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3.6 Cultural Resources 

3.6.1 Introduction 

This section identifies cultural resources, which include archaeological resources and 

historic architectural resources located in the Study Area, and the prehistoric and historic 

contexts in which to place the cultural resources, and assesses the potential effects of the 

Proposed Action on these resources. The Study Area comprises the Area of Potential Effect 

(APE) for the Proposed Action and 1,000 feet of the APE; the APE for this analysis is 

defined as the 243 parcels (440 tax lots). In addition to determining the potential effects 

of the Proposed Action on identified cultural resources, the objectives of this analysis was 

be to demonstrate the long history of the Oneida within the Central New York Region 

and in particular, the parcels owned by the Nation that are subject of the trust transfer to 

the U.S. government; that the Oneida occupation and utilization of the Central New York 

Region is part of an even longer term utilization of this area by prior Native American 

cultures; and the importance of the Study Area (inclusive of the lands now owned by the 

Nation) to Oneida heritage, tradition, and identity both spiritually and in terms of 

developed lifeways. 

The Oneida homeland extends across present-day Oneida and Madison Counties in the 

Central New York Region, stretching from the upper Mohawk valley to the Oneida River 

drainage basin and includes the 17,370 acres of land now owned by the Nation and 

proposed for trust transfer. At its greatest historic extent, Nation lands extended from the 

Saint Lawrence River to the upper Susquehanna valley and beyond, a domain of about six 

million acres. The core of the Oneida homeland is centered on the Oneida and 

Cowaselon Creek valleys, southeast of Oneida Lake. 

For over 10,000 years, Native Americans have been utilizing the Central New York 

Region, which includes the 17,370 acres of land now proposed for trust transfer. Native 

American continuity of occupation on the land, manifested through a variety of cultures, is 

readily apparent. The Oneida and their ancestors developed special relationships to the 

land adapting to changing environmental and social conditions first as nomadic huntergatherers, later as prehistoric agriculturalists, and finally as historic farmers and 

tradesmen. While life was at times difficult, Native Americans and their cultures generally 

thrived. It was the arrival of Europeans and their geo-political and commercial priorities 

that resulted in drastic lifestyle changes for the Oneida and a century’s long battle to retain 

control of their lands. This battle is ongoing today. Government land policies and the 

ever increasing influx of settlers to the Central New York Region ultimately reduced 

Oneida control over most of their homeland; this occurred even though the Oneida 

remained loyal to New York State and the U.S. during the Revolutionary War. 

Throughout their trials, as stated by Taylor, the Oneida kept hoping that they would cease 

being treated by the Americans “as inferior beings without the same feelings of hurt, 

sorrow, and loss that whites would have felt if similarly deprived of their property and 
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respect. Instead the Oneida wished to be honored and rewarded as trusted friends who 

had stuck by the United States when and where it most needed allies” (Taylor, 2003). 

3.6.1.1 Regulatory Framework for Evaluation of Cultural Resources 

Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) of 1966 (16 U.S.C. 470) 

and the New York State Historic Preservation Act (SHPA) of 1980 require federal and 

New York State agencies to assess the impacts of certain projects on historic resources that 

meet the eligibility criteria for inclusion on the New York State and National Registers of 

Historic Places. The task of providing oversight and guidance to New York State and 

federal agencies in implementing the statutes in New York State is the purview of the New 

York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (OPRHP); this agency is 

also the designated New York State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) under the 

NHPA. Under New York State and federal statutes, New York State and federal agencies 

are required to identify, evaluate, and avoid or mitigate impacts to buildings, structures, 

objects or sites that are listed on or considered eligible for listing on the New York State 

and/or National Registers of Historic Places. Accordingly, compliance with the SHPA and 

the NHPA is required for projects involving New York State and federal agencies that 

includes consideration of historic resources as part of the environmental review process 

and occurs during the initial stages of a project. 

The NHPA defines an historic resource or historic property as “any prehistoric or historic 

district, site, building, structure, or object included in, or eligible for inclusion in the 

National Register (of Historic Places); such terms include artifacts, records and remains 

which are related to such a district, site, building, structure, or object” (United States 

Department of the Interior, 1985). The National Register of Historic Places defines a 

historic property as a “district, site, building, structure, or object significant in American 

history, architecture, engineering, archaeology, and culture. A historic property may be a 

row of stores having cast-iron fronts or Mount Vernon, a water tower or a city park, a 

railroad station, an ethnic neighborhood, or the archaeological remains of a prehistoric 

Indian village. It may be of value to the Nation as a whole or important only to the 

community in which it is located” (United States Department of the Interior, 1985). The 

criteria of eligibility for listing of properties on the National Register of Historic Places is 

that the quality of significance in American history, architecture, archaeology, and culture 

is present in districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects of state and local importance 

that possess integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and 

association and that: 

• are associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad 

patterns of our history; 

• are associated with the lives of persons significant in our past; 

• embody the distinctive characteristics of a type, period or method of construction 

or that represent the work of a master or that possess high artistic values or that 
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represent a significant and distinguishable entity whose components may lack 

individual distinction or 

• have yielded or may be likely to yield information important in prehistory or 

history (United States Department of the Interior, 1985). 

Accordingly, based on these definitions and criteria for this analysis an historic resource is 

any property listed on the New York State and National Registers of Historic Places 

(included National Historic Landmarks) or contained within a district listed on or 

formally determined eligible for listing on these registers, any property determined to be 

eligible for listing on these registers by the SHPO, and properties not included in these 

categories but which nonetheless may meet eligibility requirements for listing on these 

registers. 

Appendix D provides information on the archaeological resources and historic 

architectural resources identified within the Study Area. Some of the site location 

information is considered confidential by the responsible agencies; therefore, those data 

sources are not included in Appendix D. 

Archaeological resources consist of the physical remains, usually buried, of past human 

activities. In New York State, archaeological resources can include the remains associated 

with Native American and Historic period activities that have potential value for the 

information that they may provide on the behavior patterns and activities of previous 

inhabitants or about important historic events. Previously recorded archaeological sites 

located within the 17,370 acres of land now owned by the Nation and proposed for trust 

transfer or located within 1,000 feet of those lands are identified in this section and in 

Appendix D. The 1,000-foot distance is considered adequate for the identification of 

archaeological resources in terms of physical, visual, and historical relationships to the 

APE. Table 1 in Appendix D provides pertinent information on the previously identified 

Native American archaeological sites. The precise location information for the sites is not 

provided in order to aid in the preservation of those resources, although due to the activity 

of amateur archaeologists and other collectors as well as the difficulty inherent in 

enforcing regulations intended to protect the integrity of such locations, many sites of 

cultural interest have to some degree been previously disturbed. Nation parcels that are 

located within areas generally considered by the SHPO to be archaeologically sensitive are 

also identified. Table 1 in Appendix D provides pertinent information on Nation parcels 

located within archaeologically sensitive areas. 

For historic architectural resources, this section identifies known properties eligible for 

listing on or are on the New York State and National Registers of Historic Places that are 

located on lands now owned by the Nation, as well as all existing structures 50 years or 

older that are present on these lands. Table 2 in Appendix D provides pertinent 

information on the New York State and National Registers of Historic Places listed 

properties. Table 3 in Appendix D provides pertinent information on existing structures 
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50 years or older. The potential effects or impacts of the Proposed Action on the 

identified historic resources are discussed in Section 4.6 Cultural Resources. 

The framework that the Nation uses for evaluation of cultural resources is embodied in 

the Oneida Indian Nation Cultural, Historical or Archeological Resources Ordinance 

(Ordinance Number 00-01) it has enacted to protect those resources. The value and 

importance that the Nation places upon the cultural, historical or archaeological resources 

present within its lands is evidenced by this ordinance. Article 1 of the Oneida Indian 

Nation Cultural, Historical or Archeological Ordinance states that “The Ordinance 

protects resources of cultural, historical, and archeological importance on Nation land by 

requiring internal review of an area’s cultural, historical or archaeological potential before 

any construction or land development activities begin in that area. It creates a Historic 

Preservation Committee to evaluate cultural, historical, or archeological sensitivity of a 

site or of a potential construction site. If construction is likely to harm something of 

cultural, historical, or archeological value, the Historic Preservation Committee is 

empowered to recommend further work to evaluate or mitigate such harm. The 

Ordinance compliments and expands the existing Environmental Protection Ordinance by 

establishing a specific procedure for identifying evaluating and protecting Cultural, 

Historical or Archeological resources of the Nation.” Article 2 of this ordinance defines 

cultural, historical or archeological resources as consisting, without limitation, of the 

following: 

• Any location, structure, district area or site including underground and underwater 

sites that are of significance in the history, archeology or culture of the Nation 

which are located on Nation land; 

• Any location, building, structure, district, area or site including underground and 

underwater sites that contain or in the reasonable opinion of the Historic 

Preservation Committee, may contain items, articles, artifacts or remains which 

bear significance to the history, archeology or culture of the Nation; 

• Historic when used in the bulleted items above means having a special character or 

value by reason of significance in or in relationship to, the history of the Nation; 

and 

• The application, interpretation and designation of the term Cultural, Historical or 

Archeological Resources shall be liberally construed. The interpretation of the 

term Cultural, Historical, or Archeological Resources by the Historic Preservation 

Committee shall be presumed to apply. 

The Historic Preservation Committee established by the Oneida Indian Nation Cultural, 

Historical or Archeological Resources Ordinance consists of historical, environmental 

science, and management professionals, and a Nation Council representative. The 

Historic Preservation Committee retains staff and the services of consultants including 

archaeologists, architectural historians, and other experts to assist it in its historic 

preservation work. 
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The Oneida Indian Nation Cultural, Historical or Archeological Resources Ordinance is a 

powerful tool for historic preservation within the Oneida homeland and is comprehensive 

in its scope. Its enactment and the implementation of its provisions reflects the long-range 

commitment of the Nation to protect and whenever possible, preserve the cultural, 

archaeological, and historic resources that are located within the 17,370 acres of land now 

owned by the Nation and proposed for trust transfer. This ordinance demonstrates a 

seriousness of purpose on the part of the Oneida to act as responsible stewards of their 

historic heritage. 

3.6.1.2 Methodology for Documentation of Cultural Resources 

The methodology used to document existing historic architectural resources conforms to 

that described in Section 106 of the NHPA for the identification of Historic properties. 

This methodology consisted of a staged approach to determine whether historic 

architectural resources are present in the Study Area. The initial step in the assessment 

identified the APE for the Proposed Action, which are locations that may potentially be 

directly or indirectly adversely impacted by taking lands into trust. Typically, locations 

directly impacted by an action are those where construction activities would disturb the 

ground to such an extent that any significant historic architectural resources present would 

be destroyed or disturbed to the extent that it would lose integrity to the degree that it 

would no longer be eligible for inclusion on the New York State and National Registers of 

Historic Places. Indirect impacts to a location also may destroy or disturb archaeological 

resources and could include construction equipment staging and storage areas or increased 

or improved access to a site. Construction disturbance is not proposed as part of the trust 

transfer. 

The second step in documenting existing conditions consisted of identifying previously 

recorded archaeological sites located within the APE or within 1,000 feet of it. Research 

also was conducted on the Euro-American history and Native American culture history 

and adaptations of the APE and its vicinity. The analysis involved a review of information 

in the possession of the Office of the Nation Historian and contained in the OPRHP 

archaeological site files and library, the New York State Museum (NYSM) archaeological 

site files, and in other primary and secondary sources. The Nation and OPRHP site files 

contain information on both prehistoric and historic archaeological sites. Sites identified 

in the NYSM’s archaeological site files primarily are prehistoric or early Historic period 

Native American occupations. Discussions also were conducted with knowledgeable 

people including Mr. Anthony Wonderley the Nation Historian, Ms. Cynthia Blakemore 

of OPRHP, and Mr. Michael Schiefferli of the OPRHP concerning archaeological sites and 

the APE. In addition, a field inspection of portions of the APE was undertaken. Based on 

the documentary research and field inspection, the potential impacts of the Proposed 

Action on previously identified cultural resources were assessed and are discussed in 

Section 4.6 Cultural Resources. 
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3.6.2 Historic Context of the Nation 

3.6.2.1 Introduction 

There is a centuries-long association between Native American cultures generally and the 

Oneida in particular, and the portion of New York State that contains Nation lands. In 

order to appreciate this association, it is necessary to understand the sequence of Native 

American cultures and the lifeways and adaptations of the people of these cultures that 

existed over time within the present-day Madison and Oneida Counties including the 

17,370 acres of land now owned by the Nation and proposed for trust transfer. 

