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Traditional Clothing (Oneida People Article)
Clothing carries great meaning in the Oneida culture, as it is a physical representation of who they are. Before coming into contact with the Europeans, the Oneida tribe would use only natural materials to make their clothing. This would include using deer and other animal hides to stitch together clothing. However, when the Europeans arrived trading began and their clothing that was once made from animal hides began to be made from calico cotton and broadcloth and has stuck to be made from cotton ever since. The Oneidas would typically only be seen wearing moccasins on their feet. Even though there was a change in material used, the basic design of the outfits remained the same and still remains the same hundreds of years later.

Headwear: Oneida men and women wore different headwear. For the men, they would wear traditional Iroquois headdresses called kastoweh which would consist of feathers and insignia representing their tribe. The insignia for the Oneida Nation consists of three eagle feathers; two standing straight up and one falling downwards. Oneida women on the other hand would wear beaded tiaras. The beadwork on the tiaras would most commonly be sewn in woodland designs as it is a representation of their nation.

Oneida Language Article
Specifically in the state of New York, the Oneida Indian Nation has put together some revitalization efforts to try to save the Oneida language. These efforts are done through the implementation of a language program at a community based level. The language program starts from as young as preschool children and is included in their curriculum at the Oneida Indian Nation Early Learning Centre. This program is in collaboration with the Madison-Oneida BOCES. Their goal is to enforce the implementation of the most effective types of  teaching for the native language. This collaboration has shown significant results for enhancements in language learning. As research suggests the prime age for someone to learn a new language fluently is at about four years old as young children are able to absorb more information and are phonetically capable of pronouncing the new sounds. Learning does not stop at the school curriculum, there are also online tools developed through the Oneida Indian Nation for learners of all skill levels. These tools include but are not limited to; grocery lists and greeting cards in the designated language as well as a language app named Oneida Basics where anyone can download the app to either learn or improve their language skills in Oneida. This is not the only effort being made to try to revitalize the language. Other efforts are being put in to bring the language revitalization program to the Verona school where they can benefit many more learners and try their best to bring the Oneida language to all.

Oneida People Today
The people of Oneida today have lost many things throughout the year along with the potential loss of their language. They have lost an abundance of cultural knowledge and have become more westernized in their ways. Specifically the cultural knowledge related to funerals has completely disappeared. The condolence ceremony is a very important event in Iroquois culture and society. This includes an event called “The Feast of the Dead” which would occur every decade. This ceremony would consist of unburying the dead from their initial grave spot and reburying them in a communal grave. This is a cultural event that was lost through the decades as new rules and jurisdictions came into place. As the event began to disappear so did the cultural knowledge of the event and many people who have ancestral roots to the tribe do not know that this was an important part of their culture. With the loss of the language came the loss of cultural knowledge beyond just funeral traditions.

Another aspect that comes along with a loss of a language is the loss of identity. “Knowing a language gives a strong sense of identity” (Hinton, 2005). Oneida people are already feeling a loss of identity with the loss of their language, but if the language were to completely go extinct, current and future generations would completely not know where they belong. Instead, they would most likely adapt to a new society and try to find their identity there. People have an emotional connection to their language and they have an easier time expressing their culture in that language. In the end there would be a cultural disruption throughout the Oneida population is the language were to disappear.