Where Did the Oneida Indians Live?

Where did the Oneida Indians live?  The Oneida Indians lived in what is now the state of New York.  They lived there until many were forced to move to Wisconsin or Canada. Let's learn more about  where the Oneida Indians lived, and how their living environment shaped their culture, and their history.  

The Oneida lived in New York and were a member of the Iroquois Confederacy.  The Iroquois, or “people of the longhouse” all came together and formed the League of Peace and Power.  The original Iroquois League had five nations and was referred to as the Five Nations:

• Oneida
• Mohawk
• Onondaga
• Cayuga
• Seneca

In 1722, the Tuscarora nation joined the League and it was called the Six Nations.  These nations lived in the northeastern part of North America.

The name “Oneida” means “people of the standing stone.” This comes from a legend that in olden days, the Oneida were being chased by an enemy and ran into a clearing.  Suddenly, they disappeared and the enemy who was chasing them said they must have been turned into stones. 

In 1794, the United States made the first Indian reservation by giving the Oneida six million acres in New York and changing the answer to where the Oneida Indians lived.  After a time, the land was reduced to 32 acres.  In the 1830s, many Oneida moved to Canada and Wisconsin as the United States was removing Indians from the eastern states.  Today, the Oneida people live in New York, Wisconsin, and Canada.  

Clan Structure of the Oneida Indians   

When learning where the Oneida's lived, it is also interesting to know how the lived. The Oneida nation had a tribal council chosen by the clan mothers.  They also belonged to the Iroquois Great Council and were represented there.  The Iroquois Confederacy is a democracy and was an example used by the founding fathers of the United States.

Oneida men are in charge of the hunting, trading, and war.  Oneida woman took care of the farming, family, and property.  Women ruled the clan and made the decisions about land and resources, but the chiefs, who were men, made military and trade decisions.  

Oneida children had chores to do and went to school but had time to play, too.  They played with cornhusk dolls and many of the boys like to play Lacrosse.  Babies were carried on a cradleboard that attached to the back of the mother.   

Everyday Life of the Oneida Indians

So, we know that New York was where the Oneida Indians lived, but where specifically did each individual family reside and how did they live their lives? The Oneida lived in longhouses which had a wooden structure covered with sheets of elm bark.  They were sometimes 100 feet long and housed an entire clan, which could be as many as 60 people.  The women planted crops of corn, squash, and beans and would gather wild berries and herbs.  The men hunted for elk and deer and fished.  An average meal would be a soup or stew and cornbread, cooked on stone hearths.  

Clothing consisted of breechcloths and leggings for the men and wraparound skirts with shorter leggings for the women.  Women often wore a tunic called an overdress and all Oneida wore moccasins.  The Oneidas adopted some of the European clothing, adding beadwork and ribbons to the shirts and blouses.  Men also wore a feathered cap that had the insignia of their tribe on it.  It had two feathers that stood up and one that trailed behind.  On occasion, women wore a beaded tiara.  

During wartime, the men would sport a Mohawk hair style and add feathers or even have a fake Mohawk with dyed porcupine or deer hair.  Sometimes the men had tattoos, but the women did not.  Women only cut their hair when in mourning, and usually wore it in a loose braid or long and loose. 

Occasionally, the Oneida men used dugout canoes on fishing trips but preferred to travel on land.  They used dogs as pack animals because there were no horses or mules.  During the winter, they had laced snowshoes and sleds to travel through the snow.