Archaeologists generally refer to this sequence of cultures within a region as its culture 

history. Archaeologists and historians generally divide the Native American culture 

history of New York State into three eras the prehistoric, protohistoric or EuropeanNative American Contact, and historic. These three eras are discussed below. 

The Prehistoric era comprises the time between the initial occupations of the Study Area 

by humans about 11,000 to 12,000 years ago (9,000-10,000 B.C.) to just before the first 

contacts between Native Americans and Europeans in the late fifteenth and sixteenth 

centuries. This era is sub-divided into a number of periods including the PaleoIndian, 

Archaic, Transitional, and the Woodland Periods. Knowledge of the Prehistoric era 

derives entirely from the archaeological record. 

The Protohistoric or European Native-American Contact era is the interval between c. 

A.D. 1500 and the early seventeenth century. In many ways, this era is a transitional time 

between the prehistoric past and the development of Historic Native American groups. 

Native American cultures during the protohistoric era began to be affected by contact with 

European explorers such as Verrazano in 1524 and Cartier in the period of 1530’s-1540’s 

and European fishermen, traders, and other adventurers initially sailing along the eastern 

seaboard of the U.S. but later likely entering into previously unexplored interior areas. 

Most of what is known about the Protohistoric era derives from the archaeological record 

since written documentation associated with it is almost unknown. 

The Historic era began in the early seventeenth century with the explorations into the 

Hudson Valley by Henry Hudson and into northern New York State by Samuel de 

Champlain. Hudson and Champlain’s explorations resulted in the first significant 

accounts of the Central New York Region and its indigenous peoples (Jamerson, 1909; 

deLaet, 1625; Juet, 1859). Descriptions of Native American lifeways are increasingly part 

of the documentary record beginning with the early 1600’s, as European exploration and 

settlement of the region increased throughout the remainder of the seventeenth century. 

The Dutch, in particular, provide much information about Native American cultures after 

the first quarter of the seventeenth century. 
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3.6.2.2 Prehistoric Era 

The Prehistoric era of New York State is subdivided into a number of periods including 

the PaleoIndian, Archaic, Transitional, and Woodland periods. The PaleoIndian period 

(10,000 - 8,000 B.C.) represents the earliest human occupation of New York State. The 

Archaic period (8,000 - 1,700 B.C.) refers to a time prior to the introduction of 

horticulture and pottery manufacture and is divided into Early, Middle, and Late periods. 

The Transitional period (1,700 - 1,000 B.C.) witnessed a gradual change in Archaic 

lifestyles with the development of Woodland period traits. The Woodland period (1,000 

B.C. - A.D. 1,600), which is characterized by the use of pottery and reliance on 

horticulture, also is divided into Early, Middle, and Late periods. The PaleoIndian, 

Archaic, Transitional, and Woodland periods of the prehistoric era of New York State are 

described below. 

PaleoIndian Period 

The PaleoIndian period represents the time of the earliest Native American culture firmly 

recognized in the U.S. and corresponds to the end of the Wisconsin glaciation. Small 

bands of PaleoIndian hunters and gatherers likely entered the Central New York Region 

from the south/southeast and possibly the west after deglaciation (glacial retreat) of the 

area began about 18,000 years ago. The total period of deglaciation is a matter of debate, 

but is known to have lasted many thousands of years (Ritchie, 1980; Funk, 1993). 

A tundra environment characterized the landscape extending southward from the ice 

sheets during the late glacial and immediate post-glacial periods. As the glaciers retreated 

northward, water drained from the melting ice sheet creating large inland lakes, bogs, and 

marshes. One of the lakes, the Proglacial Lake Iroquois, covered portions of present-day 

Oneida and Madison Counties. Proglacial Lake Iroquois formed at the end of the 

Wisconsin glaciation approximately 13,000 years ago by melting glacial ice in the Lake 

Ontario Basin. This lake was an enlargement of Lake Ontario, which had developed as a 

result of a blockage of the Saint Lawrence River Valley near the present-day Thousand 

Islands by glacial ice. The melting of the Saint Lawrence River Valley ice dam around 

10,000 B.C. resulted in the lowering of the glacial lake to its present level in Lake Ontario. 

The existing Oneida Lake, which is a remnant of an arm of Proglacial Lake Iroquois, 

drained for most of its existence to the southeast, through an outlet channel passing near 

the present day City of Rome, New York. The channel then followed the Mohawk River 

valley to the Hudson River. The tundra landscape was then succeeded by woodland. 

A PaleoIndian adaptation to the late glacial environment included the movement of small, 

nomadic bands of hunters and gatherers over long distances to procure food. These bands 

most likely subsisted on caribou as well as small game and a variety of plants. The 

diversity and availability of food sources likely increased as the post-glacial climate 

warmed and the environment changed (Eisenberg, 1978; Funk, 1993; Kauffman and Dent, 

1982). It is possible that this adaptation occurred as a latter PaleoIndian innovation. In 
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this view, the initial PaleoIndian migrants to the northeast during the late Pleistocene era 

(post-10,000 B.C.) organized themselves into large settlements that provided the support 

systems necessary to adapt to unfamiliar and relatively harsh territory (Dincause, 1993). 

As knowledge and familiarity with the landscape increased, the larger communities then 

divided into smaller bands that became dispersed over larger territories. The available 

archaeological data provides evidence of the nomadic adaptation, as large sites are rare 

and small sites more common (Funk, 1976; Gramley and Funk, 1990; Kraft, 1986; 

Ritchie, 1957 and 1980; Ritchie and Funk, 1973). Regardless of the way by which 

PaleoIndian groups organized themselves, it is certain that population density was very 

sparse. 

In the northeast U.S., a variety of small, functionally diverse archaeological site types have 

been identified that include base camps, quarry workshops, rockshelter habitations, openair hunting camps, kill and butchering sites, and other temporary camps (Funk, 1972; 

Gardner, 1974; Moeller, 1980; Gramley, 1982). Such sites tend to be found on elevated 

locations above floodplains and lowlands and on drumlins, terraces, and hilltops (Funk, 

1993). Other locations where scattered surface indications of PaleoIndian occupation 

have been found include kame deltas, moraines, and outwash terraces, as well as higher 

valley slopes and upland locales (Funk, 1993). Information from known PaleoIndian sites 

in the New York/New Jersey/Pennsylvania region suggests that the preferred areas of 

occupation were the raised well-drained areas located near streams or wetlands. Rock 

shelters, areas near lithic sources, and lower river terraces also were subject to PaleoIndian 

occupation and use (Werner, 1964; Funk, 1976; Moeller, 1980; Ritchie, 1980; Marshall, 

1982). 

At least two PaleoIndian sites previously have been recorded for the area of Nation lands. 

These two sites are the Corditaipe site, which is located in the upper Mohawk valley, and 

a site located near the City of Utica that was recorded in the files of the New York State 

Museum (NYSM 1274) (Funk and Wellman, 1984). Most evidence of PaleoIndian 

activity in the northeast, however, comes from scattered surface finds of Clovis Fluted 

points (Funk, 1976). During the early PaleoIndian period, Native Americans produced 

finely made chipped stone tools creating a distinctive stone artifact assemblage 

characterized by a diversity of specialized implements. The most noted of these stone tools 

are the distinctive fluted-type projectile points that are termed Clovis points. At least five 

fluted points have been recovered from Madison County while six such points, including 

three from the Corditaipe site, were recovered from Oneida County (Wellman, 1982). 

Archaic Period 

By 8,000 – 7,000 B.C., the world’s climate had warmed and the environment changed 

from hemlock-spruce to pine dominated forests to an increasingly deciduous hardwood 

forest, which achieved an essentially modern character by 4,000 B.C. (Salwen, 1975). The 

hunting and gathering populations that adapted to the changing climatic and 
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environmental circumstances constitute what archaeologists call Archaic cultures. These 

cultures existed from c. 7,000 to 1,000 B.C. The Archaic period is divided into the 

following three sub-periods reflective of changing cultures: Early Archaic (7,000-6,000 

B.C.), Middle Archaic (6,000-4,000 B.C.), and Late Archaic (4,000-2,000 B.C.). 

Population growth throughout the Archaic period resulted in an increase in both site 

density and the number of functional site types represented in the archaeological record. 

Site types recognized for this period include spring fishing camps along major streams, fall 

open air hunting camps, rockshelter habitations, subsistence-related processing stations, 

mortuary sites, quarry and workshop sites, and semi-permanent villages (Dincause, 1976; 

Barber, 1980; Ritchie, 1980; Snow, 1980). While Archaic cultures have been traditionally 

thought of as reflecting a forest-based adaptation, more recent research has produced a 

picture of an increasingly varied subsistence pattern based on the seasonal exploitation of 

various faunal and floral resources (Ritchie and Funk, 1973; Funk, 1976; Kraft, 1986; 

Starbuck and Bolian, 1980). Most information concerning the Archaic period comes from 

Late Archaic sites, since evidence for Early and Middle Archaic sites in the region is almost 

as scarce as for PaleoIndian sites. 

Little is known about Early Archaic cultures. Those populations are generally thought to 

be similar in their adaptations to preceding PaleoIndian groups, although the climate was 

warmer and dryer. Sites dating to this period, however, are rare indicating that 

populations were small in number and dispersed. The lack of sites has resulted in a poor 

understanding of Early Archaic settlement patterns and settlement systems. Groups were 

relatively small and mobile, and likely consisted of extended family sized units adapted to 

an environment with limited food resources. The extensive wetlands that existed, 

however, particularly those associated with the Central New York Region’s proglacial lake 

basins prior to their draining are thought to be principal environmental setting exploited 

by Early Archaic groups, although other permanent water sources such as springs, lakes, 

and rivers also likely were the focus of Early Archaic occupation. Such wetlands, lakes, 

and other water sources provided a relatively large number of species that could be utilized 

for subsistence and other purposes, as well as sources of fresh water. Accordingly, Early 

Archaic sites tend to be located near wetlands and other water sources within upland 

settlings. An Early Archaic component, part of a small fishing-related campsite, also 

reportedly was present at the Sterling site one of the Oneida ancestral properties (Pratt, 

1966 and 1976; Wonderley, 2004). The Sterling site is located within or in proximity to 

Nation parcels numbered 138, 139, 140, 142, and 150 in the Town of Verona. 

A number of distinctive projectile point types are associated with Early Archaic period 

cultures in the Central New York Region and most of these have been recovered only as 

isolated finds. Many of the projectile point types are similar in appearance to types 

identified in the southeastern U.S., possibly suggesting a movement of people into the 

northeastern part of the country as the Central New York Region’s climate improved. 
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As the climate moderated during the Early to Middle Archaic period, deciduous trees, 

particularly oak, became abundant producing more nuts and browse to attract the 

principal faunal species exploited by Native Americans. Drainages, shorelines, and stream 

gradients stabilized during this time period allowing the development of complex riverine, 

lacustrine, and floodplain plant and animal communities. It is likely that the territories 

exploited by hunter-gatherer populations decreased in size during the Middle Archaic 

period as natural productivity of the environment increased and the need for group 

mobility declined. However, sites dating to the Middle Archaic period remain rare and the 

cultures associated with this period are poorly understood. While some larger Middle 

Archaic sites are known from the Susquehanna valley region of central New York State, 

most known occupations are very small camps or are present as isolated artifact finds 

(Funk, 1993). 

While the climate during the Middle Archaic period is thought to have been moister than 

that of the Early Archaic period, conditions were still much drier than at present. 

Accordingly, as with Early Archaic sites, Middle Archaic occupations are more likely to be 

found near permanent water sources such as Oneida Lake. Since Oneida lake’s water 

levels remained lower during the Middle Archaic period, any sites that formed along this 

lake’s former shoreline would have been inundated as its waters rose in later periods. 

New styles of broad-bladed projectile points appeared during the Middle Archaic period 

and are found across New York State. A Middle Archaic component also reportedly was 

present at the Sterling site (Pratt, 1966 and 1976; Wonderley, 2004). 

Environmental conditions moderated by 4,000-5,000 B.C. to the point where the climate 

was the warmest known for the post-glacial period. Associated with the temperature rise 

came increased stabilization of wetlands, river and stream channels, and floodplains 

resulting in continued productivity increases of subsistence-related resources. 

Archaeologists recognize new cultures developing and adapting to these environmental 

conditions. This period and the associated cultures are known as the Late Archaic. The 

large increase in the number, size, and complexity of archaeological sites recorded in New 

York State dating to this time relative to those of previous periods is directly related to the 

improved environment and population increase. 

