Oneida

This article deals with the Oneida people. For more meanings, see Oneida (disambiguation)

The Oneida within the five nations of the Iroquois, tribal area around 1650

The Oneida or Onyota'a: ka or Onyota'ake ("people of the (upright) standing stone") are a tribe of the Haudenosaunee ("people of the longhouse "), better known as the Iroquois League or Iroquois Confederation , an alliance from originally five (later six) tribes or nations of the Iraqi language family . In common parlance, these tribes are called the Iroquois . They are one of the indigenous groups of the Indians of North America . The living and hunting area of ​​the Oneida lay between the territory of the Mohawk in the east and the Onondaga in the west.

The indigenous name in use today for the Iroquois League is derived from two phonetically similar but etymologically different words in the Seneca language: Hodínöhšö: ni: h ("people of the long house") or Hodínöhsö: ni: h ("long house builder "), the Mohawk, however, referred to the confederation in their language as Rotinonsionni ("people of the longhouse").

The indigenous names or designations for the individual tribes are first given in the naming convention commonly used today, followed by the self-designation ( autonym ) if possible , then the Seneca designation (historically mostly the most common), then the Mohawk designation and last the ceremonial council name (mostly borrowed from the Mohawk).

The tribes of the Iroquois League included (from east to west):

• Mohawk ( Kanien'kehá: ka / Kanien'kehake - "People from the Land of Flint ", Kanienkahagen; Council name: "Guardian / Guardian of the Eastern Gate")
• Oneida ( Onyota'a: ka / Onyota'ake - "people of the (upright) standing stone", Onayotekaono or Oneniotehá: ka / Oneniote'á: ka; Council name: Latilutakówa (Onondaga) or Nihatironta'kó: wa (Mohawk) - "People of the big trees / tree trunks")
• Onondaga ( Onoñda'gega '/ Onöñda'gaga' , Onundagaono or Ononta'kehá: ka - "people from the place on the hills, ie from Onondaga", council name: Gana'dagwëni: io'geh or Rotishennakéhte (Mohawk) or Kayečisnakwe 'nì · yu' (Tuscarora) - "keeper of the council fire")
• Cayuga ( Gayogohó: no ' - "People of the Great Marshes", Guyohkohnyoh or Kanawakonhá: ka, Alternative Mohawk name: Kahoniokwenhá: ke - "People from the place where the boats are taken out of the water", Council name: Shotinennawen'tó : wane - "people / keepers of the great pipe")
• Seneca ( Onondowahgah / Onödowá'ga: ' - "People from the great mountain", Tsonontowanehá: ka / Tsonontowane'á: ka - "People from Tsonontó: wane (the great mountain)", Alternative Mohawk name: Shotinontó: wane - " Your (inhabited) mountain is big ", council name: Rontehnhohanónhnha / Ratihnhohanónhnha or Ronatehnhóhonte / Rotihnhóhonte -" guardian / guardian of the western gate ")
• Tuscarora ( Ska-Ruh-Reh - "hemp collectors" or "shirt-wearing people", Thatihskarò: roks / Tehatiskaró: ros / Taskaroraha: ka / Taskarorahaka; from 1722; had no right to vote in the council, were represented by the Oneida).

The area of ​​the Iroquois League was located in what is now the central part of the US state of New York . The Mohawk's residential and hunting area was the largest within the Iroquois League and was furthest to the east; they were therefore called guardians of the eastern gate - the Seneca with about 4,000 tribesmen by far the largest tribe within the league were the westernmost nation and therefore the guardians of the western gate (since the Iroquois / Haudenosaunee compared their alliance with a longhouse).

The Iroquois League was first known to the French as Ligue des Iroquois and later as Confédération iroquoise ("Iroquois League ") or Ligue des Cinq-Nations and to the British as Five Nations ("Five Nations"); from 1722 with the entry of Tuscarora after the lost Tuscarora War as Ligue des Six Nations or Six Nations ("Six Nations"). Politically, had the Seneca in the final decision-making in the Council (Grand Council) of the Haudenosaunee as so-called. "Older Brothers" ( Elder Brothers very large) together with the Mohawk and Onondaga impact. Due to the central / central location of their tribal area, their capital "Onondaga" was also the seat of the Great Council (consisting of 50 elected clan chiefs or Hoyane ) of the Haudenosaunee and the Onondaga symbolically the keepers of the council fire of the Iroquois League ; They were responsible for the preparation, organization and decision-making of the council meetings as well as the preservation of the wampums , which were used to document the council decisions. The chiefs were organized into three groups: the "older brothers" ( Older Brothers - 8 Seneca chiefs and 9 Mohawk chiefs), the "younger brothers" ( Younger Brothers , with 9 Oneida chiefs and 10 Cayuga chiefs) and the "keepers of the council fire" ( fire keepers , with 14 Onondaga chiefs), the Onondaga therefore had an outstanding and often decisive function. Today there are also 6 Tuscaro chiefs, previously the Tuscarora had no voting rights in the tribal council.

