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The Oneida Indian Nation and the American Revolutionary War

The Oneida Nation made it possible for the Colonist to win the American Revolutionary War. The Oneida’s contribution to the colonist’s fight for independence is evident in several battles; by supplying combatants, food, and reconnaissance. However, before the contributions of the Oneida Nation can be explained during this era of American history, it would be beneficial to understand who they are and the area of colonial America that they inhabited. Long ago, approximately 1000 A.D., in a region of what today is western and central New York and a small portion of northern Pennsylvania was an area that was inhabited by a horticultural group of people known today as the Owasco (named after an archeological dig site located near present day Owasco, New York). They supplemented their fruit and vegetable diet with fish and wild game. They built their villages on the flood plain and along creeks, rivers, lakes and marshes but would later use (around 1200 AD) crudely built fortresses on hill tops that were not easily approached without being detected and were much more easy to defend from other marauding people. There is evidence of a rise in their population. The increase in population was not only from natural increase through childbirth but from amalgamation of outsiders as the length of their longhouses increased and the size of their villages grew.

The changes; lengthier longhouses, the increase in the size and the building of palisades around their villages on hilltops and the amalgamation of outsiders was a process of unity; that unity would latter become the Iroquois (they are called Iroquois because that is their common language) Confederation or the “Five Nations.”

It is believed that sometime in the mid to late fifteenth century the Iroquois League was formed. It was formed as a way of maintaining peace between five Indian Nations; the Mohawk (People of the Flint), Onondaga (People of the Mountain), Oneida (People of the Standing Stone), Cayuga ((People of the Landing) and Seneca (People of the Great Hill). The five nations and their confederation had emerged from an experimental process of peace based on nonaggression, alliance, consolidation, integration and negotiation. This experiment in peace, called the “Tree of Peace,” was made possible by a Mohawk Indian named Deganawidah (Dekanawidah), also known to the Five Nations as “the Prophet.”

Deganawidah worked at and gained the peace between the villages of his own people. He then traveled to the Onondaga territory and gained the confidence of Hiawatha, a skilled orator. Hiawatha was able to persuade his people to join the young league of peace. Over the years, Deganawidah and Hiawatha traveled together about the Iroquois Nations and were able to get the tribes of the Seneca, Oneida, and Cayuga to join. They would all obey “the Great Law of Peace” (it is also known as “the Great Binding Law”) given to them by the Prophet. These five tribes would call themselves the Houdénosaunee,   meaning “People of the Longhouse.” The Longhouse and the Great Binding Law has a symbolic significance to the Iroquois League.

The Longhouse was used as a metaphor by Hiawatha to symbolize five families living together stating; “These are the Words of the Great Law. On these Words we shall build the House of Peace. The Longhouse with the five fires that is yet one household. These are the Words of Righteousness and Health and Power.” The family members sat around a counsel fire with two members sitting on either side of the fire; the Seneca and Mohawk on one side and the Oneida and Cayuga on the other with the Onondaga being the Firekeeper. The Location of the Firekeeper (Onondaga) was the Iroquois capital as well.

The Peacemaker gave The Tree of Peace as a symbol of the Great Law of Peace. The Tree of Peace is a great white pine tree whose branches spread out to shelter all nations who commit themselves to the Great Law of Peace. Beneath the tree the Five Nations buried their weapons of war; atop the tree is the Eagle-that-sees-far (watching for dangers to their newly established peace).

The Tree had four roots leading in four different directions. If anyone or tribe follows the roots that lead to the Tree of Peace and agree to the Great Law of Peace, they would be welcome to join the Iroquois League and live in the same Longhouse of Peace with the other five Iroquois Nations; yet they would never loose their authority to make their individual tribal decisions. The other Iroquois tribes; the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga and Seneca, would not interfere with those tribal decisions. The Tuscaroras were the last Indian Nation to join the unique Iroquois form of government.

The Tuscaroras had fought a war in 1711 to 1713 with the Carolina colonist and lost (Tuscarora War). The Carolina colonist were able to mobilize in a very short period of time and quickly dealt the Tuscaroras a crushing defeat, sending them fleeing north to seek the hospitality of the Iroquois. The official adoption of the Tuscaroras in 1722 or 1723 into the longhouse expanded the “Iroquois universe and dynamic process of peace.”