A variety of functionally diverse site types such as large base camps, small, hunting camps, 

multi-task and single task extraction/exploitation sites, quarry sites, lithic workshops, and 

rockshelters, to name a few, are known from the late Archaic period. Late Archaic Native 

Americans roamed well-established, relatively small, productive territories with special 

emphasis on the exploitation of deer, fish, plant-foods, and a variety of nuts and acorns. 

Evidence exists for the occupation of small sites in a variety of environmental settings and 

large multi-acre sites, the latter located near the outlets of lakes such as Oneida Lake, 

along river floodplains, and in proximity to large, interior wetlands. Such larger sites were 

oriented towards the exploitation of rich, aquatic resources associated with such 
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waterways and frequently are associated with large roasting pits and storage facilities 

supportive and reflective of a relatively large, increasingly settled, indigenous population. 

Increased ritual activities, particularly in the form of human and dog burials, also are 

associated with such sites. 

A proliferation of projectile point types found in the northeastern U.S. during the Late 

Archaic period suggest that the Central New York Region was divided into culturally 

distinct sub-regions with varying levels of interaction occurring among them. A number of 

Late Archaic cultures referred to as phases or complexes, are recognized as occurring 

within upstate New York and these have been termed the Brewerton, Lamoka, and 

Frontenac phases of the Late Archaic period (Funk and Rippeteau, 1977; Ritchie, 1980). 

Large Brewerton phase (c. 2,900-1,800 B.C.) sites such as the Robinson and Oberlander 

Number 1 sites have been identified near the outlet of Oneida Lake, with other sites 

identified north and south of the lake and along Oneida Creek (Ritchie and Funk, 1973; 

Ritchie 1980). The latter location contains land now owned by the Nation and proposed 

for trust transfer including the Late Archaic fishing-related occupation represented at the 

Sterling site (Pratt, 1966 and 1976; Wonderley, 2004). According to Ritchie, the recorded 

Brewerton aged sites indicate a seasonal cycle of travel with some hunting camps (Ritchie, 

1980). 

Transitional Period 

Sites dating to the Transitional period or Terminal Archaic (c. 1,800 - 1,000 B.C.) are 

most frequently found near major streams, but a limited number of interior campsites 

probably representing winter habitations, also are known (Funk, 1976; Ritchie, 1980; 

Vargo and Vargo, 1983). During the Transitional period, the environment was becoming 

warmer and drier compared to the Archaic period (Funk and Rippeteau, 1977). Human 

population continued to increase. The variety of functional site types known for the 

Transitional period is similar to that recorded for the Late Archaic period, with many sites 

apparently oriented towards the exploitation of riverine and lacustrine subsistence 

resources. Transitional phase settlement patterns and site location preferences are similar 

to that recorded for the Late Archaic period in that they continue to reflect growing, seminomadic populations occupying diverse environmental settings as part of a seasonal 

subsistence exploitation system, but for part of the year also establishing semi-permanent 

habitations employing extensive cooking and storage facilities and other features of 

uncertain function. 

Different broad-bladed projectile point types appeared during this period as did the use, 

during the latter half, of soapstone vessels. The broad-bladed spear type projectile points 

have been thought to represent fishing spears due to their association with riverine sites 

such as the Sterling site. The archaeological record also indicates that regional and local 

exchange networks intensified during the Transitional period, compared to earlier periods. 

A Transitional period to Early Woodland period Orient Fishtail-type projectile point was 
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recovered from the Farm 4 – Smith-Volker-Winterton Farmstead site that is located in the 

Town of Verona (OPRHP Site # A06522.000098). 

Woodland Period 

The Woodland period (c. 1,000 B.C.– A.D. 1500) is the time period during which hunting 

and gathering were supplemented by horticulture and subsequently by large-scale 

agriculture. Populations occupied semi-permanent and permanent villages and increased 

their reliance on the use of ceramic pottery. The Woodland period is divided into three 

sub-periods known as the Early, Middle, and Late Woodland periods. The latter portion 

of the Late Woodland period is the time of the initial development of Oneida culture. 

During the Early Woodland period (1,000 – 100 B.C.), the climate was relatively moist 

and warm. With the start of the cultural period the use of fired clay ceramic vessels 

gradually replaced the reliance on soapstone vessels, which characterized the Transitional 

period. Subsistence practices included a continuation of the hunting, gathering, and 

fishing of the Archaic period. Along the northeastern seaboard and its estuaries, these 

subsistence practices were supplemented by an increase in shellfish collecting. It has been 

suggested that shellfish collecting indicates a trend towards more sedentary lifestyles, at 

least in those areas (see Funk, 1976; Snow, 1980). Three cultural phases are currently 

recognized for the Early Woodland period in central New York State, which are the 

Orient, Meadowood, and Middlesex phases. The Orient phase (c. 1,000-500 B.C.) is 

better represented along the Atlantic Coast and surrounding areas, but also is somewhat 

represented in the interior portions of New York State. Orient culture has been 

traditionally classified as the last phase of the Transitional period, but has been 

reevaluated and determined to represent an Early Woodland manifestation (Ritchie, 

1980). The Meadowood phase (c. 1,000-500 B.C) is another Early Woodland cultural 

pattern that is widespread in central and western New York State, becoming sparser in its 

representation as one moves east (Granger, 1978). The settlement pattern consists of 

small hunting and gathering campsites supplemented by other special purpose sites, as well 

as large habitation sites containing large storage pits. 

Climatic conditions during the Middle Woodland period (100 B.C. - A.D. 1000) became 

cooler and moister compared to the climate during the Early Woodland period, with 

hemlock and chestnut species starting to dominate the forests of upstate New York (Funk 

and Rippeteau, 1977). Human populations during the Middle Woodland period gradually 

adopted a more sedentary lifestyle with certain occupation sites generally becoming larger 

during this time with more developed middens and food storage facilities appearing. 

Native people were exploiting a greater variety of food resources during this period 

compared with subsistence patterns that characterized earlier periods. Although 

subsistence was essentially based on hunting and gathering supplemented by fishing and 

fresh water shell fishing, horticulture resulting in the domestication of various plants seems 

to have occurred during the Middle Woodland period (Ritchie and Funk, 1973; Snow, 
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1980; Starna, 1998). Exploitation of seasonally available fish resources centered on 

stream rift locations that facilitated such harvests. Sites containing evidence for such 

activities have been identified beyond the outlet for Oneida Lake (Ritchie, 1969). The 

increased diversification in subsistence resources utilized by Middle Woodland populations 

is thought to have been a response to increased stress caused by stationary lifestyles and 

the possible population growth that frequently results. 

The climatic and environmental setting extant during the Late Woodland period was 

similar to what was recorded during the beginning of the Historic period (c. 1600). With 

the exception of a pronounced cooling spell around A.D. 1400 referred to as the Little Ice 

Age, the Late Woodland period was mainly a time of moderately cool and moist 

conditions with forests dominated by mixed growth of deciduous trees and pine. Climatic 

conditions proved suitable to the agricultural production of corn, beans, and squash that 

became the dietary staples of Late Woodland and subsequent Iroquois populations. 

It is the significant cultural changes emerging over a wide area starting about A.D. 1,000 

that distinguishes the Late Woodland period (A.D. 1,000 – A.D. 1600) from the preceding 

Middle Woodland. The degree of change, however, apparently was variable producing 

the high degree of cultural diversity that marks the period. By Late Woodland times, 

horticulture was the primary subsistence base and permanent, large-scale villages with 

multiple residential structures existed. These villages served growing populations and 

were occupied throughout the year and possibly for several years at a time. Use was still 

made, however, of temporary and special purpose campsites, such as the Frenay site 

(OPRHP Site # A05313.0000113) at Gifford Point on the Oneida Lake shoreline (Ritchie, 

1980; Snow, 1980). Other typical Late Woodland campsites identified along the Oneida 

Lake shoreline include the Castle Creek phase Wickham and Smith’s Pond sites located at 

that lake’s western outlet and the Chance phase Conway site located along its 

southwestern shore (Weinman and Weinman, 1982). 

The most notable cultural change of the Late Woodland period is the introduction of corn 

horticulture. Evidence of this in the Central New York Region is found from a variety of 

sites with different functions including fortified and possibly unfortified longhouse 

villages; unfortified villages, camps occupied over the short term containing limited 

evidence of house structures, and unfortified settlements of undefined type in the Mohawk 

and Hudson drainages (Cassedy et al., 1993; Funk, 1976; Ritchie, 1980; Prezzano, 1992; 

Ritchie and Funk, 1973; Stewart, 1990; Stothers, 1977). Corn initially appeared in the 

northeastern U.S. no later than about the third quarter of the tenth century (c. 950-975) 

(Cassedy et al. 1993; Hart and Means 2002). Corn horticulture apparently becomes 

possible in the northeastern U.S. following the development of a cold-resistant strain of 

corn referred to today as Northern Flint corn. 
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Beans and squash are found in association with corn in some of the earliest Late 

Woodland sites, indicating the importance of these plants in the Central New York Region 

for some early garden systems and subsistence strategies (Ritchie and Funk, 1973; Yarnell, 

1964). The Iroquois traditionally have referred to this horticultural complex of corn, 

beans, and squash as the Three Sisters. The Nation maintains some of their current lands 

for the cultivation of these traditional crops and these lands are included as part of the 

acreage proposed for trust transfer. Historically, these plants provided most of the 

nutritional requirements for a healthy life with the exception of an amino acid, which can 

be acquired by eating a small amount of meat or shellfish. The frequency with which 

these crops were grown together, however, is not well understood. Squash apparently was 

used as food beginning in the Archaic period in several regions of the eastern woodlands, 

much earlier in time than either corn or beans. In contrast, beans are absent from many 

early sites where corn has been reported and may not have become a significant crop in 

many areas until well after A.D. 1,000 (Fritz, 1990; Smith, 1892). 

Late Woodland subsistence practices varied among regions with different emphases placed 

on corn and bean horticulture, hunting, gathering, and fishing. The common perception 

has been that a heavy reliance on corn horticulture was supplemented by growing beans, 

with declining roles for hunting, fishing, and gathering. However, some local cultures 

with a lower reliance on agriculture may have included wild foods in their subsistence 

pattern to a larger extent than strong agriculturalists, particularly where animal protein 

could substitute for the amino acid complement provided elsewhere by beans. In such 

circumstances as indicated by the archaeological evidence, deer, fish, and/or shell fish 

would have served adequately as the primary animal form exploited to supplement the 

grown crops (Cleland, 1982; Funk, 1976; Ritchie, 1980; Ritchie and Funk, 1973). 

The earliest cultures featuring corn horticulture in the northeastern U.S. are referred to as 

Owasco in New York State. The Owasco tradition is divided into four phases referred to 

as Carpenter Brook, Canandaigua, Castle Creek, and Oak Hill. The last phase has been 

considered a cultural period that is transitional to Iroquois culture. 

The practice of corn horticulture seems to have encouraged population growth, village life, 

and warfare in some areas including central New York State during Owasco times. It is 

not known how long it took the horticulture-centralized village-warfare complex to spread 

more broadly across New York State. It also is not known whether it was developed and 

adopted in-situ by indigenous populations or introduced from areas where it had been 

established between A.D. 900 and A.D. 1100. Finally, it may be possible that warfare was 

intermittent or that it was a geographically or culturally limited threat during this period. 

This may be so even though warfare is suggested by settlement fortifications identified in 

the Susquehanna valley and central New York State and further indicated by a high 

percentage of deaths by arrows at the middle Owasco Sackett site cemetery located in the 
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Central New York Region, and the lack of fortifications at numerous Owasco and later 

sites particularly in the Mohawk, Hudson, and Delaware drainage areas. 

There is at present a range of opinion regarding the origin of the Iroquois. Whether the 

commonly recognized Iroquoian cultural characteristics (pottery styles, horticulture, 

longhouse residence, fortified settlements, and endemic warfare) are evidence of Iroquois 

presence or represent a widespread complex of co-occurring traits is a matter of debate 

(Bender and Brumbach, 1992). The traditional model of Iroquois origins has been one of 

gradual, in-situ development from the earliest Middle Woodland period through Owasco 

and late prehistoric Iroquois (Ritchie and Funk, 1973; Tuck, 1971). Starna and Funk, 

however, note the difficulty in assuming an Owasco-Iroquois developmental continuum 

due to the prevalence of Owasco pottery in areas where long-term cultural continuity 

would lead to historically documented Algonquian groups (Starna and Funk, 1981). More 

recently, Snow has argued that the Owasco culture represents an incursion of Iroquois 

speaking people about A.D. 900 into a region where Algonquian populations were already 

established (Snow, 1994 and 1998; Storm and Funk, 1981). These people began to move 

northward about A.D. 900 along the upper tributaries of the Susquehanna River of central 

Pennsylvania. By A.D. 1000, the Iroquois had displaced Algonquian-speaking people (i.e. 