Today members of the Oneida live in the Oneida Indian Nation of New York in New York, in the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin in Wisconsin , in and around the town of Green Bay in Wisconsin as well as in the reservation of the Six Nations of the Grand River and in the Oneida Nation of the Thames in Southwold , Ontario , Canada.

Residential and hunting area

In the 17th century, the Oneida villages were located in the catchment area of Oneida Creek , which flows into Oneida Lake . The Oneida also inhabited Wood Creek and the upper valley of the Mohawk River . Their hunting area extended to the north to the Saint Lawrence River and to the south to the Susquehanna River . At the time of their first contact with Europeans, they had only one main village, which bore the same name as the tribe. The first authentic description of a Oneida village comes from a Dutchman, probably Hermen Mmeyndertsz van den Bogaert , who visited Oneida in 1634. At that time the village was protected by palisades and comprised 66 houses. It was probably in what is now Munnsville in Madison County , New York. The French Jesuit and missionary Jacques Bruyas established the Saint Francois Xavier Mission there in 1667 . According to his report, the Oneida village was about five leagues (20 km) from Oneida Lake. Another traditional description of the village comes from Wentworth Greenhalgh from 1677. He reports of a palisade-protected place with about 100 houses, which was east of a narrow river. The village had been rebuilt at that time, so the residents had to buy additional corn from their neighbors, the Onondaga. Apparently it was the same village that the French destroyed in 1696.

Even in the eighteenth century, the largest Oneida village was near Oneida Lake. In 1757 there were two villages here: the larger one was about 8 km from the lake, while the smaller one was on the lake shore. Around 1762 there was a new village called Canowaroghere (where a skull is impaled). Around this time, several Oneida families lived in Oquaga , now Windsor in the Canadian province of Ontario.

In the eighteenth century, the Oneida took in numerous members of other Indian tribes. After the Tuscarora Wars (1711–1713), many Tuscarora moved north and settled on Oneidaland. In 1785 the Stockbridge Indians accepted the invitation of the Oneida and established the village of New Stockbridge in their neighborhood. In 1788, more dispersed Indians came to the east coast, including Mahican , Mohegan , Pequot , Narraganset and Montauk . They established Brothertown near New Stockbridge .

Over the course of a century, the way of living of the Oneida had also changed. While around 1634 they still lived in long houses that could accommodate up to 20 families, around 1750 there were almost exclusively single-family houses.

history

Fur trade and beaver wars

French fur traders in Canada in the eighteenth century

Contact with Europeans, first with Dutch and French and later with English, led to significant changes in the way of life of the Oneida. European goods replaced animal skins and hides, while traditional clothing styles continued to be preferred in the eighteenth century. Pots made of clay and tree bark were replaced by pots made of copper and iron. The Indians probably learned how to weave basketry from the Dutch and Swedes. When hunting, the Oneida now used rifles, knives, hatchets and iron traps, which replaced bows and arrows, as well as stone tools, tree traps and snares.

The Oneida participated early on in the fur trade , which changed their social and political system and led to an almost endless series of wars and treaties between the various parties. The Oneida warriors roamed an area that stretched from the Saint Lawrence River in the north to South Carolina in the south, and from the Atlantic coast in the east to the Mississippi River in the west. By 1640, the animal stocks in the eastern Iroquois area were almost exhausted and the Oneida feared a crisis. Although they had enough food, the fur trade ensured the acquisition of European goods. By now they had got used to the use of European weapons and tools, so that the traditional way of making these things had been forgotten. By 1640, there were two competing trade networks in the American Northeast using different methods. The first had developed between the Algonquian , Hurons and French, while the second existed between the Iroquois and Dutch and later the English. Each party tried to challenge the other to control the limited fur available, a competitive struggle that eventually led to a 60-year series of wars. In the course of these Beaver Wars, the Oneida fought preferentially against the eastern Algonquin tribes and the Hurons. Their campaigns stretched as far as Virginia and Maryland , much to the annoyance of the governors of these English colonies.

Together with their tribal brothers united in the Iroquois League, they subjugated or destroyed the neighboring tribes, including the Hurons, Neutral , Petun , Potawatomi , Ottawa and Susquehannock . Iroquois rule extended to Green Bay in Illinois in the west and beyond Pennsylvania in the south . The Jesuit Jerome Lalemant aptly remarked: "... it is astonishing that so few people can cause such harm and are feared by such a large number of other tribes."

Because their tribe was relatively small, they feared the loss of tribesmen through war. So they tried to solve this problem by adopting captured enemies and borrowing warriors from other tribes. The Jesuit records from 1645–46 report the repopulation of the tribe by Mohawk warriors as a result of the losses caused by a devastating defeat of the Oneida against the Hurons and Algonquin. From the records of the Jesuit Bruyas it emerges in 1668 that two thirds of the Oneida population at that time consisted of former Algonquians and Hurons. This remarkable transformation of the enemy into a tribal member was only possible because the individual was not only adopted but also took on a specific role in the family that had become free through the dead. Under the watchful eyes of the leading women, they quickly learned what was expected of them. If they disappoint the clan mother , it could mean their death.

