Oneida tribe

Oneida
Total population
	100,000+
Regions with significant populations
Languages
	Onyota'aka, English, other Iroquoian dialects
Religions
	Kai'hwi'io, Kanoh'hon'io, Kahni'kwi'io, Christianity, Longhouse, Handsome Lake, Other Indigenous Religion
Related ethnic groups
	Seneca Nation, Onondaga Nation, Tuscarora Nation, Mohawk Nation, Cayuga Nation, other Iroquoian peoples

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The Oneida (Onyota'a:ka or Onayotekaono, meaning the People of the Upright Stone, or standing stone, Thwahrù•nęˀ^[1] in Tuscarora) are a Native American/First Nations people and are one of the five founding nations of the Iroquois Confederacy in the area of upstate New York. The Iroquois call themselves Haudenosaunee ("The people of the longhouses") in reference to their communal lifestyle and the construction of their dwellings.

Originally the Oneida inhabited the area that later became central New York, particularly around Oneida Lake and Oneida County.

The People of the Standing Stone

The name Oneida is the English mispronunciation of Onyota'a:ka. Onyota'a:ka means people of the Standing Stone. The identity of the People of the Standing Stone is based on a legend in which the Oneida people were being pursued on foot by an enemy tribe. The Oneida people were chased into a clearing within the woodlands and disappeared instantaneously. The enemy of the Oneida could not find them and so it was said that these people had turned themselves into stones that had stood in the clearing. As a result, they became known as the People of the Standing Stone.

There are older legends in which the Oneida people self-identify as the Big Tree People. Not much is written about this and Iroquoian elders would have to be consulted as to the oral history of that. This may simply correspond to other Iroquoian notions of the Great Tree of Peace and the associated belief system of the people.

Individuals born into the Oneida Nation are identified according to their spirit name, or what we now call an Indian name, their clan, and their family unit within a clan. Further to that, each gender, clan and family unit within a clan all have particular duties and responsibilities. Clan identities go back to the Creation Story of the Onyota'a:ka peoples and there are three clans that the people identify with, either the Wolf, Turtle or Bear clans. A person's clan is the same as his or her mother's clan.

In the face of colonizing forces that tried to assimilate or extinguish the Original Nations of North America, the majority of the Oneida Nation people who descend from the Oneida Settlement can still identify their clan. Further, if a person does not have a clan because their mother is not Oneida, then the Nation still makes provisions for customary adoptions into one of the clans. However, the act of adopting is primarily a responsibility of the Wolf clan, so many adoptees are Wolf.

History

American Revolution

The Oneidas, along with the five other tribes of the Iroquois Confederacy, initially maintained a policy of neutrality in the American Revolution. This policy allowed the Confederacy increased leverage against both sides in the war, because they could threaten to join one side or the other in the event of any provocation. Neutrality quickly crumbled, however. The preponderance of the Mohawks, Senecas, Cayugas, and Onondagas sided with the loyalists. For some time, the Oneidas continued advocating neutrality and attempted to restore consensus among the six tribes of the Confederacy. But ultimately the Oneidas, as well, had to choose a side. Because of their closer proximity to rebel communities, most Oneidas favored the colonists (in contrast, the pro-British tribes were closer to the British stronghold at Fort Niagara). In addition, the Oneidas were influenced by the Protestant missionary Samuel Kirkland, who had spent several decades among them and through whom they had begun to form stronger cultural links to the colonists.

The Oneidas officially joined the rebel side and contributed in many ways to the war effort. Their warriors were often used as scouts on both offensive campaigns and in detecting enemy operations around Fort Stanwix (also known as Fort Schuyler). The Oneidas 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 American militia. Many Oneidas formed friendships with Philip Schuyler, George Washington, and the Marquis de La Fayette and other prominent rebel leaders. These men recognized their contributions during and after the war, and Congress declared, "sooner should a mother forget her children" than we should forget you.^[2]

Although the tribe had taken the colonists' side, individuals within the Oneida nation possessed the right to make their own choices, and a minority supported the British. As the war progressed and the Oneida position became more dire, this minority grew more numerous. When the important Oneida settlement at Kanonwalohale was destroyed, a large number of Oneidas defected and relocated to Fort Niagara to live under British protection.