Middle Woodland cultures) from the fertile lands of the southern shore of Lake Ontario 

and the Mohawk River valley (Snow, 1994). The incursion is represented by cultural 

discontinuity in certain traits indicative of population replacement. The incursion and 

resultant discontinuity are primarily represented archaeologically by the fundamental 

differences noted during this period in pottery manufacture; the introduction of the maize, 

beans, and squash agricultural complex replacing a gathering and hunting subsistence 

strategy; and the introduction of fortified, longhouse villages after c. A.D. 1200 replacing 

unfortified villages. Snow sees the source of the incursion as the Clemson’s Island culture 

centered in the middle Susquehanna drainage in the tenth century. He also points to a 

similar, contemporary development and expansion of comparable cultures in southern 

Ontario. 

Whether a pattern of cultural continuity or discontinuity characterized the sequence of 

Native American cultures during prehistoric times in New York State is a matter of 

debate. The chronology of the occupation and abandonment of Late Woodland sites 

including intra-site chronology as well as the timing and frequency of multiple occupations 

are currently poorly understood (Curtin, 1992). Archaeologists have generally accepted a 

traditional model of in-situ cultural development and variability from Middle Woodland 

origins. However, relatively recent work proposing an incursion into the area of Iroquois 

cultures and populations is gaining acceptance. A number of such incursion models have 

been proposed including Snow’s model that identifies the earliest Owasco phase as the 

period of initial immigration of peoples who would eventually become Iroquois. Other 

models proposed by Dincauze and Hasenstab, Swihart, and Curtin have proposed post-
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Owasco incursion into the area of proto-Iroquois cultures (Dincauze and Hasenstab, 

1989; Swihart, 1992; Curtin, 1992). 

It is known that a cluster of archaeological sites represents each of the five Iroquois 

nations during the late Prehistoric and Protohistoric eras. Owasco sites frequently occur 

in close enough proximity to the Iroquois site clusters to suggest an ancestry to the latter, 

although differences in site locations indicate a change in the settlement pattern between 

the periods. While Owasco village sites tend to be located on bluffs, terraces or other areas 

of high ground located adjacent to lakes, rivers, and other large waterways Iroquois 

habitation sites are most frequently found in hillier upland locales often on defensible 

landforms near springs or small creeks. 

3.6.2.3 Protohistoric Era 

The Protohistoric era corresponds to a large part with the EuroAmerican-Native American 

Contact period, the time of the first large scale contacts between Native Americans and 

European colonists. During this era, the latter part of the Late Woodland period, Native 

American cultures began to resemble those of groups that were encountered by 

seventeenth century Europeans. 

It was during the period ca. 1400-1600 that Iroquois culture and lifeways developed. The 

Oneida Nation, a matrilineal society comprised of three Clans (the Bear, Turtle, and 

Wolf), is a member nation of the Six Nations that comprise the Iroquois Confederacy. 

The other tribal Nations include the Mohawk, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and 

Tuscarora. 

By the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, splinter groups of the Lake Ontario-Mohawk 

River valley Iroquois had moved farther northward to occupy the northern shores of Lake 

Ontario, the eastern shores of Lake Huron, and the Saint Lawrence River valley from Lake 

Ontario to Quebec. Because of these territorial separations, four sub-divisions of the 

northern branch of the Iroquoian language emerged including an ancestral Iroquoian 

language spoken by the groups who remained in the region south of Lake Ontario and the 

Mohawk valley, which was the Oneida (Mithun, 1984; Johnson and Smith, 2003). Thus, 

the Oneida language is thought to be closely related to the Mohawk language suggesting a 

recent split between the two. To Snow this suggests that the ancestral Oneida probably 

lived in the upper or western Mohawk valley until the fifteenth century when they moved 

westward towards the emerging Onondaga (Snow, 1994). The second Iroquoian language 

sub-division was an ancestral Huronian or Huron language spoken by the Iroquois who 

occupied the northern shores of Lake Ontario and the eastern shores of Lake Huron. The 

third was a language spoken by the Iroquois who settled along the Saint Lawrence River 

valley (Snow, 1994). The fourth sub-division was spoken by the Tuscarora and Nottowy 

tribes that the Europeans originally encountered in the seventeenth century in North 

Carolina and Virginia, respectively. The Tuscarora moved northward in the early 

eighteenth century. This fourth sub-division was the first to separate from the Iroquoian 
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language’s northern branch (Mithun, 1984). The southern branch of the Iroquoian 

language is represented by a single language, Cherokee. At contact, the Cherokee 

occupied an area ranging over what are now the States of Tennessee, North Carolina, 

Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama (Mithun, 1984). 

While it is still unknown whether in-situ development of the Iroquois or their relatively 

recent entrance into the Central New York Region is the more accurate model, it is 

generally accepted by archaeologists that the historic Iroquois nations including the 

Oneida were preceded in their home territories by Iroquois ancestors during the late 

Prehistoric era. The Late Woodland period phases (c. A.D. 1400-1600) generally 

associated with early Iroquoian culture are the Oak Hill, Chance, and Garoga (Ritchie, 

1980; Funk and Kuhn, 2003). These phases are chronologically defined based upon 

changing ceramic pottery styles. The Oak Hill phase is traditionally considered the 

transitional phase between Owasco and Iroquois cultures. Radio-isotope dating evidence 

suggests some degree of overlap between the late portion of the Oak Hill phase and early 

portion of the Chance phase (Curtin, 1992). The archaeological sites associated with these 

three phases are typically villages that increase in size and complexity through time from 

Oak Hill to Garoga. 

Influences on the developing Iroquois cultures by further population movements during 

the Woodland period are varied across New York State. It is accepted, however, that the 

Oneida are among the Iroquois groups that experienced wholly autonomous development 

with little external cultural influence within their traditional homeland locality (Ritchie, 

1980). The traditional historic homeland of the Oneida consisting of the area where their 

villages were established during the Woodland period was the area located around Oneida 

Creek and its tributary Cowaselon Creek that drains into Oneida Lake. The Oneida also 

controlled the Wood Creek and Upper Mohawk valleys; Wood Creek also flows into 

Oneida Lake. Hunting territories associated with the Oneida extended northward from 

this region to the Saint Lawrence River and southward to the Susquehanna River 

(Beauchamp, 1900; Morgan, 1901; Fenton, 1940; and Campisi, 1978). 

The historic dimensions of the territory for the Historic period Oneida population are 

probably attributable to some extent to the control that the late prehistoric Oneida exerted 

on their land, with the territories becoming more concentrated through the sixteenth 

century. The traditional Oneida homeland includes Nation lands proposed for trust 

transfer to the U.S. government. 

It is recognized that the Iroquois and their ancestors moved their villages at intervals of 

between eight and 25 years during the late Prehistoric, Protohistoric, and Historic eras. 

Early seventeenth century observations by Champlain and later Europeans suggest that the 

Iroquois moved to a new location to establish a town every ten to twenty years (Grumet, 

1995). The periodic movement may have been related to exhaustion of local resources 
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such as wood, soil fertility, and local game populations. Pratt has inferred a sequence for 

Oneida village movement or relocation within their traditional homeland territory across 

the Prehistoric, Protohistoric, and Historic eras (Pratt, 1976). Village movement 

sequences also have been proposed for other Iroquois groups (Wray and Schoff, 1953; 

Lenig, 1965 and 1977; Tuck 1971; Ritchie and Funk, 1973; Niemczycki, 1984; Snow and 

Starna, 1986; Bradley, 1987; Wray et. al, 1987; and Snow ,1994). 

Archaeological investigations by Pratt have revealed the presence of a cluster of Oneida 

Iroquois sites in similar environmental settings in the hills and small valleys within the 

Oneida Creek drainage area located southwest of the great eastern bend in the Mohawk 

River, within the traditional Oneida homeland (see Appendix D) (Pratt, 1976; Grumet 

1995). Pratt’s work indicates that the sequence of Oneida Iroquois clusters extends in 

time from the fourteenth century into the Historic era. The earliest identified site in the 

sequence is the Nichols Pond site (NYSM #651 and #3800; OPRHP #A05305.0001), 

which is a village site with evidence for multiple palisaded walls. All of the sites in the 

sequence are clearly Oneida Iroquois in their cultural affiliation, containing no evidence of 

earlier Owasco or Oak Hill phase occupations. 

The Oneida villages apparently existed in an alternating settlement pattern of single and 

dual village occupations. The villages typically consisted of longhouse clusters, some over 

100 feet long, where extended families resided. The sites were palisaded with a wooden 

fence, which may have been up to three rows thick. The palisade walls likely served as a 

defensive measure to protect the inhabitants from the endemic warfare and violence that 

were a prominent feature of Iroquois culture. The villages are typically found on buffs 

and hill tops overlooking creeks and other water courses. The high ground also would 

have protected the villages from possible attacks. The larger of the late sixteenth and 

seventeenth century Oneida villages probably were home to from one to three thousand 

people (Starna, 1998). 

Prior to around the early seventeenth century, the practice of human burials among the 

Oneida took the form of single graves or groups of interments located in and around 

village areas. By the early seventeenth century, burial patterns took the form of large 

numbers of graves clustered just beyond the walls of a village forming separate cemetery 

precincts. The first Oneida site displaying a cemetery burial plan is the Beecher site, 

reportedly occupied between c. 1595 and 1625. According to some, the cemetery 

interment pattern at the Beecher site constitutes the first evidence of intensifying patterns 

of conflict, disease, and malnutrition associated with the early years of direct contact 

between colonists and the Indian people in the area (Grumet, 1995). Some of the lands 

proposed for trust transfer contain Oneida burial grounds and were specifically reacquired 

by the Nation in order to forever protect and preserve the archaeological record of the 

Oneida's associated cultural identity. 
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According to Pratt, it is likely that the early portion of the Oneida sequence involved the 

periodic relocation of a pair of villages (Pratt, 1976). This pattern apparently changed 

temporarily around the year 1475 when the Olcutt site was founded through a merger of 

two earlier villages. Subsequent settlements, however, apparently reverted to the earlier 

dual village settlement pattern although the sites reportedly were smaller than the single 

habitation site. By the early seventeenth century, the Oneida settlements apparently 

merged again with a single principal village existing. The Dutch trader Harmen 

Meyndertsz van den Bogaert visited such a village during the winter of 1634-1635 

(Gehring and Starna, 1988). The single principal village settlement pattern continued to 

characterize Oneida culture for the remainder of the seventeenth century. In addition to 

village sites, subsistence related campsites including fishing stations along Oneida Lake 

and Oneida Creek and other special purpose sites are part of the Oneida settlement 

pattern. 

The earliest evidence of European contact in the Oneida homeland derives from this 

period, being recovered during archaeological investigations at the Vaillancourt site 

(NYSM #656; OPRHP #A05313.000013), which reportedly was occupied c. 1475-1550. 

The evidence is in the form of a large iron knife and some brass beads and buttons that 

were found in associations with (i.e. in the same stratographic context) as Chance phase 

ceramics and triangular (Madison) style chipped stone projectile points. The presence of 

the non-Native manufactured artifacts at the Vaillancourt site likely was the result of 

indirect trading over long distances between the Oneida and Native American groups in 

the Saint Lawrence River area who directly encountered Europeans. 