The demands for retaliation were obvious reasons for new campaigns, while the prospect of booty raised the reputation of the tribal leaders. Even the official end of the wars in 1698 and the assured neutrality of the English and French against the Iroquois could not stop isolated raids. This form of war had developed too much into an important aspect of the Iroquois prestige system. The warriors had realized that this would give them power and prestige in the tribe and the status of Pinetree chief . Young warriors followed skilled leaders, and a person with large following was able to turn prestige into power. Oneida leaders, such as the adopted Susquehannock warrior Shenandoah and Daniel Bread , were prominent examples. The result was a growing number of Pinetree chiefs who became an increasing burden on the political structure in Oneida society. Two factions had developed: a chief faction , which traditionally received its power from the clan mothers, and a warrior faction , which owed its reputation to military successes. While the warriors had sufficient power to withstand the dictates of the tribal elders, they lacked sufficient support from the population.

The eighteenth century

Oneida chief Skikellamy around 1740

A Presbyterian clergyman named Samuel Kirkland (1741-1808) built a church in 1767 with the Oneida. By the 1740s, a new movement had emerged called the Great Awakement . Kirkland was a follower of the fundamentalist teachings of Jonathan Edwards , which preached determinism , strict self-discipline , repentance , renewal, and baptism . He admonished the Oneida to give up their traditional beliefs and urged individuals to repent and accept Jesus Christ and the New Light if they were to be saved.

Kirkland challenged the followers of the traditional faith and found that his followers came mostly from circles of the warrior. He did not want an argument, but tried to introduce a religious confirmation of the existing political reality. In his journal, published in 1770, he emphasized: "... the warriors must not be under the control of hereditary sachems ." In doing so, he attacked the symbolic basis of the political structures and challenged the sachems' resistance.

In the 1760s, despite their officially proclaimed neutrality, the Oneida were forced into a new, costly war. After considerable pressure from both the English and the French, the Oneida eventually sided with the English in the so-called French and Indian War. In addition, there was increasing pressure from white settlers who claimed the land of the Indians. During the same period, the Oneida suffered several famine. Alcoholism, tribal disputes, and crime were commonplace. From Kirkland's point of view, he couldn't have asked for a better time for his plans.

American War of Independence

George Washington, Lansdowne portrait by Gilbert Stuart, 1796

When the American War of Independence began, the Oneida were influenced by two opposing sides. Samuel Kirkland supported the American cause while William Johnson was on the British side. Johnson was the Commissioner of Indian Affairs and by far the most influential white man in the Iroquois Territory. The Oneida withstood Kirkland's attempts at conversion at the expense of increasing cleavage. Although the sachems leaned on the British side, there was a group of pro-American warriors led by the respected Shenandoah who prevented official pro-English action. Shenandoah was a close confidante and follower of Kirkland. After years of indecision, the Iroquois League fire in Onondaga was finally extinguished. So it was up to each tribe of the Iroquois League which side they wanted to take. The pro-American side of the Oneida and the Tuscarora allies with them did not remain neutral, but demanded that the council fire in Albany be re-lit. In 1779, General George Washington ordered the attack on the Onondaga, Cayuga and Seneca villages.

The Oneida only supported the Americans in one campaign. When the British attacked the colony of New York in 1777 , the Oneida fought in the Battle of Oriskany against Colonel Barry St. Leger and Joseph Brant's invading forces and prevented the unification of two British armies. In the winter of 1777/78 Washington's troops were starving in Valley Forge . Chief Shenandoah arranged for his tribe to fetch food from their reserves several hundred kilometers on foot. Polly Cooper stayed at the camp to show the soldiers how to process white corn, which differed greatly from the yellow varieties that are common today. Martha Washington is said to have given her presents for this, one of which, a shawl, is still kept today.

Like their American allies, the Oneida suffered from the hardships of the war. After a warning, about 30 Oneida left their homeland in June 1780 and moved to Niagara . The following month their villages were burned down. The Oneida who stayed behind fled either to Niagara or to Schenectady , where they suffered from very poor living conditions and were dependent on alms. At the end of the War of Independence, the Oneida lived widely between Niagara and Schenectady, their villages were destroyed and the fields devastated. Their social fabric had collapsed and the allies from the Iroquois League had become estranged. There were frequent famines and many tribesmen died from deficiency diseases. This Oneida group had to pay a heavy price for its loyalty to the British. Examples of social decline have been published in contemporary literature. Alcoholism, murders and suicides, as well as factionalism, indicated an increasing collapse of Oneida society in the post-war period.