The Tuscarora War was the result of increased interaction between the Native American and colonist throughout the eastern American coast and inland areas. In one such interaction, Jesuit Superior Barthelemy Vimont witnessed a strange spectacle performed by Guillaume Cousture, a man that had been held captive by the Iroquois. Vimont’s record is the first known recording of the Iroquois Condolence Ceremony, “which stood at the center of Iroquois political culture and practice.”

The Condolence ceremony served several functions within the Iroquois culture by “condoling the relatives of a deceased chief of the League, rising up a successor and restoring the minds of the mourning. More broadly, ordinary Iroquois men and women condoled each other following the death of loved ones and used the occasion ritually to recite their history, rehearse social and political principles, and renew their commitment to order and reason. The Condolence served to restore the mystic power, or orenda, of the group, which was diminished by the death of just one person.” The Condolence Ceremony would be performed many times during the American Revolutionary War. The Revolutionary War would also split the Iroquois League as the Seneca, Mohawk, Onondaga and Cayuga would fight for the British and the Oneida and Tuscarora was to fight for the Colonist.

The Oneida Nation’s social, cultural and political structure was much the same as the other Iroquois Nations in several ways, including the longhouse. The longhouses they lived in served for other purposes than the metaphor used by Hiawatha. The longhouse (approximately 20 ft. wide and 80 ft. long) was much more than a roof over someone’s head.

Each Longhouse had an ohwachira or an extended family with each family having its own section or compartment within the Longhouse. Since the Iroquois were a matrilineal society, the ohwachira was always headed by an elderly matron living with her direct female descendents. When an Iroquois man married, he would move into the longhouse that his wife was a member of. The elderly matron of an owachira could very well have been the head of a clan. The Oneidas had three clans; Wolf, Turtle, and Bear, and each clan had three extended families. It was at each elderly matron’s discretion to choose the male Sachem (religious/political leader) from the ohwachira for a total of nine Sachems to sit at tribal and Iroquois League counsel fires. It was also at the matron’s discretion to recall a Sachem if she felt that he was not fulfilling his duties at tribal or Iroquois League counsel meetings. It was this wall of authority that the Oneida matrons (and Sachems) had established that Samuel Kirkland encountered when started his proselytization of Christianity to the Oneida’s.

Samuel Kirkland was born in 1741 in Connecticut and the son of Daniel Kirkland, a Congressional minister. The elder Kirkland sent his son to a school operated by the Reverend Eleazar Wheelock that educated both Indian and colonial boys, preparing them for missionary work. It was at this institution that Samuel Kirkland learned to speak some Mohawk from the not-yet-famous Mohawk Joseph Brant. It was not long until Kirkland had chosen to pursue the ministry as a profession. He would start by ministering to the Oneidas. The Oneida spiritual beliefs were not that much different from what Kirkland had to preach. Kirkland would become thoroughly familiar with the language and habits of the Oneidas while living amongst them.

Kirkland’s God and the Oneida Creator both encouraged charitable, selfless works for others. The Oneida believed that spirits inhabit everything; rocks, trees, every animal that walks, crawls or fly’s. Kirklands God was omnipresent. The Oneidas had ceremonies to give thanks to their Creator for their well being and Kirkland had weekly meetings to give thanks to his God for the same purpose. The two religions were symbiotic in helping and sharing.

One of the Reverend Kirklands spiritual enemies was alcohol. The Reverend had consistently spoken out against it; he warned the Oneidas of the perils of binge drinking and the foolish acts that people commit while under the influence of strong drink. In one incident, he disposed of a woman’s rum supply which infuriated her husband. The angry husband threatened the preachers life but would at a later date, covert to Kirklands Christianity and abstain from consuming any alcohol thereafter. Another Oneida and close friend to the Reverend Kirkland that consumed alcohol and acted foolishly under its influence was named Shenandoah (Skenandoah).

