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ONEIDA COMMUNITY.
Term Paper ID:28826
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Discusses the religious & social experiment of the 19th Century Utopian Society in Oneida, New York. History of tribe. Its economy, relations with white settlers. Controversial ideas re: marriage and communistic principles. Current legal status.... More...
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Paper Abstract:
Discusses the religious & social experiment of the 19th Century Utopian Society in Oneida, New York. History of tribe. Its economy, relations with white settlers. Controversial ideas re: marriage and communistic principles. Current legal status.
Paper Introduction:
It is ironic, but in many ways fitting, that most 21st century Americans should know the name “Oneida” not as one of the original peoples of North America but as a name that they vaguely associate with forks. That association is derived from the Oneida Community, a utopian society established at Oneida, New York, in 1848 and dissolved about 1880. Other the links between the two technically stopped at the similarity of their names, a closer examination reveals an odd collection of similarities.
The Oneida Community was a religious and social experiment based on communistic principles and because of this, along with their system of “complex marriage” in which all adults in the community were considered married to one another, they were often viewed with suspicion bordering on hatred by outsiders. This, along with the usual problems that beset utopian communities, broug
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The Iroquois had an agricultural economy, based mainly on corn, withsupplementary crops of pumpkins, beans, and tobacco and later of orchardfruits such as apples and peaches. The Oneida are a Native American tribe belonging linguistically to theIroquoian family and forming part of the Iroquois Confederacy. At the outbreak of the American Revolution, the league councildeclared for neutrality but allowed each of the six component tribes totake sides as it saw fit. "Indians' New Money Buys Legal Power". And they were happy with that. TheOneida have simply found a way to sell people back their dreams, which isno more or less what the business of capitalism (and of advertising inparticular) is about. "Begrudging Their Neighbors Their Good Luck", New York Times 22 January 1999, A1.Dae, James. Nearly all Iroquois men were skilled in war; warfare was common andcarried out with great ferocity. You might think that people would think that maybe there's a certain amount of fairness in all of this, that the Indians who for years have suffered every possible form of violence and indignity are now simply getting back just a small slice of what should have been theirs all along. With few exceptions, chiefly factionsof the Mohawk and Cayuga, who came under the influence of French Jesuitmissionaries, the Iroquois allied themselves with English interests. After therevolution, the Mohawk, under their leader, Joseph Brant, crossed intoCanada; they were followed by the Cayuga, and both tribes were eventuallysettled on two reservations to the north of Lakes Erie and Ontario. During the colonial period theyheld the balance of power between the French and English, particularly inthe area around the Canadian border. During the American Revolution the Oneida sided with thecolonists and were obliged to take refuge within the American settlementswhen their fellow tribes took the side of the British. Far above the water-covered earth was the Land of the Happy Spirits, where the Great Spirit dwelled. The loon was the next creature to try to find some earth. Certainly, much of what drew the censure of local people around the19th-century Oneida community was the inhabitants belief in eugenics andCommunism. After the war mostof the Oneida returned to Canada and settled in the region of the ThamesRiver, Ontario, where their descendants still remain Campis and Hauptman 33-37). It is unlikely that a people that has long been exploited and thatis known for its fierce pride and sense of strategy is likely simply todisappear quietly into the night (Egen B1). The common council of the entire confederacy met in such meetingplaces. Their own stories tell themthat this is how they began: Long, long ago, the earth was deep beneath the water. The water animals summoned a great turtle and patted the earth upon its back. His wicked brother takes possession of the souls of those who are evil like himself. And the success of one's neighbors is often a very difficultcross to bear, as the Oneida Indians of the 21st century have learned. Soon after her arrival, Sky Woman gave birth to twins. Syracuse: Syracuse UP, 1988.Nelson, M.C. At some point there was a shift in perspective, and my cousins and the other Indians I knew stopped talking about the great days in New York in the 19th century and starting hiring lawyers and thinking about going to law school themselves and getting back just a little bit of what was theirs. They all lived in sizable towns of large communal housesaround which they erected log palisades. The first born became known as the Good Spirit. At last, the muskrat said he would try. This earth became North America, a great island.... The Great Spirit called to his daughter, who lived in the Upper World. They have in many ways ceased to be the quaint,poor but exotic and conveniently oppressed Indians of most of the 2 thcentury and have become instead like other successful Americans. The Good Spirit continues to create and protect mankind. The only creatures living in this dark world were water animals such as the beaver, muskrat, duck and loon. Of course, for the Oneida, the beginnings of themselves as a people goback far beyond their contact with Europeans. In the distance, she saw the Lower World covered by water and clouds. After a time, his dead body surfaced to the top of the water. Now they were concerned about the woman, and what would happen to her when she reached the water. The Oneida Indian Experience. This done, he called his brother and told him he must cease making trouble. This transition has been a difficult one to make for many of theOneida themselves, but it has seemingly been far more difficult for theirneighbors. The woman did as she was told and peered through the hole. The Evil Spirit, to be contrary, stunted