Disintegration of tribal unity

Towards the end of the war, a large number of tribal members, both pro-British and pro-American, had returned to their former home on Lake Oneida. The course of the war had intensified the differences between them. They settled in five neighboring villages, each of which formed its own tribal council. Kirkland wrote in September 1790: "... yesterday morning the Oneida had a meeting in the tribal council to discuss the current legal disputes." Between 1783 and 1800 there were numerous meetings of this kind without the disputes being settled.

The problems within the Oneida worsened under the influence of the neighboring white population. Kirkland lamented on November 2, 1793: "... the unscrupulous whites in the village are a nuisance and prevent any good work." So it was easy to persuade some Oneida to sell or lease tribal land. In 1788 a commission led by John Livingston convinced the Oneida to lease most of their land for 999 years. However, this treaty was illegal under the New York State Constitution and was annulled by the legislature.

Interest in Oneida's land was not limited to private buyers. New York State also intended to buy land for white settlement. At the end of the war, both New York State and the federal government paid tribute to the sacrifices and merits of the Oneida and guaranteed their territorial integrity in the Treaty of Fort Stanwix in 1784. That Continental Congress pledge included nearly six million acres (24,288 km²) of land and land was confirmed in the later treaties of Fort Hamar 1789, Canandaigua 1794, and Oneida 1794. In addition, the United States Congress passed the Indian Non-Intercourse Act in 1790 , which gave national governments sole negotiation with Indian tribes. New York State thereafter voided all land purchases made after 1775 without government approval.

But these generous guarantees were soon forgotten when the interests of the state government and the federal government diverged. The federal government paid the Oneida $ 5,000 for their losses and promised them to build a flour mill, sawmill, and church. In addition, the Oneida, along with the remaining five Iroquois tribes, were granted an annual payment of $ 4,500.

The Oneida knew in 1785 that if they sold their land on the Susquehanna River it would have an impact on their lives. Their spokesman Petrus remarked: "... such a sale would have a negative effect on our future lives." However, the state buyers of land were persistent and finally got the desired land. Although the state repeatedly emphasized that it was acting in the best sense of the Oneida, it was ultimately only lip service. There was a series of land sales. In 1785 the Oneida sold New York State what is now Broome and Chenango Counties for $ 15,500. In 1788, the Oneida had 300,000 acres (1,215 km²) in the counties of Madison and Oneida officially reserved for themselves. Most of the subsequent treaties related to this country. In total, over thirty land purchase contracts were signed with the Oneida. Typical of these contracts was, for example, an agreement negotiated in 1809 in which New York State bought 7,200 acres on Oneida Lake for $ 1,600 and an unlimited annuity of $ 160 annually. The state later changed the pension payment to a one-off severance payment.

The factions that existed before the war continued to exist. On the one hand stood the pro-American warriors, the Christians and Oneida, who were positive about white society, all under the leadership of Chief Shenandoah. Opposite them stood the followers of Chief Cornelius , who supported the inherited chief system and traditional religion, rejected white American society and had fought on the British side in the war. Around 1805, the differences between the factions were so severe that it was decided to divide the remaining tribal area into two separate reserves.

Moved to Wisconsin

At the beginning of the nineteenth century the social fabric of the tribe was not only shaken by the split into two parties. Another problem arose from the dramatic reduction in the size of the tribal area, which resulted in significant lower yields in hunting and fishing. Under the influence of the white neighbors, elements of traditional culture and religion, as well as the clan system and political structure, changed. The white Americans urged the Indians to become farmers, send their children to school and go to white church. The male-dominated white nuclear family was contrasted as a desirable model with the Iroquois matrilineal extended family. Those Oneida who clung to the ancient traditions were ridiculed as backward savages. Most of the Oneida were apparently Christians and were often converted or resurrected by traveling preachers. In the last decade of the eighteenth century the number of adherents of the traditional Iroquois faith had grown steadily. As motives one can see the threatening loss of land, the resistance of some brave chiefs and the appearance of a new prophet . In 1798, a Mohawk on a reservation on the Grand River in Ontario had a vision in which he met the Iroquois good spirit and god of corn, Teharonhiawagon . This told him that the problems of the Iroquois were to be justified by the disregard of the White Dog Ceremony (white dog ceremony). The news reached Oneida around 1799. The following year the ceremony was reintroduced, which had not been practiced for more than thirty years.

At the same time, the Oneida also heard of the teachings of Handsome Lake , as a result of which the traditional Iroquois religion was revived. The dividing line between Christian and Iroquois religions ran across the reservation. There were violent differences between the Handsome Lakes supporters and the traditionalists. Eventually the last group prevailed and practiced ceremonies and the ancient beliefs in traditional form. The Handsome Lakes movement was also unsuccessful with the Oneida.

