the other hand would wear beaded tiaras. The beadwork on the tiaras would most commonly be sewn in woodland designs as it is a representation of their nation.
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