Oneida tribe

The Oneida (Onayotekaono or the People of the Upright Stone) are a Native American/First Nations people and comprise one of the five founding nations of the Iroquois Confederacy.

Related Topics:
Native American - First Nations - Iroquois Confederacy

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The Iroquois call themselves Haudenosaunee ("The people of the longhouses") in reference to their communal lifestyle and the construction of their dwellings.

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Originally the Oneida inhabited the area that later became central New York, particularly around Oneida Lake and Oneida County. They broke with the other nations of the Haudenosaunee to side with the United States in the Revolutionary War, in particular aiding George Washington at Valley Forge in 1777. 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, due to the rising tide of Indian Removal.

Related Topics:
New York - Oneida Lake - Oneida County - United States - Revolutionary War - George Washington - Valley Forge - 1777 - 1794 - Treaty of Canandaigua - Indian reservation - 1830 - Canada - Wisconsin - Indian Removal

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In 1974 and 1985 the US Supreme Court ruled that the treaties between the State of New York and the Oneida that had deprived them of these lands were illegal. Litigation in these matters is ongoing.

Related Topics:
1974 - 1985 - US Supreme Court

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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 wanting a share of the business success of the New York based Oneida tribe. Ultimately, the Wisconsin Oneida's had no stake in the land nor Native American businesses of the Oneida tribe of New York.

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