Eleazer Williams (1853)

Kirkland died in 1808 and his friend Shenandoah followed eight years later. The Christian Church lost numerous followers during this time. That only changed in 1816 when Eleazer Williams moved to the Oneida on the reservation. Williams was an Episcopal charismatic lay minister and catechist . He had a teaching position for the Oneida and had excellent rhetorical talent, religious zeal and a remarkable political flair. Very quickly he won the affection of the few Christians among the Oneida, known as the First Christian Party or Shenandoah Party. Next he convinced the supporters of the Pagan Party or Cornelius Party and converted them to Christianity in 1818. This group came to be known as the Second Christian Party .

Williams recommended that all nominal Christians in the tribe sell their remaining New York land and move to a new location near Green Bay , Wisconsin . This proposal initially met with general rejection, but Williams was able to persuade him. With the help of a few young warriors, a few influential members of Congress, and the Odgen Land Company , he managed to begin contract negotiations with the Winnebago and Menominee in Wisconsin. Once again two factions formed in the tribe: First, numerous members of the First and Second Christian Party who were ready to go to Wisconsin. Second, the Orchard Party , which showed no willingness to move. Williams traveled with a Oneida delegation several times to Wisconsin and until 1823 got the promise of the Menominee to acquire and settle an area totaling four million acres (16,192 km²) for around 3,000 dollars. The then President of the United States, James Monroe , reduced the size of the area to 500,000 acres (2,024 km²). In 1838 the area was reduced again, this time to 65,426 acres (around 265 km²). Oneida's move began in 1823 and was finished around 1838. A total of 654 Oneida had joined the resettlement campaign.

For some contemporaries, this move meant protection from the worst effects of white acculturation and gave the Oneida more time to adapt. It was a viable option for the Odgen Land Company to trade New York ownership for alternative land. For Williams, the move marked the beginning of a church empire in the vastness of Wisconsin, with himself as its leader, which in the end could include all six Iraqi tribes.

Separate Oneida communities

In the Buffalo Creek Treaty of 1838 it was agreed that all Iroquois living in New York State, including the remaining Oneida , should be relocated to Kansas . The Oneida, however, refused to leave. There were now three groups: the first group wanted to move to Ontario, the second was ready to go but had no common goal, while the third wanted to stay in New York. In 1839, 242 Oneida sold their land in New York and jointly acquired an area of ​​5,200 acres (21 km²) near London, Ontario. From 1840 to 1845 410 Oneida moved to Ontario and by 1848 only around 200 Oneida lived in New York on the remaining land or on the Onondaga reservation near Syracuse in New York. In 1843, New York passed a law that allowed the remaining land to be divided into parcels . In 1976 only 32 acres (0.13 km²) were in communal tribal ownership.

Oneida in Wisconsin

The Oneida in Wisconsin formed two separate parishes according to their religious affiliation. The Anglicans populated the north of the reservation while the Methodists lived in the south. Eight small centers or neighborhoods developed within these two areas . The residents helped each other with farm work, building and repairing houses and roads. Socializing and Sunday visits were common, and each neighborhood believed it was the best of them all.

Family ties were also considered an important network among the Oneida in Wisconsin. The nuclear family was the primary economic unit and great importance was attached to the relationship between men and women. Third and fourth degree cousins ​​and bases were considered closely related and were not allowed to marry one another. It was customary for these relatives to give gifts to each other and active support in joint projects was expected.

The parents arranged the wedding of a newlyweds, observing the wedding rules customary in the clan. Married couples were expected to have lifelong marriage. Divorce and marital infidelity were serious offenses against the Church, resulting in exclusion and social exclusion. Most of the Oneida in Wisconsin were either Anglicans or Methodists. There were no adherents of the Longhouse religion or the Handsome Lake religion. White missionaries served both churches. Some elements of the traditional Iroquois belief found their way into Christian worship. This included the special way of scooping up holy water on Easter morning. This seems like a relic of the ceremony, the Little Water Society ( Small Water Association ) to have been. In addition, there were several practices at the tenth-day festival that came from traditional Iroquois burial customs. Other rituals continued even though church leaders forbade them. There was a strong belief in the presence of evil witches and wizards, and the effectiveness of medical herbs and rituals of Curing Society ( Medical Federation ). This belief still existed in the 1970s, although the last known healing by the Curing Society was in 1949.

The Oneida, who moved to Wisconsin, adopted little of their traditional political structure. There were some chieftains with inherited titles, as well as a number of pine tree chiefs . The number of neighbors and relatives, the religious affiliation and the personal prestige of a person were important for the transfer of the title of chief. The Pine Tree Chiefs came to the chief office because of their leadership skills. The tribal council (engl. Council) was composed of a chief and twelve chiefs (big men), who were appointed by the senior woman ( lineage ). The status of the Senior corresponded to the Klanmutter (clan mother) in the other Iroquois tribes. The tribal council had considerable influence on the fate of the tribe. He was able to allocate land, check the suitability of the user, enact the laws applicable in the reserve and, if necessary, enforce them with sanctions. The Tribal Council represented the tribe in negotiations with the US federal government. For example, he passed a law banning the sale of alcohol on the reservation, signed contracts to sell timber, and negotiated pension payments under state treaties.