Much of the European trade goods found in the Oneida sites of early Contact period age 

likely derive from the French, Basque, English, and other fishermen and explorers who 

sailed along the north Atlantic shoreline of North America during the late fifteenth and 

early sixteenth centuries. The first recorded European to explore the Iroquois region was 

the explorer Jacques Cartier who entered the Saint Lawrence Gulf in 1634. The next year, 

Cartier sailed up the valley of the Saint Lawrence River as far as what is today Montreal, 

which at the time was the site of a Saint Lawrence Iroquoian village referred to as 

Hochelaga (Morison, 1971). By the middle of the century, European trade goods were 

reaching Native Americans in the Mohawk River valley. The items were derived from the 

outpost established by the French during this period at Tadoussac, which is located at the 

mouth of the Saguenay River in the lower Saint Lawrence valley where European fishing 

fleets came to trade with the local Natives for furs. Soon after, traders and explorers 

traveled the Saint Lawrence wilderness establishing transient trading stations and 

settlements. The most notable of these were the outposts established at Quebec in 1608 

and Montreal in 1611; the latter remained an outpost until 1642. 
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The League of the Iroquois 

The most important event in Iroquois culture, which occurred over a still debated span of 

time during the Protohistoric era, is the development of the League of the Iroquois (the 

League). The League was composed of the Mohawk, Onondaga, and Seneca that were 

identified as the older brothers of the League and the Oneida and Cayuga that were 

identified as the younger brothers of the League. The League members referred to 

themselves and still do as the Hodenosaunee, the People of the Longhouse. The longhouse 

to which these people belong is metaphorical and based upon the physical longhouses 

where the Iroquois lived and which formed their villages. The Seneca were the guardians 

or keepers of the western door of the symbolic longhouse of the League, while the 

Mohawks guarded the eastern door. As with a real longhouse, the central hearth fire was 

kept at the center of the symbolic longhouse that corresponded to the land of the 

Onondaga and was kept by them. The League believe that the Tree of Peace extends over 

all its members, on top of which is perched an eagle to watch over the peace (Snow, 1994). 

The development of the League was a response to societal stress caused by increasing 

conflict and strife both among the Iroquois themselves and against neighboring nonIroquois Native American groups. It is thought that the League was established by c. 

1525, although an earlier date is possible. Archaeological evidence for violence and 

conflict among the Iroquois and their oral tradition suggest that the League could not have 

formed prior to 1450 (Snow, 1994). While the League was formed by c. 1525, it likely 

took much of the remainder of that century to mature and be ready for the first direct 

contacts with the newly arriving Europeans. Certainly by the period of English conquest 

of New Netherlands in 1664, the Five Nations of the Iroquois had ceased to fight against 

each other and acted as a single entity for defense although internal strains continued 

throughout the League’s existence (Jennings, 1984). 

As indicated previously, much of the Protohistoric era witnessed almost perpetual violence 

and warfare among the Iroquois people. Violence was frequently directed at any person 

who was not a member of one’s own or a closely allied village. With strife apparently 

occurring on a regional level, some prominent Iroquois leaders tried to devise a solution to 

end all conflict and bring peace and stability to Iroquois life. Their efforts lead to the 

social and political innovation that has come to be known as the League of the Iroquois. 

Snow indicates that the traditional story of the formation of the Iroquois League has been 

preserved in a number of versions, some more complex than others (Snow, 1994). 

The fifty League chiefs acted as a council to decide League issues; the Oneida contributed 

nine League chiefs (Snow, 1994). Custom required consensus of the chiefs in their 

decision-making. The chiefs and councils were chosen according to custom and continued 

to function effectively through the seventeenth and most of the eighteenth centuries 

(Jennings, 1984). 
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Seventeenth Century Euro-American Contact 

By the early seventeenth century, the Oneida continued to reside in villages that were built 

during the 1590’s. Pits, hearth, and other features from Oneida village sites such as 

Diable, Cameron, Wilson, and Beecher/Blowers among others included artifacts of stone, 

bone, shell, and pottery as well as European trade goods such as quantities of glass beads, 

white-clay tobacco smoking pipe stems and bowls, copper, brass and iron items, and 

stoneware and other pottery. During this period, Europeans were starting to penetrate the 

margins of Iroquois territory. In 1609 the French explorer Samuel de Champlain and a 

small party traveled southward from the Saint Lawrence valley until they reached the lake 

that now bears his name. While camped on the west side of the lake near what came to be 

called Crown Point, the French party became embroiled in a bloody skirmish with some 

Iroquois. The result of this action was the long lasting enmity of the Iroquois for the 

French (Lenig, 1977). The French, however, still retained control of the lucrative fur trade 

and the dispensing of the coveted European trade goods with furs and goods moving 

through the Saint Lawrence valley to trading outposts. This forced the Iroquois to trade 

with the French, pitting them against Algonquian groups north of the Saint Lawrence 

valley as both groups strove for economic control of the valley as an outlet for their furs 

(Bailey, 1969). 

In the year 1609, the Englishman Hendrick Hudson and the crew of the Half Moon sailing 

for the United Provinces of the Netherlands traveled up to the area around present day 

Albany. The Dutch recognized the potential of the area for the fur trade and subsequently 

established an outpost named Fort Orange at this location for that purpose and began to 

trade with local Native Americans and explore the interior portions of New York State. 

Soon other Dutch ships and traders arrived in the Hudson Valley, where they established 

an outpost and traded with the local Native Americans. Large grants of Hudson Valley 

land were awarded to settlers beginning in 1629 by the Dutch Estates General of the 

United Provinces to encourage settlement in New Netherlands; grants were awarded to 

any person who would establish a settlement of over fifty persons. The settlements were 

referred to as Manors or Patroonships and the grantee was awarded the title of Patroon 

with associated feudal privileges. The Fort Orange area became part of the 

Rensselaerwyck patroonship with settlements established at Rennsselaerwyck, Beverwijck, 

and Schenectady (Van der Zee and Van der Zee, 1978; Venema, 2003; Staffa, 2004). 

The Dutch desire for pelts especially beaver pelts resulted in the local Mahican Native 

Americans becoming embroiled in a losing war with the Mohawk for control of that fur 

trade between 1624 and 1628 (Ritchter, 1992). This secured the Mohawk Iroquois 

control of the fur trade route to Fort Orange from the west. Prior conflicts and treaties 

with the French and indigenous groups secured the route from the north. 

A 1614 map of New Netherlands documents the first record of European exploration into 

the homeland of the Mohawk and Oneida. This map depicts the travels of a Dutch trader 
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named Kleyntjen who traveled west into the interior than southward from the Maquas 

(Mohawk) along the New River (the Susquehanna River) to the Ogehage, the Mohawk 

name for the Susquehannocks (Gehring and Starna, 1988). The first detailed description 

of the homeland of the lower Iroquois (Mohawk, Oneida, and Onondaga), however, is 

found in a journal by Harmen Meynderstz van den Bogaert, an 18-year-old Dutch barbersurgeon at Fort Orange (Albany). Bogaert’s journal description of the Oneida represents 

the first mention of them in a European written record. His name for the Oneida people is 

Sinneckens, which generally referred to all Iroquois people living west of the Mohawk, 

although it eventually was applied only to the Seneca. The journal describes a trip van den 

Bogaert took in the winter of 1634-1635 along with two other Dutchmen and some 

Native Americans into the country of the Mohawk and Oneida. The trip was instigated 

by the Dutch West India Company in order to investigate a decline that had occurred in 

the fur trade around Oneida and Onondaga Lakes, possibly because of penetrations of the 

area by French traders and missionaries. Van den Bogaert also was to establish with the 

Iroquois a new price structure for fur (Gehring and Starn, 1988). 

By December 30, 1634 van den Bogaert and his party left an overnight camp and 

proceeded to the principal Oneida village, which they refer to as a Castle in reference to its 

palisade still about four miles away. Van den Bogaert refers to the village and its people 

as Onneyuttehage; the term apparently derives from the contemporary Oneida name for 

the village of Oneyote, which reportedly translates to place of the standing stone. They 

reportedly called themselves Onyota’a:ka, which translates to the people of the standing 

stone (Snow, 1994). The Europeans subsequently corrupted this name by the eighteenth 

century into the term Oneida to refer to the indigenous people living in the Oneida 

country. The term Onneyuttehage also refers to the boulder, the standing stone, believed 

to always appear providentially to mark the site where newly relocated Oneida villages 

were to be established. Snow indicates that the standing stone that was at the Oneida 

village visited by van den Bogaert is reportedly the large boulder that now stands near the 

community center on the 32-acre Oneida parcel referred to as the Territory (Snow, 1994). 

Van den Bogaert’s journal identifies the records words that the Oneida people sang to his 

party apparently assuring its safe passage and welcome by all Iroquois throughout their 

territory. The words he transcribed reportedly provide the first contemporary document 

to list separately the five Iroquois tribes; which are the Oyakaying wee, Onneyatte, 

Onaondage, Koyockwe, and Kanuhsyu ni the Native American terms for the Mohawk, 

Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca, respectively. The journal notes that the Oneida 

apparently referred to the tribes in the context of Kanuhsyu ni, which likely translates to 

the extended house (Gehring and Starna, 1988). Gehring and Starna feel that the latter 

term that van den Bogaert heard and recorded was a reference to the League of the 

Iroquois that is sometimes also known as the Iroquois Confederacy (Gehring and Starna, 

1999). If so, it is the earliest known reference to the League in the historic record 

(Gehring and Starna, 1988). 
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Pratt states that the Oneida village visited by van den Bogaert and his party was the 

Thurston site (NYSM #670; OPRHP #A05314.000012) that was reportedly occupied c. 

1635-1655, which is based upon his archaeological investigations there and an 

understanding of the potential seventeenth century Oneida village settlement pattern 

(Pratt, 1976). The Thurston site also is referred to in the NYSM archaeological site files 

as Onneyuttehage, which as indicated above reportedly translates to place of the standing 

stone. Large quantities of Native American manufactured items including the earliest 

known examples of shell carved into crescents, discs, and images of birds and European 

trade goods including brass kettles, blue glass beads, Jesuit rings, and lead shot reportedly 

dating to the 1620’s and 1630’s were recovered from the site. Also recovered from the site 

was archaeological evidence for a gate and double-palisade wall that corresponds to the 

journal description provided by van den Bogaert. 

The Thurston site apparently had been abandoned by 1637 and the Oneida had 

established another village one mile to the south. That locale is now referred to as the 

Marshall site; the Oneida reportedly abandoned this site in 1640 (Grumet, 1995). It’s 

relatively quick abandonment after its founding may be the result of a large population 

loss that reportedly occurred soon after the village’s founding. According to the Jesuit

Relations and Allied Documents, the official account of the Jesuits in New France, a large 

number of the Oneida were captured and killed by Huron and Canadian Algonquian 

Native Americans soon after the village was established (Grumet, 1995). Oneida society 

apparently tried to regroup with some Oneida widows and young woman apparently 

marrying Mohawk men. Such attempts, however, apparently had limited success as 

demonstrated by the apparent smaller size of the villages (now the Dungey and Stone 

Quarry archaeological sites) established soon after the Marshall site was abandoned 

(Grumet, 1995). Marriage to Mohawk men may actually have further reduced the Oneida 

population since some archaeological evidence exists to suggest that at least some Oneida 

women possibly moved to the villages of their spouses (Grumet, 1995). 

After the English take-over of New York in 1664, the Iroquois allied with them in a 

multiparty confederation that was called the Covenant Chain. The Covenant Chain was a 

complex set of formal and informal cooperative agreements between the Iroquois and the 

English involving military alliance, intersocietal trade, formal treaty negotiations, and the 

outlay of presents (Jennings, 1984; Taylor, 2003). The Nation has continued the historic 

tradition of the Covenant Chain and the good will it represents into the present day, 

expressed as monetary contributions to school districts within Oneida and Madison 

Counties. The Iroquois affiliated surrounding tribes by dominating them politically and 

militarily into the League thus indirectly bringing them into the Covenant Chain and 

increasing the League’s own importance in it. Thus, the Covenant Chain can be thought 

of as a confederation of a number of tribes with the Five Nations of the Iroquois at its 

head in an alliance relationship with the English. Groups as far away as Ohio, Maryland, 

and Virginia were at times part of the Covenant Chain. 
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Affiliation with the Iroquois did not at first prevent affiliated tribes from treating 

separately with colonial governments or other tribes. However, by the eighteenth century, 

as a matter of self interest and convenience, some English colonies forced the Iroquois to 

act as the sole responsible agent and spokesmen for the other tribes, eliminating the need 

for multiple and redundant relationships and negotiations with a number of subordinate 

tribes (Jennings, 1984). Native groups absorbed or otherwise dispersed by the Iroquois 

and the dates by which such actions had occurred include the Mahican, located west of the 

Hudson River near Fort Orange by 1628; the Wenro, located west of the Genesee River by 

1638; the Huron, located north of Lake Ontario by 1649; the Petun, located north and 

west of Lake Ontario by 1650; the Ottawa River Algonquian tribes by 1650; the Neutral 

groups located north of Lake Erie by 1651; and the Erie, located south of Lake Erie by 

1657 (Hunt, 1940; Richter, 1992). 

The relations between the Iroquois and the subordinate tribes operated on the principal of 

duality and reciprocity, as did most Iroquois political structures. This concept included 

both responsibilities and privileges for the Iroquois who referred to the subordinate tribes 

as brethren, nephews or cousins, which was reflective of their status in the relationship. 