some trees or put gnarls and knots in their trunks. The other twin caused his mother so much pain that she died during his birth. Both in New York and in Wisconsin, the Oneida havemanaged to maintain a sense of their own identity both as a part of theconfederacy and as an independent Indian culture, refusing to assimilateinto the local communities in which they live. Works CitedChen, David. Thishistory of militant defense made their reputation as fierce enemies,something that might be considered today in the current disputes with theOneida. At once the turtle grew and grew, as did the amount of earth. Most of them joined the British. He challenged his evil twin to combat. One day the Great Spirit pulled the tree up from its roots creating a pit in the ground. The Oneida now number about 35 (Hauptman 24). It is certainly true that poor peopleare more inclined to gamble than the rich (or rather, it is true that thepoor are more likely to gamble in casinos; the rich after all have thestock market to gamble in) and that those who are personally hardest hit bygambling losses are often the very same people who have been most punishedby poor education and changes in the local economy, including plant shut-downs (Dae A1). All they see is that a few Indians now have money to take care of their own community and they want it. People come to gamble because they have dreams of wealth. Between 182 and 1835, most of the Oneida who had returned to theirhomes in New York State sold their land and moved to a reservation nearGreen Bay, Wisconsin. A completely defeated tribe was neverpermitted to retain its autonomy, although in some cases defeated enemieswere adopted by and incorporated into a conquering Iroquoian tribe. The Great Spirit spoke to his daughter, telling her to go into the world of darkness. While the whites who are their often poorerneighbors want Indians who look like they belong in the past but who haveforgotten all of the past wrongs, the Oneida themselves look like theybelong very much to the future - a future in which they will try to redressthe sins committed against them in the past. And so it remains (http: www.oneida-nation.net) The modern-day Oneida, like many Indian tribes remaining in the UnitedStates, have taken advantage of their legal status to institute gambling ontheir lands, which they hold as a sovereign nation that has certainagreements and certain treaties with the United States. Their territoryincluded the region surrounding the lake and later extended south to theSusquehanna River. The Iroquois as a whole were an important confederacy of NativeAmericans of the Iroquoian language family and of the Eastern Woodlandsculture area founded in the 16th century in what is now central New YorkState. The complexity and stability of this political organization, togetherwith a carefully nurtured skill in warfare and the early acquisition offirearms, enabled the Iroquois to achieve and maintain a position of greatpower during the colonial period of American history. Each town contained several long, bark-covered communalhouses, which had both tribal and political significance; along their innersides the families of a clan lived in semiprivate compartments, and thecentral areas were used as social and political meeting places. TheTuscarora are scattered, although a number have found a home among theMohawk; most of the Oneida are settled at Green Bay, Wisconsin, and most ofthe Seneca in western New York; the Onondaga still hold their valley nearSyracuse, New York. To understand the various conflicts that now surround the Oneidanation - which is in the process of making various land claims against thestate of New York and whose success at raking in gambling money from theoften much poorer neighboring communities has caused resentment - a brieflook at their history is needed. It is the Good Spirit who controls the spirits of good men upon their death. Otherthe links between the two technically stopped at the similarity of theirnames, a closer examination reveals an odd collection of similarities. The others opened his claws and found a little bit of earth. This has meant,especially in Wisconsin, that they are doing better financially than theirneighbors, who are often still suffering the effects of the shift in theU.S economy from heavy industry to post-industrialism. Syracuse: Syracuse UP, 1996.Hauptman, L. It is ironic, but in many ways fitting, that most 21st centuryAmericans should know the name "Oneida" not as one of the original peoplesof North America but as a name that they vaguely associate with forks. Tribal organization was totemicand matrilineal, with interlocking political and religious clanorganizations within tribes and tribes within large confederacies orleagues, of which the Iroquoian was most notable (Nelson 38). All were agricultural, with corn astheir chief crop. But around the time that I was in high school, about 2 years ago, you started to see a real change taking place in what the Indians would put up with and how they saw themselves. Many others tried, but each animal failed. When his dead body floated to the top, his little claws were clenched tight. But it was no doubt also based in the fact that the inhabitantsof the Oneida Community were very successful, often much more so than theirneighbors. They continued to expand theterritory under their dominion until by 172 they had subdued almost allthe tribes in a vast region extending from the Atlantic Ocean to theMississippi River and from the Saint Lawrence River to the Tennessee River(Campisi and Hauptman 21). The winner would become the ruler of the world.... During theirformative period in the 17th century they broke up the tribal confederaciesto their west, notably that of the Hurons. Other trees he covered in thorns or poisoned their fruit.... The name bywhich the tribe is known is a corruption of a Native American word meaning"standing rock," referring to a boulder sacred to the tribe situated nearthe site of their ancient village on Lake Oneida, New York. The animals were initially afraid because of the light emanating from her. Upon completion of his work, the Good Spirit bestowed a protecting spirit upon all of his creations. However, it is also most certainly true that no documentedinstances of the Oneida strong-arming whites into their casino has everoccurred. They made fine pottery, splint baskets,and mats of corn husk and used wampum as a