When the Oneida first moved to Wisconsin in the 1820s, the reservation was a wilderness and the nearest white settlement was 15 miles away. After the Oneida came the lumber barons and had the pine forests cut down outside the reserve. They were followed by the settlers who worked the fertile land. Now speculators pressed the Oneida, they should sell their land and the forests. Efforts have been made that the US Congress should close the reservation and move the Oneida further west. It was becoming increasingly difficult for the Tribal Council to withstand this pressure. In addition, there was a tribal opposition that wanted to abolish the hereditary chief dignity and demanded an elected tribal council. It was supported by the agents of the federal government and in 1871 the electoral system was finally introduced. However, there were difficulties in implementing it, because many members of the new tribal council were supporters of the old system and boycotted the decisions. In addition, numerous Oneida ignored the new laws.

In 1887 a law called the General Allotment Act was passed, which marked a major turning point in life on the reservation. With this, every Oneida could acquire rights to their own land, so that by 1908 almost the entire reserve land had been divided up. The law stipulated that people over the age of 18 were given 40 acres (161,880 m²) of land, while those under 18 were given 26 acres (105,248 m²). After 1903 the country was subject to city or county taxation. Many Oneida defaulted on payments and foreclosures increased, so that by the mid-1920s, the Oneida owned only a few hundred acres. The previous tribal administration no longer worked after the introduction of the General Allottment Act and was replaced by the responsible city councils and the county government.

The loss of their land forced numerous Oneida to find work in factories and farms in the surrounding white communities. Many moved to large cities such as Green Bay, Milwaukee or Chicago , but maintained close relationships with their relatives in Oneida. Often men also worked as seasonal workers and temporarily left their families. Apart from at work, there was little social contact with whites. Within the tribe, Oneida social activities focused on relatives, church, medical societies, and voluntary choral membership ( Oneida singers singing songs in the Oneida language), as well as a number of charities and funeral associations.

The passage of the Indian Reorganization Act in 1934 made important changes to the Indian tribes. The Oneida were officially recognized as a tribe and adopted a constitution. There it was stipulated that the government of the tribe would be composed of a town council, while an executive committee would deal with tribal affairs. The committee consisted of nine elected members, four of whom served as the tribal chairman, deputy, secretary and treasurer. There were two main citizens' meetings each year, as well as monthly meetings of the executive committee. The constitution limited tribal membership to those members who owned at least a quarter of Oneida blood and based their ancestry on at least one relative who was on the 1934 tribal roll.

In 1972, Wisconsin's Oneida inhabited a checkerboard reservation totaling 2,200 acres (8.9 km²) in the midst of white property. It was land that the federal government had bought back for the tribe under the Indian Reorganization Act. According to the tribal records, there were 6,684 registered tribal members at that time and around 2,000 people lived on or near the tribal area. Only a few hundred elderly people spoke the Oneida language. The voluntary funeral society had shrunk, the medical society even disappeared, except in the stories of the ancients. The Methodist and Anglican churches still existed, and the choral societies continued to attend the service. Although many Oneida married outside the reservation, family relationships continued to matter. The tribal land changed from agricultural land to residential area and the Oneida started two major housing projects.

Oneida in Ontario

False-face mask in the Ethnological Museum in Berlin-Dahlem.

Under the leadership of Moses Schuyler and William Taylor Doxtator , the Oneida left New York State after 1839 and moved to Ontario, Canada, on a communal reservation. After arriving in Ontario, the Oneida who had entered held a council meeting. Here it was decided that a single tribesman was entitled to as much arable land as he could till. He also had the right to sell the land and transfer it to descendants or other members of the tribe. Soon a number of settlements emerged on the reserve, mostly inhabited by related families. According to the traditional model, tribal councils of the three Oneida clans Wolf , Bear (bear) and Turtle (turtle) were formed, each of which appointed a sachem and a deputy. These people represented the interests of the Oneida in the Six Nations Confederacy (Six Nations Confederation) in Canada. Actions should also help improve relations between the Oneida in Canada and those in the United States.

The alliance with the other tribes of the Iroquois League was essentially political. First, the Oneidat wanted to demonstrate their loyalty to the British by gaining the acceptance of the pro-British Iroquois. These efforts contrasted with the pro-American actions of Oneida in the War of Independence. Second, the Oneida feared that they would have to pay high taxes to the province of Ontario in the future for their land. To prevent this, they hoped for support from the Iroquois League.

The tribal councils developed little power in the reservation. Their main job was to settle disputes. Questions of general interest were dealt with in public sessions open to all members. Problems were discussed until the general public agreed to the solution or a consensus was found. Failing that, the problem was simply postponed. After the Canadian Confederation was formed in 1867, the Canadian Department of Indian Affairs exerted increasing influence over the affairs of the Oneida. When the Oneida Tribal Council was unable to resolve a problem, an agent referred the facts to the department with their recommendation. This usually decided the disputed question with the help of the appropriate paragraph in the Indian Act (Indian law). In addition to the chiefs of hereditary dignity, there were significant numbers of pine tree chiefs. They had been chosen by the sachems and clan mothers for their prominence, reputation, and rhetorical talent. They served as advisers to chiefs, worked on committees to establish facts and suggest recommendations in the event of disputes.