In 1755, having been a pagan drunkard for most of his 47 years, he was decked out in his finest cloths and fully armed with his “Savage ornaments;” while leaving Oneida Castle (Kunawaloa, the principal Oneida village) on his way to a counsel meeting in Albany, New York; he over indulged in alcohol and passed out-cold in Albany. During the night while he was in an alcohol induced slumber, he was drunk rolled. When he came around the next morning (I’m sure he had a killer hang-over), he could not help but notice that all his ornaments and all of his cloths were missing. Disgusted for having allowed himself to be put in such a compromised situation, he never consumed alcohol again for the rest of his 107 year life. He would later be converted to Christianity and was baptized in 1767 by his friend Samual Kirkland. His decision to quit drinking may have been the wisest decision that he made in his lifetime because his wisdom as a War Chief during the American Revolutionary War would require a leader without a mind clouded by alcohol.

Skenandoah was a well known and respected Oneida warrior. He was born in 1706, at Conestoga, on the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania to Oneida Parents. When he grew into manhood, he was muscular, tall and stood erect. He was a full blooded, light skinned Indian that had exceptionally stealthy hunting skills and yet it is said that his voice was strong enough to be heard a full half mile away when it was needed. He was a skilled hunter and physically strong; even in old age. He sought peace whenever it was possible, but was brave, courageous, and bold in battle. He would become known as “the Peacemaker.” His only true passions outside of his immediate family were God, his fellow Oneidas and Samuel Kirkland. Having a clear mind after giving up the sauce; he would not make quick, hasty decisions. He did not avoid making decisions but after careful thought and consultations, his decisions would be of a sound nature and his sense of judgments remarkable. The native strength of the man's character is clearly proved in a way unusual among his race, and rare among white men. It was Samuel Kirkland’s influence that helped Chief Skenandoah in his decision to side with the Americans during the Revolutionary War.

The British could smell a revolution brewing in their colonies in America. They wanted to keep the Native American on their side and, if not, then hopefully as a “neutral” in the coming conflict. The British had gained all of the French territories in the New World from the Treaty of Paris. The loss of the colonies to a rebel force would be a blow to their empire, hence; the Proclamation of 1763. The Proclamation of 1763 would give the all the Native Americans suffering from settler encroachment on to their land an incentive to form an alliance with the British. Part of the Proclamation states that all settlements on Indian land is forbidden;

“….And We do hereby strictly forbid, on Pain of our Displeasure, all our loving Subjects from making any Purchases or Settlements whatever, or taking Possession of any of the Lands above reserved. without our especial leave and Licence for that Purpose first obtained.

And. We do further strictly enjoin and require all Persons whatever who have either wilfully or inadvertently seated themselves upon any Lands within the Countries above described. or upon any other Lands which, not having been ceded to or purchased by Us, are still reserved to the said Indians as aforesaid, forthwith to remove themselves from such Settlements…. “

The first shots of the Revolutionary war were fired on April 15, 1775a. The American officers were opposed to employing the Indians in active warfare. When the Oneidas offered their services to General Schuyler as scouts for the Continental army, they were at first rejected. However, after suffering the ravages of the large British force commanded by Colonel St. Legerfor two years later, after the ravages in the valley of the Mohawk by Col. St. Leger, who had a large Indian force with him; the services of the Oneidas were accepted by the American officers. Approximately 250 were employed as scouts; often under the leadership of Skenandoah.

In August of 1777, the British under the command of Major General "Gentleman Johnny" Burgoyne proposed a strategy to split New England from the other colonies by gaining control of New York. In order to split the colony of New York in half, General Barry St. Leger left Canada with his force of 700 to 800 British regulars, Canadians, Mohawk Valley Tories and Hanau mercenaries, and to was move east and join Burgoyne. St. Leger was ordered to capture Fort Stanwix, a rebel post, on the way. Arriving at Fort Stanxix, he noticed that it was too well armed and garrisoned. The rebel commander of the fort, Colonel Peter Gansevoort was offered a chance to surrender he refused the offer. St. Leger had no choice but to lay siege to the fort. Colonel Gansevoort immediately understood the situation he was in. He covertly sent a runner with a message about his situation to fellow rebel General Nicholas Herkimer. General Nicholas Herkimer gather his forces, approximately 800 Rebel militia troops from Tryon County and some Oneida scouts and set out to rescue his comrade that had “holed-up” in Ft. Stanwix,

The common-law wife of Sir William Johnson found out about General Herkimer army being on the move to help lift the siege of Ft. Stanwix and notified St. Leger of the approaching rebels. He set up an ambush along a trail that dipped down about 15 ft. and crossed a creek six miles from FT. Stanwix

General Nicholas Herkimer had Oneida scouts in front and on the flanks of his troops to watch for any enemy activity that his troops may encounter. The scouts didn’t pick up any signs of enemy activity and gave the signal for St. Leger’s men to cross the creek. While most of the rebels were crossing or had crossed the creek; St. Leger sprang his ambush laying waste to the rebel troops. The battle soon degraded into hand-to-hand combat as the rebel broke and ran in all directions trying to flee the U-shaped ambush.