medium of exchange. New York Times 9 February 1998, A1.Dae, James. Sometime between 1715 and 1722, however, theTuscaroras, an Iroquoian tribe originally of North Carolina, which hadmigrated to New York, was formally admitted to the confederacy, and thename of the league was changed to the Six Nations, or the League of SixNations (Hauptman 12). As Sky Woman continued her descent, the water animals looked up. These councils were fairly democratic in composition; delegateswere elected by members of various lineages, and each delegate representedboth a tribe and one of the matrilineal clans within a tribe. He was unsuccessful. They have in general come tosee that such assimilation would finish the process of cultural destructionbegun with European contact and have increasingly refused to act like "goodIndians" (Dae A1). Robert Bennett: The Story of an American Indian. He, too, was unsuccessful. The single point of greatest contention has been the amount of moneythat the Oneida have been able to make off of their gambling ventures,which has often prompted calls by local politicians to stop theexploitation of the poor (Dae A1). "Backlash Growing as Indians Make a Stand for Sovereignty", New York Times 9 March 1998, B1.Gold, Scott, interviews on 7/2/ and 7/1 / .Hauptman, L. They have become good Americans in every modern senseof the term, and if they have often caused resentment, perhaps it is notmerely at their material success but also at the fact that they have becomeso thoroughly Americanized. The tribe was friendly toward the French colonists andJesuit missionaries, although most members of the confederacy were hostileto the outsiders. Green Bay: Wisconsin UP, 1967.http:www.oneida-nation.org: Oneida Nation website His own grandmother was an Oneida, and so he has always beeninterested in the ways in which the Indians and the rest of the population(which is almost entirely white) come to terms with their past. In the center of this upper realm was a giant apple tree with roots that sank deep into the ground. The Oneida Community was a religious and social experiment based oncommunistic principles and because of this, along with their system of"complex marriage" in which all adults in the community were consideredmarried to one another, they were often viewed with suspicion bordering onhatred by outsiders. But in fact what you see is people with no sense of proportion, no sense of fairness. The Good Spirit made the tall and beautiful trees, including the pines and hemlock. The Evil Spirit emphatically refused. Thatassociation is derived from the Oneida Community, a utopian societyestablished at Oneida, New York, in 1848 and dissolved about 188 . and John Campisi. Far above them they saw a great light that was Sky Woman. He then tenderly picked her up and dropped her into the hole. There was a great darkness because no sun or moon or stars shone. The beaver plunged deep beneath the water in search of earth. The office ofdelegate was restricted to chiefs, and every delegate had to meet theapproval of both tribal and league councils. If the conduct of any delegatewas perceived as improper, or if he lost the people's confidence, the womenof his clan officially expelled him and chose another delegate to serve inhis place. The woman, who would be called Sky Woman by those creatures watching her fall, began to slowly float downward. This, along with the usual problems that beset utopiancommunities, brought about the dissolution of the community and thedevolution of its associated company from a broad-based manufacturingconcern that has gradually narrowed its activities from the manufacture ofsteel traps and silk and the canning of fruits and vegetables to themanufacture of fine plated and sterling silverware, for which it is nowknown (Jamison 23). In their fear, they dove deep beneath the water. He commanded her to look into the pit. All of the Iroquoian tribes, although displaying considerablediversity, shared certain cultural and linguistic characteristics and thesewere all true of the Oneida as well. Despite their political importance, the confederacyprobably never numbered more than 25, . Publicrecords were woven into the designs of large wampum belts (http:www.oneida-nation.net). What it comes down to is that the whites were perfectly happy to have the Indians around because they were colorful and good for bringing tourists in and they made these beautiful "crafty" things like wampum that people could buy cheaply off of them and then sell for a lot more. The Oneida have used their wealth well, including using it tobuy the best possible legal representation to pursue land claims for wrongscenturies old (Dae, 1999, A1). "Anxiety Growing Over Claims Against New York States", New York Times 13 January 1999: A1.Egan, Tim. He was to be known as the Evil Spirit..... In their relations with white settlers, the Iroquois from the startplayed the role of an independent power. The animals eventually conquered their fear and came back up to the surface. And despite their currentlydiminished numbers and their scattering both far from their homelands andfar from each other, the confederacy of these six tribes does remain inforce and is still in some measure an important political element in NewYork state, as can be seen in its current land claims against the stategovernment (Chen A1). It's simple racism, to me - racism plus the fact that people are just plain greedy (Gold, personal communication). The beaver told the others that they must find a dry place for her to rest upon. Theybitterly opposed the extension of French settlement southward from Canada,and they were responsible for preventing the English colonies from beingflanked on the west by the French. The speaker here grew up near Green Bay, Wisconsin, where the majorityof American Oneida now live in a town where about half the population isOneida. The Good Spirit became enraged at his brother's wickedness. The original confederacy consisted of five tribes - the Mohawk,Onondaga, Cayuga, Oneida, and Seneca - and was known as the Five Nations,or the League of Five Nations. And there's been problems ever since (Gold, personal communication). The Oneida Indian Story: From New York to Wisconsin. The league as a whole had no single head, and deliberativedecisions were usually made by a unanimous vote of the league council(http:www.oneida-nation.net).
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