In the nineteenth century Canada there were many components of the traditional Oneida kinship system. The closest ties were between mother and daughter, followed by the maternal grandparents. Membership in the tribe was bilaterally traced back to the ancestor who acquired the land, while membership in the clan was determined by the maternal line. The parents, usually the father of the groom, arranged marriages. Marriage within the clan was common, but there was a general fear that such marriages caused deformed or mentally retarded offspring. The most famous medical societies were called the False Face Society ( Bund der Falschgesichter ) and Little Water Society ( Kleine-Wasser-Bund ). In order to become a member of such a society, someone must have been cured of an illness through it or have had a credible dream of membership. Dreaming was an instrumental part of healing. It was seen as a way of discovering people with the ability to interpret their dreams. Often dreamers were heard in order to heal a certain ailment. It was similar with beliefs in witchcraft and wizardry, which could be found until the 1970s.

Farming was the main livelihood of most Oneida in the nineteenth century, followed by logging in winter. The extended family fostered the right to claim as much land as one person could work. There were abundant crops from a variety of crops that were grown and stored in barns and grain silos for personal use during the winter. Meat was dried or salted and kept in barrels. With the sale of agricultural products, as well as basket weaving and the production of corn straw mats, many families made money. Others worked in the flax and tobacco fields in the area. Women workers were often to be found in the fields.

At the end of the nineteenth century the economic conditions in the reserve changed. The number of farmers declined when many families moved to the nearby white communities to look for wage work. The growing contact with the whites led to tensions within society and ultimately to growing party formation. The whites objected to the traditional form of Indian government that did not accept the white value system. In 1915 a second tribal council was formed, initiated by the revived Longhouse religion . This tribal council refused to recognize the old tribal council, which was named Six Nations Confederation in 1920 . The Canadian government eventually opted for the Confederation and gave it official recognition as a reservation government led by Pinetree chief WK Cornelius . In the mid-1920s, a third party emerged called the Oneida Welfare Association . In 1934, the Canadian government set up an elected tribal council against the will of the majority of the population.

In 1972 the Oneida Often the Thames Band had 1,964 members, of whom around 1,200 lived on the reservation. Most of them made their living as laborers in nearby towns such as London and Saint Thomas , or as farm workers on farms around the reservation. Few of the Oneida had their own farm, most of them had leased their land to whites. Kinship relationships continued to play a dominant role in Oneida society on the reservation. However, there was an increasing number of marriages to members of other tribes. According to Canadian law, the patrilineal system applied. Women who married a member of another tribe lost their previous tribal status and thus the right to live in the community and on the family's property. With the exception of the few Longhouse supporters, clan affiliation had lost its political significance for the tribe.

In the 1970s the great majority of the Oneida belonged to one of the Christian churches, that is to say to the Methodists, Baptists and Anglicans. The Longhouse religion was practiced by only three or four related families. This religion continued the tradition of calendar Iroquois ceremonies: Midwinter, Strawberry, Green Corn, and Harvest. She was also responsible for the activities of the False Face and Little Water Society medicine associations . Followers of all religions took part in the traditional ceremonies. This also applied to membership in the medical associations.

The tribe was led by a chief and twelve council members who were elected every two years. With financial support from the Canadian government, the tribal council has been responsible for schools, health, house building, and roads in the community, for example. Most of the Oneida have now accepted the elected tribal council. The exception was the Longhouse Group, which maintained its own hereditary tribal council.

Oneida in New York

After the two waves of emigration that the majority of the tribe had joined, only a few hundred remained in New York. The tribal area there was continuously reduced through land sales until only a few acres were left. Many Oneida moved to the nearby Onondaga reservation near Syracuse, the rest lived scattered within the neighboring white settlements. They were still considered members of the tribes, with the ancestry being determined by the maternal line. Many still spoke Oneida and neither mingled with Onondaga nor integrated into white society. The Oneida in New York are subject to state law. The reason for the permanent recognition as a tribe lies in the provisions of the Treaty of 1794, which guarantees the Oneida a small annual pension. A tribal list must be kept in order to be able to pay the pension, in which there were around 600 names in 1972. These Oneida lived in the Onondaga Reservation and in the vicinity of Oneida in New York State.

Todays situation

A traditional ceremonial collar made by Karen Ann Hoffman (Oneida of Wisconsin) circa 2007. In the collection of the Children's Museum of Indianapolis.

