Chief Daniel Bread (1800-1873) played a key role in establishing the Oneida Indians’ presence in Wisconsin after their removal from New York, yet no monument commemorates his deeds as the community’s founder. Laurence M. Hauptman and L. Gordon McLester, III, redress that historical oversight, connecting Bread’s life story with the nineteenth-century history of the Oneida Nation. Bread was often criticized for his support of acculturation and missionary schools as well as for his working relationship with Indian agents; however, when the Federal-Menominee treaties slashed Oneida lands, he fought back, taking his people’s cause to Washington and confronting President Andrew Jackson. The authors challenge the long-held views about Eleazer Williams’s leadership of the Oneidas and persuasively show that Bread’s was the voice vigorously defending tribal interests.

The Oneida Indians, already weakened by their participation in the Civil War, faced the possibility of losing their reservation—their community’s greatest crisis since its resettlement in Wisconsin after the War of 1812. The Oneida Indians in the Age of Allotment, 1860–1920 is the first comprehensive study of how the Oneida Indians of Wisconsin were affected by the Dawes General Allotment Act of 1887, the Burke Act of 1906, and the Federal Competency Commission, created in 1917. Editors Laurence M. Hauptman and L. Gordon McLester III draw on the expertise of historians, anthropologists, and archivists, as well as tribal attorneys, educators, and elders to clarify the little-understood transformation of the Oneida reservation during this era. Sixteen WPA narratives included in this volume tell of Oneida struggles during the Civil War and in boarding schools; of reservation leaders; and of land loss and other hardships under allotment. This book represents a unique collaborative effort between one Native American community and academics to present a detailed picture of the Oneida Indian past.

The New Deal era changed Iroquois Indian existence. The time between the world wars proved a watershed in the history of Indian white relations, during which some of the most far-reaching legislation in Indian history was passed, including the Indian Reorganizat1on Act. Until recently, scholars have acclaimed the 1930s as a model of Indian administration, praising the work of John Collier, then comm1ss1oner of Indian affairs. Among the Indians, however, a less-than-beneficial heritage remains from th1s era. To many of today's Native Americans these were years of increased discord and factionalism marked by non-Indian tampering with existing tribal political systems. Whenever the government directly intervened in Iroquois tribal affairs—or arbitrarily imposed uniform legislation from distant Washington—the Indians' New Deal suffered. It succeeded only when the government worked slowly to cultivate the backing of prominent leaders and achieved community-based support. Nonetheless, government programs stimulated a flowering of Iroquois culture, both in art and in language, and new Indian leadership emerged as a result of, or in reaction to, government policies. Laurence Hauptman argues that overall the work of the New Deal in Iroquoia should be seen as having done more good than harm.

Essays exploring the relationship between the Wisconsin Native American tribe and the Episcopal clergy. This unique collaboration by academic historians, Oneida elders, and Episcopal clergy tells the fascinating story of how the oldest Protestant mission and house of worship in the upper Midwest took root in the Oneida community. Personal bonds that developed between the Episcopal clergy and the Wisconsin Oneidas proved more important than theology in allowing the community to accept the Christian message brought by outsiders. Episcopal bishops and missionaries in Wisconsin were at times defenders of the Oneidas against outside whites attempting to get at their lands and resources. At other times, these clergy initiated projects that the Oneidas saw as beneficial—a school, a hospital, or a lace-making program for Oneida women that provided a source of income and national recognition for their artistry. The clergy incorporated the Episcopal faith into an Iroquoian cultural and religious framework—the Condolence Council ritual—that had a longstanding history among the Six Nations. In turn, the Oneidas modified the very form of the Episcopal faith by using their own language in the Gloria in Excelsis and the Te Deum as well as by employing Oneida in their singing of Christian hymns. Christianity continues to have real meaning for many American Indians. The Wisconsin Oneidas and the Episcopal Church testifies to the power and legacy of that relationship.

For the first time, the traumatic removal of the Oneida Indians from New York to Wisconsin is examined in a groundbreaking collection of essays, The Oneida Indian Journey from New York to Wisconsin, 1784-1860. To shed light on this vital period of Oneida history, editors Laurence Hauptman and L. Gordon McLester, III, present a unique collaboration between an American Indian nation and the academic community. Two professional historians, a geographer, anthropologist, archivist and attorney join in with eighteen voices from the Oneida community--local historians, folklorists, genealogists, linguists, and tribal elders--discuss tribal dispossession and community; Oneida community perspectives of Oneida history; and the means of studying Oneida history. Contributors include: Debra Anderson, Eileen Antone, Jim Antone, Abrahms Archiquette, Oscar Archiquette, Jack Campisi, Richard Chrisjohn, Amelia Cornelius, Judy Cornelius, Katie Cornelius, Melissa Cornelius, Jonas Elm, James Folts, Reginald Horsman, Elizabeth Huff, Francis Jennings, Arlinda Locklear, Jo Margaret Mano, Loretta Metoxen, Liz Obomsawin, Jessie Peters, Sarah Summers, and Rachel Swamp

Chief Chapman Scanandoah (1870–1953) was a decorated Navy veteran who served in the Spanish-American War, a skilled mechanic, and a prize-winning agronomist who helped develop the Iroquois Village at the New York State Fair. He was also a historian, linguist, philosopher, and early leader of the Oneida land claims movement. However, his fame among the Oneida people and among many of his Hodinöhsö:ni’ contemporaries today rests with his career as an inventor. In the era of Thomas Edison, Scanandoah challenged the stereotypes of the day that too often portrayed Native Americans as primitive, pre-technological, and removed from modernity. In An Oneida Indian in Foreign Waters, Hauptman draws from Scanandoah’s own letters; his court, legislative, and congressional testimony; military records; and forty years of fieldwork experience to chronicle his remarkable life and understand the vital influence Scanandoah had on the fate of his people. Despite being away from his homeland for much of his life, Scanandoah fought tirelessly in federal courts to prevent the loss of the last remaining Oneida lands in New York State. Without Scanandoah and his extended Hanyoust family, Oneida existence in New York might have been permanently extinguished. Hauptman’s biography not only illuminates the extraordinary life of Scanandoah but also sheds new light on the struggle to maintain tribal identity in the face of an increasingly diminished homeland.

In Seven Generations of Iroquois Leadership, Laurence M. Hauptman traces the past 200 years of the Six Nations’ history through the lens of the remarkable leaders who shaped it. Focusing on the distinct qualities of Iroquois leadership, Hauptman reveals how the Six Nations have survived in the face of overwhelming pressure. Celebrated figures such as Governor Blacksnake, Cornelius Cusick, and Deskaheh are juxtaposed with less well-known but nonetheless influential champions of Iroquoian culture and sovereignty such as Dinah John. Hauptman’s survey includes over thirty contemporary women, highlighting the important role female leaders have played in Iroquois survival throughout history to the present day. The book offers historical and contemporary portraits of leaders from all six Iroquois nations and all regions of modern-day Iroquoia.