1794 Treaty of Canandaigua

After the war they were displaced by retaliatory and other raids. In 1794 they, along with other Haudenosaunee nations, signed the Treaty of Canandaigua with the United States. They were granted 6 million acres (24,000 km²) of lands, primarily in New York; this was effectively the first Indian reservation in the United States. Subsequent treaties and actions by the State of New York drastically reduced this to 32 acres (0.1 km²). In the 1830s many of the Oneida relocated into Canada and Wisconsin, because of the rising tide of Indian removals.

Culture

Governance, from an Iroquoian perspective, uses the metaphor that the HOUSE has already been built for the Iroquois people and their descendants by the ancient Peacemaker, his Helper, and the original 50 Chiefs. The responsibiltiy of the Oneida people and the other four Nations (Mohawks,Cayuga, Senecas and Onondagas) is the continuous renewal and maintenance of the house or the government to ensure that the political titles of Chiefs are filled by new leaders. Very aptly, the term Haudenosaunee is how many Iroquois people self-identify, which means that they are builders of longhouses, and the longhouse is also a symbol of Iroquoian government.

The story and the teachings of the Great Peace belong to all Iroquois people, not just the Oneida people, and this rule of law, indigenous-style, was open to all who chose to fall under it. The Great Law of Peace was based on natural law, but was also intended to be a living law which is at work when the Oneida people and Iroquois interacted within their long houses, families, clans, within their nations, and their entire Confederacy.

The beauty of the Great Law of Peace is that it recognizes that in a society of people, any people, that we are individuals but that we must balance our existence the context of a collective or community. The Great Law is actually a collection of many stories about how we decided we were all going to live together within Creation and that we could live in peace if we all took responsibility to exercise a GOOD MIND.

It is a story about a collective, therefore one voice or one pen will never be able to provide an oral narrative of the collective. Individuals seeking to relay an understanding of the original governance structure of the Oneida people can only provide a piece of that total picture to others about the Great Law of Peace. Therefore, the history of the different parts of this ancient rule of law lies within different regions of the Iroquois Confederacy.

Oneida Bands and First Nations today

Oneida Indian Nation in New York

The Oneida Indian Nation (OIN) is the Oneida tribe that resides in New York and currently owns a number of businesses and tribal land in Verona, NY, Oneida, NY, and Canastota, NY.

In the early 1990s, the Oneida tribe originally opened a bingo house. One of its more active members, Ray Halbritter, opened a tax free gas station across the street, known as SavOn (not to be confused with a gas station chain that exists in the western side of the US). The cheaper gasoline made the gas station popular among the community, and eventually SavOn was bought by the Oneida Indian Nation and expanded into multiple locations within the area.

The most profitable business is the Turning Stone Casino & Resort, which has been expanding continuously since its inception. It began as a bingo hall and quickly grew into a huge facility that is considered a Class III gaming facility. The site includes nationally ranked hotels and restaurants. Many shows are performed throughout the year, as the resort is the host for a fall Professional Golfers' Association (PGA) tournament.

Oneida Nation of Wisconsin

A watertower for the Oneida Nation in Oneida

The Oneida Nation of Wisconsin is an Indian reservation of the Oneida tribe on the west side of the Green Bay metropolitan area. It comprises portions of eastern Outagamie County and western Brown County. The shape of the reservation is an angled rectangle directed to the northeast, due to the area's layout along the Fox River, which runs in the same direction. The reservation has a land area of 265.168 km² (102.382 sq mi) and a 2000 census population of 21,321 persons, over half of whom live on reservation land that is also part of the city of Green Bay. The only community entirely on the reservation is Oneida.

The Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin is a sovereign nation, enjoying the same tribal sovereignty as all recognized Indian tribes in the United States. Theirs is a limited sovereignty—the tribes are recognized as "domestic dependent nations" within the United States—but to the degree permitted by that sovereignty, they are an independent nation outside of state law. The tribe's sovereignty means the state of Wisconsin is limited in the extent to which it can intervene legally in tribal matters.

With a series of casinos near Green Bay, Wisconsin, the Oneida tribe has, in a manner of only a few decades, gone from being a destitute people to enjoying a fair amount of social prosperity by investing a large portion of their profits back into their community, including a sponsorship of the Green Bay Packers. The means by which the Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin betters its community has raised controversy, as has Indian gaming throughout the country.

The new wealth generated by the tribe's gaming and other enterprises has enabled the tribe to provide many benefits for the members on the tribal rolls. Oneidas have free dental, medical and optical insurance, and they receive $800 every October. As with all other tribes, the Oneidas define who qualifies to be on those rolls. The Oneidas' requirements are fairly liberal, based entirely on blood quantum: members are those with at least 1/4 Oneida blood. There is no additional requirement of matrilineality, as with the New York Oneidas and other tribes.

Many citizens of Green Bay, and many members of the Oneida tribe, have voiced concerns about the long-term detrimental effects a casino could have on the social structure and economy of Green Bay and within the tribe.

Oneida Nation of Thames

The Oneida Nation of the Thames is an Onyota'a:ka (Oneida) First Nation located in southwestern Ontario on what is commonly referred to as the "Oneida Settlement," located about a 20-minute drive from London, Ontario, Canada.

The community contains three sub-divisions, a community center, and three parks. Bingo and radio bingo are very popular, and sports are important. The people attend long house and the annual ceremonies, and the Oneida language is taught to all children in school.

The Oneida people who live in this reserve have a traditional long house and government. The people own their own businesses. Two elementary schools have been built: Standing Stone and The Log School. A health clinic is located in downtown Oneida, which also includes a radio station, administration building, golden ages rest home, a volunteer fire hall, and a little market.

One of the annual secular events that the Oneida Nation of the Thames people engage is the Oneida Fair. The Oneida Fair was once a place and a time where the Oneida people could celebrate and compete in agricultural events and other events associated with their historical rural lifestyle.

Most Oneida people today are not agriculturalists and the rural lifestyle of the Oneida people today is not one which depends on a rural garden, home canning, baking, sewing, arts and crafts, and the raising of livestock is now a rarity on the Oneida settlement. This is largely due to the social welfare system of Canada and the easy access that the Oneida people have to urban centres. However, every year people do participate and enter the various agricultural and home arts competitions of the fair, albeit on a smaller scale.

Oneida at Six Nations of the Grand River

Six Nations of the Grand River is the name applied to two contiguous Indian reserves southeast of Brantford, Ontario, Canada.

The original reserve was granted by Frederick Haldimand under the Haldimand Proclamation of October 1784 to Joseph Brant and his Iroquois followers in appreciation of their support for the Crown during the American Revolution. In 1785 a census showed that 1,843 Natives lived there which included 448 Mohawk, 381 Cayuga, 245 Onondaga, 162 Oneida, 129 Tuscarora, and 78 Seneca. There were also 400 from other tribes including Delawares, Nanticokes, Tutelos, and even some Creeks and Cherokees (Kelsay 1984). Joseph Brant also invited several white families to live on the grant, particularly former members of Brant's Volunteers and Butler's Rangers.

Today, Six Nations of the Grand River is the most populous reserve in Canada, with a recorded population in 2001 of 21,474. The reserve has both a traditional Iroquois council of chiefs and an elected band council conforming to Canadian government requirements.