That status also was fluid and could change rapidly depending upon circumstances 

(Jennings, 1984). 

Problems and conflicts during the seventeenth century between the Iroquois and the Erie, 

Susquehannock, Mahican, French, and Canadian Algonquians resulted in the deaths of 

large numbers of Oneida men, woman, and children. The introduction of European 

diseases further devastated the Oneida population. The loss of ethnic Oneida to disease 

and war combined with their acquisition through war resulted in the fact that by 1668, 

according to Jesuit accounts, more than two-thirds of the total Oneida population was 

composed of Huron and Algonquian captives who have become Iroquois in temper and 

inclination (Grumet, 1995; Jesuit Relations 27). 

By the mid to late portions of the seventeenth century, the Oneida were becoming 

increasingly reliant on European trade goods in their lifestyles. They, like other Native 

American groups, had made the technological shift to the use of European goods that 

resulted in traditional technological skills, particularly stone tool making, no longer being 

employed and the knowledge of these skills no longer passed down to others. However, 

adopting useful aspects of European culture and technology by the Iroquois was necessary 

for their survival in a changing world, enabling them to retain their sovereignty and core 

traditions. The shift in technology made the fur trade increasingly critical economically 

since the exploitation of fur bearing animals was the only means by which trade goods 

could be acquired. The shift is reflected by the archaeological investigations at the 

Sullivan, March, Collins, Upper Hogan, and Primes Hill sites where imported European 

items almost completely replace Native American produced domestic goods. Most of the 

imported artifacts reportedly are of English origin reflecting the growing relations between 
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the Oneida people and their New York Covenant Chain allies (Grumet, 1995). However, 

the recovery of Jesuit rings and medals from these sites demonstrate the presence of French 

missionary influence in the Oneida community by this time. 

Father Jacques Bruyas established the first permanent mission to the Oneida, named Saint 

Francois Xavier in September 1667, although it has been suggested that Jesuits had visited 

the Oneida as early as 1642 (Jones, 1851; Cookingham, 1912). That latter year did see 

the first recorded missionary visit to the Iroquois when Father Isaac Joques and two 

companions were captured by the Mohawk from a vessel in the Saint Lawrence River and 

brought to a Mohawk village in the eastern Mohawk valley (Durant, 1878). In any case, 

Bruyas’ Oneida mission is thought to have been located within the former Oneida village 

now represented by either the Sullivan or March sites (Grumet, 1995). The earliest 

recorded Protestant missionary to the Oneida was Godfriedus Deilius, the Dominie of the 

Dutch Reformed Church in Albany, who reportedly was residing with the Oneida before 

1693 teaching the tenets of his faith. 

The presence of the Dutch and after 1664 the English ended the French monopoly on the 

fur trade, providing the Iroquois with another outlet for their furs and another source for 

trade goods. However, the desire for furs fostered intense competition and conflicts 

among the European powers, which frequently involved the Iroquois and other local 

Native Americans. In particular, the rivalry between the English and French forced the 

Iroquois to ally themselves with one power or the other. According to Lenig, “the 

competition for new sources of furs resulted in the destruction and dispersal of 

populations which had coexisted as neighbors to the Iroquois and their ancestors for more 

than a millennium” (Lenig, 1977). For almost two centuries, European activities within 

the Mohawk valley and Oneida lands were limited to commercial and military ventures 

associated with the fur trade or with religious endeavors. 

By 1640, two competing fur trade networks had developed. One of these was comprised 

of the Algonquians, Hurons, and French while the latter consisted of the Iroquois and the 

Dutch. The British replaced the Dutch 24 years later after their takeover of New 

Netherlands. Each network sought to exploit the same diminishing supply of fur, 

spawning a period of nearly continuous warfare between these groups that lasted at least 

60 years (Campisi, 1978). 

Most of the Oneida generally sided with the British against the French during conflicts 

prior to the American Revolution. In 1696 during one such period of conflict referred to 

as King Williams War (1689-1698), a French force invaded the Oneida homeland and 

destroyed their principal village. The destroyed village was described by a European 

visitor named Wentworth Greenhalgh in 1677 as consisting of about 100 houses located 

east of a small river that flowed into Oneida Lake. The village reportedly was newly 

settled in 1677 causing the inhabitants to purchase corn from the Onondaga 
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(O’Callaghan, 1849-1851; Beauchamp, 1900; Campisi, 1978). While the Oneida 

reportedly suffered few casualties during the invasions, much devastation was caused 

bringing hardship and poverty to them. The French and British excluded the Oneida from 

negotiations whereby the conflict ended with a joint declaration of neutrality towards the 

Iroquois (Campisi, 1978). The exclusion outraged the Oneida. This exclusion plus the 

losses they suffered and a desire among the population to end fighting in their homeland 

territory compelled Oneida leaders to press the Iroquois League to create a peace accord 

between the League and the French. Oneida leaders reportedly played a large role in the 

negotiations that led to the signing of the treaty with the French in 1701 (Grumet, 1995). 

The Early to Mid-Eighteenth Century Period 

Regardless of their earlier tensions with the French, by the early eighteenth century many 

Oneida as well as neighboring Onondaga had developed strong economic, political, and 

social ties with French colonial authorities, traders, and missionaries. Likewise, the 

binding of the Iroquois to the British was reinforced by the Albany Congress, which was 

held in June 1754 on the eve of the French and Indian War (1756-1763). Recognizing 

that war was imminent, British officials urged colonial leaders to prepare for a common 

defense and called a meeting that came to be known as the Albany Congress. Native 

Iroquois leaders, colonial officials, and representatives from seven British colonies 

attended the meeting that discussed the alliance of the Iroquois in the coming conflict. 

Native leaders were not anxious to commit themselves to siding with either the British or 

the French, but preferred to wait and see which power would prevail. Nevertheless, 

Albany officials did succeed in winning a tepid commitment from the Iroquois to side with 

the British in return for substantial amounts of supplies and weapons (Jennings, 1984). 

Another issue discussed at the Albany Congress was the so-called Albany Plan of Union, 

which was a proposal for the establishment of federated colonial government drafted by 

Benjamin Franklin and Massachusetts Governor Thomas Hutchinson. The Albany Plan of 

Union was never approved. 

The Oneida homeland including the area associated with the Nation’s Trust Application 

apparently was of particular importance in the Iroquois - European fur trade. Not only 

did the Oneida guard the Susquehanna valley that provided access to all Iroquois lands, 

their homeland formed part of a relatively easy route connecting the Great Lakes and 

inland regions via the Mohawk River to the Hudson River and the Atlantic shore across 

which the fur trade flowed. A short mile and a half portage from the Mohawk River leads 

to Wood Creek, which flows into Oneida Lake. The Oneida name for this portage area is 

recorded as Deo-wain-sta, which reportedly translates as the place where a canoe is carried 

between two streams (Wager, 1896; Child, 1869; Scott, 1945; Taylor, 2003). The portage 

came to be called by the Europeans as the Great Carrying Place, the Carry or the Portage. 

From Oneida Lake access could be had to the Oneida and Owasgo Rivers, providing 

access to Lake Ontario and points west and south. Accordingly, the flat, marshy land 

located between Wood Creek and the Mohawk River represented a choke point in the fur 
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trade route. Whoever controlled the portage area effectively dominated the trade route 

and the economic fortunes of the Iroquois. The importance of Oneida lands generally, 

and of the portage in particularly, took on increasing strategic importance as the rivalry 

between the French and British intensified during the eighteenth century. While the 

Oneida resisted British attempts to built forts and fortified outposts near their principal 

villages, they did allow construction of forts further removed. This decision was unlike 

that made by the Mohawk, who allowed construction of forts in their homeland by the 

early eighteenth century (Grumet, 1995). Accordingly, in 1722 Fort Oswego was 

constructed in Oneida territory at the mouth of the Oswego River. Not only did the fort 

provide some protection against the French and a counterweight to French influence, it 

also served as a strategically-located marketplace for the Oneida. 

A French military force of 259 soldiers and 103 Native American allies defeated a 

combined English and colonial force at the Great Carrying Place in March 1756, 

destroying the British fort and reportedly massacring almost the entire garrison (Jennings, 

1984; Scott 1945). Wager comments on the military use of the area during the French and 

Indian War period (1755-1763) when he states that “not a road was laid out, not an acre 

of land cleared, not a tree felled, not a building erected for any object other than of, or for, 

a warlike purpose” (Wager, 1896). Due to the fall of Fort Oswego in 1756, the British 

destroyed all of their facilities around the Oneida portage and withdrew to German Flatts 

30 miles to the east (Scott, 1945; Richter, 1992). The British refortified the area in 1758 

when they constructed Fort Stanwix, now the site of the present day City of Rome, with 

the purpose of protecting the Mohawk valley and its inhabitants. This angered some 

Oneida who resented the presence of a British fort and garrison within their traditional 

lands. Others, however, readily accepted the presence of the British and worked as 

laborers carrying goods along the portage route and as scouts. Soon, however, some 

whites settled the area around the fort further antagonizing those Oneida who did not 

want the British there in the first place and the others who feared losing their jobs to the 

newcomers. With the British conquest of Canada in 1760, Fort Stanwix and the region’s 

other forts lost their purpose and fell into disrepair, although a trickle of settlers continued 

to migrate to the area (Ball and Ruby, 1976). 

Although no permanent settlements had been constructed by the British in the Mohawk 

valley west of German Flats, construction of the forts and trading posts caused increasing 

worry to the local Native American groups (Durant, 1878; Scott, 1945). In addition, the 

constant traffic of teamsters with supplies, traders, and military personnel crossing Nation 

lands particularly across the Oneida portage, was a source of irritation particularly to the 

young warriors. To settle these troubling issues, a great treaty council arranged by Sir 

William Johnson (1715-1774) was held at Fort Stanwix during the autumn of 1768. 

Johnson immigrated to the American colonies from Ireland in 1738 and soon established a 

trading post in the Mohawk Valley about 25 miles west of Schenectady, New York. He is 
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noted for establishing strong relations with Native American tribes especially the 

Mohawk, and earning their respect. Johnson learned the Mohawk language, adopted 

their clothing and customs, and effectively tried to preserve Iroquois lands from 

encroachment by settlers. As important, Johnson provided the Indians with educational 

opportunities, as well as religious instruction. Eventually, the Governor of New York 

appointed Johnson as the Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Five Nations of the 

Iroquois. 

The 1768 Fort Stanwix Council was attended by commissioners representing the States of 

New York, New Jersey, Virginia, and Pennsylvania and by the chiefs of the Five Nations 

of the Iroquois under the supervision of Sir William Johnson. The purpose of the council 

was to renegotiate the boundary line between Native American lands and white 

settlement, which was established by the Proclamation of 1763 and formally ended the 

French and Indian War. The British hoped that a new boundary line would end the 

conflicts between whites and Indians along the frontier, which had taken many lives and 

become economically burdensome. For the Indians, the hope was that a permanent 

boundary line would stop white encroachment onto Native American land and end 

colonial expansion. 

The Fort Stanwix Council produced the document entitled the Property Line Treaty of 

1768 on November 5, 1763 by which a new boundary for Iroquois lands was established 

along the tributaries of the Susquehanna River and down the Ohio River (Snow, 1994). 

The new treaty extended the line much further to the west than had been established by 

the earlier 1763 proclamation. For the Oneida, the treaty recognized their eastern 

boundary as running parallel to the upper Mohawk River before extending south along 

the Unadilla River to the Susquehanna River. However, the Oneida did retain ownership 

of a sixteen square mile tract of land east of the line to accommodate their village of 

Oriske, which is located along the upper Mohawk River. The western edge of their 

recognized territory was located near the western end of Lake Oneida and its outlet where 

it bordered the lands of the Onondaga. North to south Oneida lands extended from the 

Adirondack Mountains to the Pennsylvania-New York State border (Starna, 1998; Taylor, 

2003). The 17,370 acres of land currently owned by the Nation and proposed for trust 

transfer are included within this domain. 

