The Oneida people (On'yote'a.ka, "People of the Standing Stone") are members of the Six Nations of the Iroquois or Ho'da'sho'ne (People of the Long House). Even before European invasion of the North American continent, these people were living in distinct territories in the northeastern section of the country. The Oneida territory was in what is now New York State, with the Mohawk Nation east of this land and the Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca territories to the west.
Today the Oneidas of Wisconsin have the largest population of the three remaining Oneida communities. The tribal enrollment in Wisconsin is 12,623, compared with approximately 1,100 in Oneida, New York, and 4,000 in Southwold, Ontario, Canada. In Wisconsin, about 4,500 enrolled members reside on the Oneida Reservation, with the remaining members living throughout the United States.
The Revolutionary War brought about significant changes in the lives of the Oneidas. Even prior to the war, there were efforts to gain the support of the Oneidas by missionaries, particularly the Reverend Samuel Kirkland, a Presbyterian missionary, as well as by other colonists and the British. At first the Oneidas wanted to remain neutral, but after their homes and fields had been destroyed, young Oneida warriors joined the war and fought on the side of the colonists while elders, women, and children fled their homes. The Tuscaroras (the sixth Iroquois nation) joined the Oneidas, and both played vital roles in the war. They not only fought alongside the colonists, but also served as lead guides and scouts for the American cause. In the winter of 1777, the Oneidas and Tuscaroras provided bags of corn for George Washington's starving army at Valley Forge even though they themselves did not have enough food.
After the war, devastation was evident everywhere. Houses had to be rebuilt and fields and orchards had to be replanted, and even though the Oneidas made attempts to regain past lifestyles, the community's traditional economic and social systems were changing rapidly. The massive immigration of Europeans onto Oneida lands disrupted hunting and endangered the food supply. Even though the Oneidas, like other Iroquois, had been a horticultural people prior to the war, the expectations after the war were that they should develop European-style agriculture.
In 1784 the Treaty of Fort Stanwix was to have guaranteed the Oneidas and Tuscaroras territorial lands in New York in exchange for their help in the Revolutionary War. This guarantee came from the Continental Congress, but the state of New York later ignored this treaty and worked actively to remove all Indians from its borders. As a consequence, the Oneidas steadily lost their lands in New York. The loss of lands was one of the most significant factors that led to the Oneida people moving out of New York. Some Oneidas remained, but most moved to Wisconsin Territory or migrated north to Ontario, Canada, where the Mohawks and other Iroquois groups had located after the war.
At the same time that white settlers pressed onto their lands, missionaries sought to change the Oneidas' beliefs. Eleazer Williams, an Episcopal missionary of Mohawk descent, was the most prominent of these. He moved to Oneida country in 1816 and established a mission that preached Christianity in the Oneidas' native language. Williams soon set about persuading the Oneidas and other Indian nations in New York to move west to the lands beyond Lake Michigan. With support from his superiors in the church as well as land speculators and the War Department, Williams pressed his case.
After his second trip to Wisconsin Territory, Williams completed an agreement with the Menominees that permitted the Oneidas to settle near Green Bay, Wisconsin. In 1822, Chief Shenandoah, grandson of the Chief Shenandoah who had helped lead the Oneida warriors during the Revolutionary War, and Chief Daniel Bread, an educated leader who spoke both Oneida and English, agreed to pay the Menominees an initial payment of one thousand dollars in goods and the same amount over the next two years in exchange for the right to settle on Menominee lands.
Over the next ten years, hundreds of Oneidas moved to their new homelands. More than one hundred men, women, and children arrived in 1823, and in 1825 they established a permanent village near Duck Creek, a settlement that still exists today. The last large Oneida group to move west arrived in 1832 under the leadership of the Oneida Methodist leader Jake Cornelius. This group settled on the southern portion of the modern reservation. This latter group resisted Christianity longer than others, but in fact the Oneidas retained many of their traditional beliefs and practices, the most prevalent being their language, foods, and medicine societies.
Though Oneida history has been marked by continual changes, the community has maintained its ability to adapt while never losing sight of its traditions. These traditions are still alive today in the way Oneidas view themselves as well as in how they are viewed by others. Past traditions include the Oneida language, which survives in the tribal school and among elders, and the Longhouse traditions that mark seasonal celebrations, which have been revived. In addition, traditional foods—particularly corn, beans, and squash—have not been forgotten and are paid respect in the community's thanksgiving celebrations.
In the late nineteenth century, the Dawes Allotment Act caused the loss of Oneida land, but the tribe was able to retain a portion of its lands. The Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 allowed the Oneidas to set up an elected form of government and begin the process of economic development. This development accelerated during the 1960s and has continued to the present, but not without the vision and hard work of the people. In recent years a successful gaming industry has brought prosperity to the Wisconsin Oneidas and provided an important source of income for community schools and social services. The community continues to struggle to defend its sovereignty rights, however, and to plan a future that includes generations of Oneidas yet to be born. In looking to the future in this way the Oneida people have a most important source of insuring their future.
Jack Campisi and Laurence Hauptman, eds., The Oneida Indian Experience: Two Perspectives (Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press, 1988); Barbara Graymont, The Iroquois in the American Revolution (Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press, 1972); Cara E. Richards, The Oneida People (Phoenix, Ariz.: Indian Tribal Series, 1974).
Thelma Cornelius McLester
Oneida
Oneida Nation of Wisconsin
