Assimilation 101: Native American Education 1879-1918 with an Oneida Perspective
Oneida History
Oneida Indian Nation Website
The Wisconsin Oneida are originally of tribe from central New York State. They were an Iroquois speaking people and a member of the Six Nations. The Six Nations was a confederation of Iroquois tribes in the New York region that included the Mohawks, Oneida, Onondagas, Cayugas, Tuscaroras and Senecas. The Onieda had lived in the central New York area for thousands of years.
Creation Story
The Oneida creation story is the same as the Iroquois creation story.
| Long before the world was created there was an island, floating in the sky, upon which the Sky People lived. They lived quietly and happily. No one ever died or was born or experienced sadness. However one day one of the Sky Women realized she was going to give birth to twins. She told her husband, who flew into a rage. In the center of the island there was a tree which gave light to the entire island since the sun hadn't been created yet. He tore up this tree, creating a huge hole in the middle of the island. Curiously, the woman peered into the hole. Far below she could see the waters that covered the earth. At that moment her husband pushed her. She fell through the hole, tumbling towards the waters below. |
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Water animals already existed on the earth, so far below the floating island two birds saw the Sky Woman fall. Just before she reached the waters they caught her on their backs and brought her to the other animals. Determined to help the woman they dove into the water to get mud from the bottom of the seas. One after another the animals tried and failed. Finally, Little Toad tried and when he reappeared his mouth was full of mud. The animals took it and spread it on the back of Big Turtle. The mud began to grow and grow and grow until it became the size of North America.
Then the woman stepped onto the land. She sprinkled dust into the air and created stars. Then she created the moon and sun.
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The Sky Woman gave birth to twin sons. She named
one Sapling. He grew to be kind and gentle. She named the other Flint
and his heart was as cold as his name. They grew quickly and began
filling the earth with their creations.
Sapling created what is good. He made animals that are useful to humans. He made rivers that went two ways and into these he put fish without bones. He made plants that people could eat easily. If he was able to do all the work himself there would be no suffering.
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Flint destroyed much of Sapling's work and created all that is bad. He made the rivers flow only in one direction. He put bones in fish and thorns on berry bushes. He created winter, but Sapling gave it life so that it could move to give way to Spring. He created monsters which his brother drove beneath the Earth.
Eventually Sapling and Flint decided to fight till one conquered the other. Neither was able to win at first, but finally Flint was beaten. Because he was a god Flint could not die, so he was forced to live on Big Turtle's back. Occasionally his anger is felt in the form of a volcano.
The Iroquois people hold a great respect for all animals. This is mirrored in their creation myth by the role the animals play. Without the animals' help the Sky Woman may have sunk to the bottom of the sea and earth may not have been created. [1]
Dramatization of the Oneida Creation Story
Loss of Land and New Settlements
The Oneida entered in many treaties both with the federal government and the state government of New York. These treaties often sold land to the the government, when the Oneida did not intend for the sale. Gradually more and more land was lost in this manner and movement seemed like the only option.
"In 1821 a delegation of the six Nations met with representatives from the Menominee and Winnebago Nations to negotiate for fertile and open lands along the western Great Lakes. In an 1822 Treaty, the Oneida then purchased a large section of land in a territory that would soon become the state of Wisconsin."[2]
Many Oneidas went to Wisconsin. They were led by Christian missionaries and this felt like an escape to the West. But the United States Government did not stop in trying to take Indian lands. The Dawes Allotment Act of 1887 severely hurt the Oneida Nation and of Native tribes in the country. The act called for all reservation land to be privately owned. That does not seem like a bad idea, but Indian culture is a collective culture not bent on personal property. The whole concept of taxation was foreign to the Oneida and much of the land was lost because taxes were not paid. Non-natives and real estate companies also flooded in to reservation to buy the fertile land. By 1924, all but a few hundred acres had been lost.[3]
This disunity along with the immersion in American culture and the emphasis to educate the Oneida young in boarding schools drove the Oneida culture to the brink of extinction.
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