There are currently four Oneida groups:

• The Oneida Indian Nation of New York , New York State,
• The Oneida within the Six Nations of the Grand River in Ontario.
• The Oneida Nation of the Thames in Southwold in Ontario, Canada
• The Oneida Nation of Wisconsin in Green Bay, Wisconsin,

In a pending land lawsuit, the Oneida Indian Nation of New York is demanding the return of 100,000 hectares of its former tribal area. All land purchases made between New York State and the Oneida between 1795 and 1846 should have been approved by the federal government. Therefore, in 1985, the Supreme Court ruled that the land claims, as well as compensation for the 200 years in which they could not use their land, were legitimate. This costly land lawsuit was made possible by high revenues from its own casinos , from which many Oneida now benefit. Located on the Oneida Reservation, Turning Stone Casino in Oneida is the fifth most visited tourist destination in New York State, with four million guests annually. In 2003, Oneida founded the first Native American film and television company called Four Directions Entertainment . In 2004, Four Directions Air became the first Indian airline. The most powerful but controversial man of the Oneida is Ray Halbritter .

The Oneida within the Six Nations of the Grand River live together with five other tribes in an area near Brantford in Ontario totaling 183.20 km². The number of tribal members in August 2012 was 1,982 people, of whom 751 lived on the reservation.

The Oneida Nation of the Thames lives in and outside the Oneida Settlement in southwestern Ontario. The reserve is 22.16 km². According to the 2006 census, the First Nation had 5,209 members, of which 2,030 lived on the reservation.

The Oneida Tribe of Wisconsin is federally recognized and inhabits a reservation that is west of the city of Green Bay in Wisconsin. The tribe owns a museum, several casinos and a successful holiday hotel. Per capita income was $ 25,698, according to a 2006/2007 report. The reserve is 265 km² in size, of which around 98 km² (37%) was in tribal ownership in June 2012. According to the 2000 census, the population was 704 people, more than half of whom lived in the reserve. The reserve is located in the urban area of ​​Green Bay, the only village within the reserve is Oneida.

See also

List of North American Indian tribes

literature

• Bruce G. Trigger (Ed.): Handbook of North American Indians . Vol. 15: Northeast. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington DC 1978, ISBN 0-16-004575-4 .
• Joseph T. Glatthaar, James Kirby Martin: Forgotten Allies: the Oneida Indians and the American Revolution. Hill and Wang, New York 2006.
• David Levinson: An Explanation for the Oneida-Colonist Alliance in the American Revolution. The American Society of Ethnohistory, 1976.
• The Oneida Community , in: Rudolf H. Moos , Robert Brownstein: Environment and Utopia: a synthesis . New York: Plenum Press, 1977 ISBN 0-306-30985-8 , pp. 57-91

Web links

• Official website of the Oneida Indian Nation of New York
• Official website of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin
• Oneida Indian Tribe of Wisconsin
• Official website of the Oneida Nation of the Thames
• Official website of the traditional Oneidas of New York

Individual evidence

1. ↑ In the historical specialist literature and until today, the names for the Iroquois League, whose tribes and institutions are borrowed from the Seneca language (the largest tribe within the league at the time) - today these are supplemented or replaced by the Mohawk language, as this is currently the most widely spoken language of the Iroquois League (Onkwehonwehneha).
2. ^ Haudenosaunee Confederacy - The League of Nations
3. ↑ Kanienkeha - An open source endangered language initiative
4. ↑ Kahnawà: ke Branch of the Mohawk Nation
5. ↑ According to today's Haudenosaunee, however, the Mohawk council name most often given as "guardian / guardian of the eastern gate" is a frequent misunderstanding on the part of Europeans and can be traced back to their interpretation that the Mohawk as the easternmost nation as the "guardian of the eastern door within the Confederation "were known; however, this name was never officially used among the Haudenosaunee, but only used and spread by the Europeans.
6. ↑ ^{a b c d} Bruce G. Trigger (Ed.): Handbook of North American Indians . Vol. 15: Northeast, p. 481.
7. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Bruce G. Trigger (Ed.): Handbook of North American Indians . Vol. 15: Northeast, pp. 482-483.
8. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j} Bruce G. Trigger (Ed.): Handbook of North American Indians . Vol. 15: Northeast, pp. 483-484.
9. ^ Ray Halbritter, Oneidas, Washington true allies, in: UticaOd.com. News and Information for the Mohawk Valley, February 17, 2008 (online: [1]  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ).  
10. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Bruce G. Trigger (Ed.): Handbook of North American Indians . Vol. 15: Northeast, pp. 484-485.
11. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j} Bruce G. Trigger (Ed.): Handbook of North American Indians . Vol. 15: Northeast, pp. 485-487.
12. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j} Bruce G. Trigger (Ed.): Handbook of North American Indians . Vol. 15: Northeast, pp. 487-489.
13. ↑ accessgenealogy.com
14. ↑ Members in August 2012 ( Memento of the original from October 26, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 79 kB) 
15. ↑ 2006 2006 census
16. ↑ Oneida homepage