Interest in these Indians stem from the fact that I was born in Oneida, New York.
The
Oneidas are a
tribe of
North American Indians belonging to the the
Iroquois Confederacy. This name is a
corruption of the
native word meaning “
standing
rock” and refers to a
sacred boulder near the site of their
ancient village on Lake Oneida, New York. Their territory included the region surrounding the lake and later extended south to the
Susquehanna River. While most Indians of the Confederacy were
hostile to
outsiders, this tribe was friendly toward the
French colonists and
Jesuit missionaries
During the
American Revolution the Oneidas sided with the
colonists but had to take refuge inside American
settlements as other Iroquois tribes joined the British. After the war most of them moved to Canada and
settled in the
area of the Thames River, Ontario, where they are still found today. Between 1820 and 1835, most of the Oneida who had returned to their homes in New York State sold their land and moved to a reservation near
Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Oneida number about 3500.