Recent litigation

The Oneida Indian Nation of New York, Oneida Nation of Wisconsin, and the Oneida Nation of the Thames commenced actions to reclaim land that was taken from them without the approval of the United States in 1970 and 1974 in the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York. In 1998, the United States intervened in the lawsuits on behalf of the plaintiffs in the claim in order for the claim to proceed against New York State in light of its assertion of its immunity from suit under the Eleventh Amendment to the United States Constitution.^[3] The Defendants moved for summary judgment based on the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in City of Sherrill v. Oneida Indian Nation^[4] and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit's decision in Cayuga Indian Nation v. New York^[5] on May 21, 2007 Judge Kahn dismissed the Oneida's possessory land claims and allowed the non-possessory claims to proceed.^[6]

More recent litigation has formalized the split between the Oneida tribe that stayed in New York and the Oneida tribe that left to live in Wisconsin. These litigations focused around the Wisconsin Oneida tribe's desire to reacquire lands in their ancestral homelands as a part of the settlement of the aforementioned litigation. An additional part of that proposed settlement is land for a casino of their own in New York, in lieu of a large cash settlement; these proposals are also a part of the ongoing litigation.

Notable Oneida

Ohstahehte, the original Oneida Chief who accepted the Message of the Great Law of Peace.
Graham Greene, actor.
Cody McCormick, NHL hockey player for Colorado Avalanche.
Joanne Shenandoah, award-winning singer and performer.
Tehaliwaskenhas Bob Kennedy (Turtle Island)
Moses Schuyler, co-founder of the Oneida Nation of the Thames Settlement.
Garrison Chrisjohn, X-Files actor.
Alex Elijah I (Pine Tree Chief & Haudenosaunee Expert)
Charlie Hill, comedian, entertainer.
Mary Wheeler, land claims activist.
Evan John I, oral historian, traditional agriculture and horticulture expert.
Demus Elm, oral historian, Haudenosaunee expert.
Polly Cooper, leader, friend of Washington.
Venus Walker, oral historian, Haudenosaunee ceremonies expert.
Loretta Metoxin, leader, Oneida historian.
Dr. Eileen Antone, academic, adult education expert.
Harley Elijah Sr., President of Ironworkers Union Local 700.
Gino Odjick, NHL hockey player for Vancouver Canucks, New York Islanders, Flyers, Canadians.
Chief Skenandoah, Oneida leader during the American Revolution.
Carl J. Artman, Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Jay Silverheels - best known as Tonto on The Lone Ranger

Notes

↑ Rudes, B. Tuscarora English Dictionary Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1999
↑ Glathaar, Martin.
↑ http://www.madisoncounty.org/motf/fed128.html
↑ City Of Sherrill V. Oneida Indian Nation Of N. Y
↑ http://www.upstate-citizens.org/USDC-Oneida-SJ-MOL.pdf
↑ http://www.upstate-citizens.org/USDC-Oneida-SJ-Decision.pdf

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

Glatthaar, Joseph T. and James Kirby Martin. 2006. Forgotten Allies: the Oneida Indians and the American Revolution. New York, NY: Hill and Wang. ISBN 0809046016.
Levinson, David. 1976. An Explanation for the Oneida-Colonist Alliance in the American Revolution. Ethnohistory 23:3:265-289.

Oneida Reservation and Off-Reservation Trust Land, Wisconsin United States Census Bureau
Graymont, Barbara, The Iroquois in the American Revolution, 1972, ISBN 0-8156-0083-6
Kelsay, Isabel, Joseph Brant 1743-1780 Man of Two Worlds, 1984, ISBN 0-8156-0182-4
Taylor, Alan, The Divided Ground, 2006, ISBN 0-679-45471-3

External links

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[1] Rudes, B. Tuscarora English Dictionary Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1999

[2] Glathaar, Martin.

[3] ttp://www.madisoncounty.org/motf/fed128.html

[4] City Of Sherrill V. Oneida Indian Nation Of N. Y

[5] ttp://www.upstate-citizens.org/USDC-Oneida-SJ-MOL.pdf

[6] ttp://www.upstate-citizens.org/USDC-Oneida-SJ-Decision.pdf

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Iroquois Confederacy
Nations	Cayuga · Mohawk · Oneida · Onondaga · Seneca · Tuscarora
Topics	Economy · Languages · Mythology · Great Law of Peace · The Great Peacemaker