It was a slaughter. Years later, the Seneca war chief Blacksnake described the battle as;

“We met the enemy at the place near a small creek. They had 3 cannons and we none. We had tomahawks and a few guns, but agreed to fight with tomahawks and scalping knives. During the fight, we waited for them to fire their guns and then we attacked them. It felt like no more than killing a Beast. We killed most of the men in the American's army. Only a few escaped from us. We fought so close against one another that we could kill or another with a musket bayonet.... It was here that I saw the most dead bodies than I have ever seen. The blood shed made a stream running down on the sloping ground.” 

Rebel casualties were heavy from the Battle of Oriskany; of the 800 rebel combatants, only about 150 escaped without serious injury. The woman that snitched-off General Nicholas Herkimer attempt to rescue of his fellow rebels in the fort, had to flee her home in Oriskany. Her home was looted and the house was later given to Hon Yerry; an Oneida war chief from the Wolf Clan. Han Yerry was born about 1724 to a Mohawk woman and a man of German decent. He considered himself to be an Onieda and that was okay with the Onieda, being as he would later become a war chief of the Wolf Clan. He settled in Oriska after he married a woman named “Two Kettles Together.” Han Yerry, his wife, Two Kettles Together, would fight in the Battle of Saratoga. During the Battle of Saratoga, Han Yerry took a mini-ball in the wrist, wounded; he would continue to fire his musket while his wife reloaded for him. He killed 9 British soldiers that day in the Mohawk Valley.

Whoever controlled the Mohawk Valley controlled New York, a prime piece of real estate. Rebel General Gates understood the valley’s value. He stationed troops on a ridge line known as Bemis Heights and built fortifications along the Mohawk River giving him complete control of the valley and the Mohawk River. General Burgoyne’s forces were dependent of the Mohawk River to ferry his supplies.

On September 19th 1777, while trying to reposition his troops, General Burgoyne’s troop ran into Gates and a battle ensued. Burgoyne was forced to retreat to the Mohawk Rivers edge, he could only hope for one more attempt at a breakout from his position. He tried his breakout on and was only able to flee a total of eight miles before Gates soldiers were able to overtake him at a small town called Saratoga and force a capitulation on October 17, 1777. The Battle of Saratoga is not the last battle of the Revolutionary War; the war would grind on for another six years. The British defeat at “The Battle of Saratoga” would get the attention of their old nemesis, France, as well as other European powers to support the American fight for independence.

The Oneida Chief Skenandoah would again contribute to the Rebel’s fight for independence with the help of a fellow war; Chief Han Yerry.

Later that same year, in the winter of 1777-1778, General Washington’s Army was at their winter quarters of Valley Forge. It would take the selfless Han Yerry’s and an Oneida woman, Polly Cooper, to keep the rebels from starving to death. SKenandoah sent some of his faithful followers, loaded with six hundred bushels of corn, on a cross-country and cold winter trek from central New York to Valley Forge, Pennsylvania to feed Washingtons starving army.

The white corn was not like the yellow corn of today; it had to be specially prepared or it would swell in the stomach and kill the person that ate it. Oneida woman Polly Cooper stayed to show the soldiers how to prepare the white Indian corn. Cooper refused payment for her efforts. For her volutary efforts, Martha Washington presented Cooper with a bonnet and shawl. The shawl survives to this day.

It would have been impossible for the American colonies to win their revolt against Britain had it not been for the Oneidas backing their war for independence from Britain. Although the Battle of Oriskany was a defeat for the colonist; it gave the other four tribes of the Iroquois League incentive to abandon the British effort to extinguish the rebel efforts in America. The Battle of Saratoga was a major victory, for it brought European support for the American colonist and would plunge Britain into their own “World War” as some of their other colonies would revolt as well ( in Australia and colonies in Africa).

Map 1; Tribal locations of the Iroquois Confederation 