Thus, by the provisions of the 1768 Property Line Treaty, the Iroquois ceded to the British 

control of all lands east of the Allegheny Mountains including territory not then under 

Iroquois control. Some lands reserved for the Mohawks and other groups were excluded 

by this treaty. Many Native American groups such as the Shawnee, Delaware, and 

Cherokee who resided and used some of the lands in question had no role in the 

negotiations, thereby setting the stage for future conflicts. 
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Native American population movements into and out of the Oneida homeland occurred 

during the eighteenth century. The Oneida allowed a number of immigrant Native 

American tribes to move into their homeland, mainly as a way to strengthen their numbers 

for war and as a way to hold onto their territory (Taylor, 2003). Some Oneida, however, 

moved away to the south and west. The first immigration allowed by the Oneida into 

their territory took place in the second decade of the century. Following their defeat in the 

so-called Tuscarora Wars (1711-1713) in North Carolina, the Tuscarora moved 

northward to seek refuge among the Iroquois. The Tuscarora, who spoke a Northern 

Iroquoian language dialect, may have split off from other ancestral Iroquoian groups as 

those populations moved into the Great Lakes region during the Late Woodland period, 

instead moving southward to the coastal plains of North Carolina (Mithun, 1984; Snow 

1994). The eighteenth century Iroquois accepted the displaced Tuscarora around 1712. 

About 500 Tuscarora families moved to New York the following year. Some of these 

families settled along the Susquehanna River and its tributaries while others established a 

village located somewhere between the Oneida and Onondaga lands. 

By the beginning of the eighteenth century, Oneida residence patterns apparently had 

changed. Palisaded villages containing a number of multiple-family longhouse dwellings 

were the pre-eighteenth century Iroquois residence pattern, as seen by the archaeological 

record and recorded by van den Bogaert in his journal. The palisaded village-longhouse 

pattern had disappeared by this period, being replaced by a pattern of nuclear family 

cabins with the traditional longhouse maintained only as a community meeting house or 

as a lodge for visitors. This shift is recorded in documentary records dating to the period 

and supported by archaeological evidence for the presence of decentralized, unfortified 

communities during that time from the Prime’s Hill, Lanz-Hogan, Sterling, and Oneida 

Castle archaeological sites (Grumet, 1995; Snow, Gehring and Starna, 1996). 

The principal Oneida villages continued to be located near Oneida Creek during this 

period. Prime’s Hill village reportedly was abandoned around 1720 when the LanzHogan site was first occupied. By mid-century, the principal village was located about six 

miles from Oneida Lake and a smaller village existed on the lake’s shore (Campisi, 1978). 

The Sterling archaeological site apparently represents the principal village. By the late 

eighteenth century Kanonwalohale, which is also known as Oneida Castle, served as the 

principal Oneida village, with at least three other villages and many small hamlets also in 

existence (see Appendix D). Located along Oneida Creek about eight miles from Oneida 

Lake, Kanonwalohale was home to about 500 people representing about a third of the 

Oneida population at the time (Taylor, 2003). This village also served as the home of the 

Oneida stone, the sacred stone that give the Oneida their name. The artifact assemblages 

recovered from the sites consist almost entirely of English made goods and materials 

indicating continuing change in the technological base along with accompanying changes 

in value systems and exchange networks. 
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Although adapting European manufactured goods to suit their purposes, the Oneida and 

other Iroquois did so in ways that preserved their cultural identity. In particular, 

commercial values and the accumulation of wealth were not considered acceptable or 

admirable traits among the Oneida people. Those who exhibited such traits were the 

subject of ridicule and scorn and were frequently ostracized from family, neighbors, and 

village. Those fortunate individuals who contributed to the collective security of clan and 

village by generously providing food and other necessities were honored. According to 

Taylor, “These values of hospitality and reciprocity spread resources through the seasons 

and across a village, sustaining a rough equality. No one starved in an Oneida village 

unless all did so. Moreover, the Oneida did not treat their land as a commodity for sale 

by individuals, but instead defined it as a “dish” shared by all their kin, adopted as well as 

blood” (Taylor, 2003). Such a worldview, however, was incomprehensible to most 

Europeans who “distained the Iroquois as improvident and impecunious, living from hand 

to mouth and held back by their lack for individual accumulation” (Taylor, 2003). 

Throughout the eighteenth century increasing numbers of Oneida moved to Iroquois 

controlled Native American villages located in the Susquehanna Valley. At these villages 

the Oneida settled with the Mohawks, who also did not want to live near European 

settlers that were moving to their lands, and with other Native Americans who had been 

displaced from their homelands further to the east. Although ostensibly neutral in the 

French-British struggle for control of the continent, these village populations generally 

tilted towards the British and nevertheless held a precarious position between the two 

powers, with inhabitants frequently becoming involved in conflict. 

After 1749, other Oneida sympathetic to the French and hostile to British expansion into 

their territory joined the Onondaga, Cayuga, and Mohawk who had similar feelings at the 

French outpost and village of La Presentation. By 1755, more than 1,000 Native 

Americans had moved to the village (Grumet, 1995). Most of the Native Americans 

fought alongside the French during the French and Indian War. After France’s defeat in 

the conflict, some continued to oppose the British moving westward to join Native 

Americans involved in Pontiac’s War or Pontiac’s Rebellion (1763-1766). The new British 

North American Governor-General Sir Jeffery Amherst’s decision in 1763 to discontinue 

the practice of presenting gifts to the Native tribes, which was a long standing practice of 

the French, particularly stoked the animosity of some Oneida as well as other Iroquois 

towards the British. Other Oneida, nevertheless, shifted their allegiance to the British and 

aided them in the conflict against Pontiac and his forces at the urging of Sir William 

Johnson (Grumet, 1995). 

In 1767 Samuel Kirkland, a young Presbyterian minister, settled among the Oneida and 

established a church. Kirkland rejected the traditional values and beliefs of the Oneida that 

stressed the worth of the individual and preached repentance and acceptance of Jesus and 

the New Light for salvation. This outlook was in contrast to the usual manner by which 
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the British dealt with the Oneida, which was through the tribe’s hereditary leaders and its 

traditional social and political power structures. Kirkland followers mainly came from the 

Oneida Pine Tree Chiefs. While the factionalism that existed between the sachems and the 

warriors already existed, Kirkland’s presence provided a religious validation to the 

political reality that was already extant. According to Campisi, “Kirkland capitalized on 

this division and challenged the efficacy of the political structure by his insistence upon the 

rejection of Iroquois religious beliefs. In so doing, he attacked the symbolic basis of the 

political structure, thus weakening the position of the hereditary chiefs. Needless to say, 

they opposed Kirkland’s religion and, by extrapolation, his politics. However, Kirkland’s 

influence did not depend upon the support of the sachems but of the warriors who, by 

converting to the new religion, found a means of challenging the structures and limitations 

of the Iroquois political system. The sachems were in the unenviable position of not being 

able to act without risking the loss of what influence they had in the tribe as the result of a 

test of strength” (Campisi, 1978). The split between pro-American and Loyalist factions 

in the Oneida community reflected similar divisions in most other Iroquois communities. 

By the 1760’s, the Oneida were in dire straights. Although professing neutrality in the 

French and Indian War regardless of the outcome of the Albany Conference, pressure was 

exerted upon them from both the French and British. Eventually their support was given 

to the British cause. Oneida territory also was coming under increasing pressure from 

whites attempting to settle this land. Repeated famine also afflicted the Oneida during the 

decade. All of these circumstances created large-scale stress on Oneida society resulting in 

an increase in alcoholism, factional disputes, and crime. These tragic events also served to 

strengthen Kirkland’s hand in his attempt to reform and revitalize Oneida society. His 

religious prostylizing during a trying time for the Oneida along with practical 

improvements to the community such as construction of a school, training and employing 

religious converts, and supplying food and other provisions to the people, resulted in 

Kirkland attracting a large following. 

The Oneida and the American Revolution 

The Oneida population numbered approximately 1,500 people in the years immediately 

preceding the American Revolution (Taylor, 2003). The Oneida remained in possession of 

a vast six million acre-tract of land centered on Oneida Lake that includes the 17,370 

acres now owned by the Nation and proposed for trust transfer. As the Revolutionary 

War approached the Oneida fractured into two camps, those following Kirkland and those 

more in accord with the tribe’s sachems that tended to be in agreement with the proBritish advocacy of Sir William Johnson the British commissioner of Indian Affairs. 

Rejecting the British and their attempt to control the Oneida, Kirkland and his followers 

supported the revolutionary sentiments of the American patriots causing Johnson to 

attempt to have Kirkland and other pro-American New England ministers removed. The 

Oneida rejected these attempts but at the price of increased disharmony within the tribe 

and with other Iroquois tribes. The cause of pro-British sentiment among some Oneida, as 
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well as among most of the other Iroquois tribes, related to intense resentment against 

colonial land acquisition and encroachment and a British guarantee of Iroquois territory 

boundaries. The British also could supply their Native American allies with more goods 

throughout the war compared to the Americans due to better financing and a more 

efficient supply system. The importance of this last point is seen by the lack of material 

support the pro-American Oneida apparently received from the Americans during the 

conflict. Addressing the Americans in 1778, the important Oneida leader 

Lagwilondonwas, also known as Good Peter, stated that the Loyalist Iroquois “are 

wallowing in plenty, while we are pining in poverty and all this is occasioned by our 

attachment to you. Brother – it is well known that the defection of part of our 

Confederacy is owing to the frequent presents made them by the King, but we are 

determined to adhere to you” (Wonderley, n.d.). 

When the Revolutionary war broke out in 1775, Kirkland continued to convince many 

Oneida to actively support the Americans. American officials promised the Oneida liberty 

and security for their lands if they supported the Patriot cause and also joined the Oneida 

in their cause by casting it as a common defense of property of all American-born people, 

both Indians and colonists, against the British (Taylor, 2003). Conversely, some Oneida 

remained loyal to the British. Although the Oneida sachems tended to be pro-British, the 

pro-American warriors led by the noted Shenandoah who was a close confident of 

Kirkland prevented decisive action being taken by the Oneida and other members of the 

Iroquois League against the Americans. Iroquois indecision took hold as to which 

political and military course to follow, which lasted several years. 

In 1777, unable to achieve consensus and recognizing the impasse, the League’s sachems 

covered the Iroquois council fire held by the Onondaga at their principal village for more 

than two and a half centuries. This literal and symbolic dousing of the fire by the League 

allowed each Iroquois tribe to act as they saw fit as circumstances warranted (Grumet, 

1995). Many pro-American Oneida joined the American forces throughout the war, freely 

serving from Valley Forge in Pennsylvania to Saratoga and along the Canadian frontier. 

Many also served at Fort Stanwix during the conflict, which was reconstructed by the 

Americans and renamed Fort Schuyler. Still others served as scouts and intelligence agents 

for the Americans, frequently traveling to Canada to gauge the level of pro-American 

sentiment among the tribes there and to determine British and Loyalist troop strength and 

intentions. In total, it was estimated that at least 1,000 Oneida actively aided the 

American forces in battle during the Revolutionary War. The decision by the Oneida to 

actively support the Patriots during the war contributes mightily to their self-image today. 

As stated by Taylor, the commitment to the Americans “has framed their [the Oneida’s] 

distinctive identity as reliable allies true to the Americans through the darkest moments of 

the revolution - but a people subsequently deprived of the promised rewards of that 

alliance" (Taylor, 2003). 
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In 1777, British forces under General Barry St. Leger attacked Fort Stanwix as part of a 

coordinated three-pronged effort to split the American colonies at the Hudson Valley and 

crush the revolution. The invading force besieged the fort after its American commander, 

Colonel Peter Gansevoort, refused to surrender. British troops and their Loyalist and 

Indian allies, in an action that has come to be known as the Battle of Oriskany, ambushed 

an American relief column under the command of General Nicholas Herkimer heading 

towards the fort. However, suffering casualties from the battle and demoralized by the 

loss of their supplies, the British and their allies withdrew on August 21 after rumors 

reached them that a second American relief force commanded by General Benedict Arnold 

was fast approaching. The British failure to capture the fort and continue down the 

Mohawk Valley to join with the British force under General John Burgoyne eventually 

lead to the latter’s defeat at the Battle of Saratoga. Oneida warriors participated in this 

battle on the side of the Americans. The Americans along with an Oneida contingent 

occupied Fort Stanwix throughout the remainder of the Revolutionary War; it was the 

only American fort not captured by the British during the war. 

The roles of the Oneida in the Battle of Oriskany, and at Fort Stanwix, and at the Battle of 

Saratoga were recognized by the New York State legislature which expressed its 

appreciation by resolution stating, “Resolved that the Oneida Nation are the allies of this 

State and that we shall consider any attack upon them as an attack upon our own People”

(Wonderley, n.d.). A month after the Battle of Oriskany, Oneida and Tuscarora gathered 

at Albany to formerly declare war against the British. About 150 of these individuals led 

by Louis Cook (Atiatoharongwen), Peter Bread, and Honyery immediately set out to join 

the American army at Saratoga in its fight against Burgoyne and the British (Taylor, 

2003). During the Saratoga fight, the Oneida reportedly served with much valor and 

courage and were responsible for capturing many prisoners and some British dispatches 

sent to General Burgoyne by the British commander at Fort Ticonderoga. The leader 

Louis Cook, subsequently obtained a Continental Army commission as a Lieutenant 

Colonel the highest rank awarded to a Native American in the American cause (Taylor, 

2003). 

In March of 1778, the Oneida met the Marquis de Lafayette at a Council held at 

Johnstown that was organized by American General Philip Schuyler. The Native 

Americans were enthralled with Lafayette not only because of his position in the American 

army and his friendship with George Washington, but because of his relationship to the 

French King. The Oneida adopted the Marquis, creating a special bond between them. 

Lafayette ordered the construction of a small fort at Kanonwalohale to protect his new 

brothers. In gratitude, about fifty Oneida and Tuscarora joined Lafayette’s brigade in 

Pennsylvania, seeing action at the Battle of Barren Hill in May of 1778 (Taylor, 2003). 

After the war, the Oneida leader Lagwilondonwas explained the Oneida commitment to 

the American cause, “From the beginning of your troubles in the late Revolution, to the 
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time you publicly declared yourselves a free and independent people; I, my Nation, were a 

constant spectator – not only a constant spectator - but our minds united with yours in 

that final declaration; as all hopes of a reconciliation were then passed. The frequent and 

repeated declarations of the King, that the Americans with all who joined them, would be 

reduced to wretchedness, had no effect upon the minds of my Nation. And on the other 

hand, his promises of a rich reward, on condition of our adhering to his councils, did not 

excite covetous desires in us; but the love of peace, and the love of our land which gave us 

birth, supported our resolution” (Wonderley, n.d.). The U.S. Continental Congress was 

grateful to the Oneida for their aid and contributions towards American victory. The U.S. 

Continental Congress expressed their gratitude, “We have experienced your love, strong as 

the oak, and your fidelity, unchangeable as truth. You have kept fast hold of the ancient 

covenant chain and preserved it free from rust and decay, and bright as silver. Like brave 

men for glory you despised danger. You stood forth in the cause of your friends and 

ventured your lives in our battles. While the sun and moon continue to give light to the 

world, we shall protect you, and love and respect you. As our trusty friends, we shall 

protect you, and shall at all times consider your welfare as our own” (Wonderley, n.d.). 

Unfortunately, the important role that the Oneida played in the conflict and their 

contributions towards aiding the U.S. achieve independence are little known today. 

Campisi provides a summary of the Oneida and their circumstances following the covering 

of the council fire, “The pro-American element of the Oneidas and their allies, the 

Tuscaroras, did not remain neutral. They urged that the council fire at Albany be 

rekindled and that Fort Stanwix (Rome, New York) be refurbished to prevent attacks in 

the Mohawk Valley. They steadfastly refused to join other pro-British members of the 

League, often boycotting meetings. (New York Commissioners of Indian Affairs, 1861). 

The Oneida contribution to the American cause extended beyond diplomacy and 

participation in a single raid. When the British forces attempted in 1777 to divide the 

rebellious colonies by capturing the New York Colony, Oneidas fought valiantly at the 

Battle of Oriskany to blunt Col. Barry St. Leger’s and Joseph Brant’s invasion. In 1779, 

they reputedly drew from their meager resources to provision Washington’s army” 

(Campisi, 1978). 

Like their colonial allies, the Oneida suffered the privations of war (Wonderley, 1998). 

The devastation to virtually every Native American village including those of pro-British 

Oneida located along the upper Susquehanna River by the Americans under the command 

of General John Sullivan and James Clinton in 1779 was horrific with lasting effects in 

terms of poverty and starvation afflicting the surviving Native American people for years 

to come (Graymont, 1972; Williams, 2005). Many of the displaced Oneida who fled to 

Fort Niagara subsequently joined Iroquois war parties to avenge the American attacks, 

destroying the homes of pro-American Oneida families during a raid through Oneida 

homeland in the summer or fall of 1780 (Grumet 1995). Some of the Oneida whose 

homes were destroyed were forced to accompany the raiders back to Fort Niagara, 
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establishing temporary new homes in the Genesee Valley (Grumet, 1995). They followed 

about 30 Oneida families who had moved to Niagara before the attack by the pro-British 

raiders (Campisi, 1978). Other families whose homes were destroyed by the raiders 

moved to American settlements at Schenectady for protection where they lived in squalor 

and misery with little food or clothing, and dependent upon handouts for the rest of the 

war (Graymont, 1972). Disease was a frequent companion to these families and they also 

were the focus of often violent bigotry from their American neighbors. Hence, at the end 

of the Revolutionary War the Oneidas were scattered from Fort Niagara to Schenectady, 

their villages were destroyed, their fields laid waste, their social system was disrupted, and 

their brothers in the Iroquois League were alienated from them. With famine a yearly 

occurrence, the following years were extremely trying and difficult for the Oneida 

(Campisi, 1978; Grumet, 1995). They had paid a high price for their loyalty to the U.S. A 

statement made by an elderly Oneida in 1909 to William Rockwell an Oneida leader 

dramatically illustrates the heartbreaking price they paid. According to Rockwell 

apparently drawing on oral tradition and tribal memory, stated that, “If all the skulls of 

the Oneida Indians killed by British forces in fighting to help the colonials get their 

freedom were piled together, the pile would be larger than the capital building in Albany” 

(Wonderley n.d.). 

While experiencing such physical, emotional, and psychological hardships it is not 

surprising that social disorganization dramatically affected Oneida culture. Alcoholism, 

murder, suicide rates, and political factionalism all reportedly increased during the postwar period (Campisi, 1978). Both pro-British and pro-American Oneida families returned 

to the Oneida Lake area rebuilding their homes in five adjacent villages, but their 

divergent political sympathies just served to intensify their internal conflicts. Some 

Loyalist families, however, moved to Canada. Many of the Oneida who did resettle the 

area remained on their land until the early nineteenth century when American authorities 

convinced many of them to move elsewhere (Grumet, 1995). Many of the descendants of 

those who did not move comprise the members of the Nation, which today continues to 

live in Madison and Oneida Counties. 

Each of the resettled Oneida Lake villages reportedly also had their own council. This 

likely further hindered the development of unity of purpose and thought among the 

inhabitants. Although joint meetings were frequently held among the councils during the 

remaining years of the eighteenth century, resolution of basic tribal differences did not 

occur (Campisi, 1978). 

Oneida Treaties and Land Losses During the Post Revolution War Period 

At the end of the Revolutionary War, both New York State and the U.S. governments 

acknowledged the sacrifice and important contribution made by the Oneida. As a result, 

the U.S. Continental Congress guaranteed the territorial integrity of nearly six million 

acres of Nation lands by the 1784 Treaty of Fort Stanwix. This treaty established the 
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western and southern boundaries of Iroquois territory promising them security of the 

lands they inhabited east and north of the stated boundaries. These secured lands included 

most of the Iroquois territory located in New York State and the Iroquois tribes had to 

relinquish all claims to its lands in the States of Ohio and Pennsylvania. A separate Article 

(II) of the 1784 Treaty of Fort Stanwix also specifically stated, “The Oneida and 

Tuscarora nations shall be secured in the possession of the land on which they are settled.” 

According to Campisi, the land guarantees provided for in this treaty, “...covering nearly 

six million acres, was repeated in the treaties of Fort Harmar, 1789; Canandaigua, 1794; 

and Oneida, 1794. In addition, the United States Congress passed the Indian NonIntercourse Act in 1790, reserving to the national government the exclusive right to 

negotiate with Indian tribes. The state of New York appeared to be similarly concerned 

with the protection of Indian lands in that its constitution prohibited the purchase of 

Indian land by individuals and invalidated all such purchases made without legislative 

approval after 1775” (Campisi, 1978). The same guarantees for land protection and 

security for the Oneida and Tuscarora stated in the 1784 Treaty of Fort Stanwix are 

specified in the 1789 Treaty of Fort Harmar (Treaty with the Six Nations, January 9, 

1789). 

In 1785, New York State made its first post-revolutionary war purchase of Oneida land in 

the Treaty of Fort Herkimer. The Oneida sold 350,000 acres in the Susquehanna River 

area to New York State for $11,500. During the following two years, New York State 

resold 343,594 of those acres for $125,955 (Taylor, 2003). 

In 1788, three years after the Fort Herkimer Treaty, the State of New York under 

Governor Clinton and the Oneida entered into the Treaty of Fort Schuyler (the former 

Fort Stanwix). Through this treaty, Governor Clinton secured for New York State about 

five million acres of Nation lands for a cost of $2,000 in cash, $2,000 in clothing and 

metal goods, $1,000 in provisions, and $500 to build a grist mill. New York State also 

agreed to provide the Oneida with an annuity of $600 payable every June 1 at Fort 

Schuyler. By the terms of this treaty, the Oneida were left with a reservation of some 

300,000 acres in central New York State, a fraction of the land that was their original 

territory (Taylor, 2003). With a 1788 population of 588 individuals, the annuity provided 

each Oneida with a little over one dollar per year (Taylor, 2003). 

The U.S. Constitution reasserted federal sovereignty in all Indian affairs including the 

approval of all land sales, for a while discouraging but not stopping attempted land grabs 

by New York State. In 1790 the First U.S. Congress passed the Indian Trade and 

Intercourse Act, also known as the Non-Intercourse Act, to protect Indian lands from such 

aggressive acquisition tactics by states and others. The Non-Intercourse Act prohibited the 

purchase of Indian lands without federal supervision and consent. The 17,370 acres of 

land proposed for conveyance into trust by the Nation are all located within the Nation’s 
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reservation that resulted from the 1788 Treaty of Fort Schuyler and were further subject to 

the protections of the Non-Intercourse Act. 

Representatives of the U.S., Oneida, and other Iroquois nations signed the Treaty of 

Canandaigua in 1794. This treaty established territories for the Five Iroquois Nations, 

referring to this Indian land as reservations. The Treaty of Canandaigua acknowledged 

the Nation’s 300,000 acre reservation and reaffirmed the Nation’s sovereignty and its 

right with respect to its reservation lands. The BIA considers all the lands owned by the 

Nation and proposed for trust acquisition to be contained within this historic reservation 

and, therefore, an On Reservation fee-to-trust land transfer. In consideration of friendship 

between the parties, the U.S. government provided the Five Iroquois Nations a payment of 

goods worth $10,000. In addition, the Iroquois was provided a yearly annuity worth 

$4,500 for the purchase of “clothing, domestic animals, implements of husbandry, and 

other utensils suited to their circumstances, and in compensating useful artificer, who shall 

reside with or near them, and be employed for their benefit” (Treaty of Canandaigua, 

November 11, 1794; Campisi, 1978; Taylor, 2003). Through this treaty the Oneida, 

Onondaga, and Cayuga received protection for their lands and their sovereignty as nations 

continued to be recognized. The U.S. government on its part agreed never to disturb the 

nations or claim their lands. The relevant article (2) of the Treaty of Canandaigua states, 

“The United States acknowledges the lands reserved to the Oneida,Onondaga and Cayuga 

Nations, in their respective treaties with the State of New York, and called their

reservations, to be their property; and the United States will never claim the same, nor 

disturbed them or either of the six Nations, nor their Indian friends residing thereon and 

united with them, in the free use and enjoyment thereof; but the said reservations shall 

remain theirs, until they choose to sell the same to the people of the United States, who 

have the right to purchase” (Treaty of Canandaigua, November 11, 1794).

Recognizing the attempts made by New York State to acquire Oneida lands, federal 

commissioners during the treaty negotiations warned the Oneida to avoid any land 

transactions with New York State officials without a federal treaty commissioner being 

present. Speaking directly to the Oneida, Thomas Pickering castigated New York State 

representatives in land transactions as “deceivers, who want to take your beds from under 

you” concluding his plea by stating that, “The land is yours and the State cannot take it 

from you without your own consent. And if any agents come to you to buy it, tell them 

plainly, that you will make no bargain but in the presence of the faithful men whom the 

President shall appoint. ...Speak strongly and be not afraid. Follow this advice, and 

nobody can hurt you, for the United States will protect you” (Taylor, 2003). 

The 1794 Treaty of Canandaigua is considered to be sacred by the Oneida and pursuant 

to its terms each year the U.S. provides the Annuity Treaty Cloth to tribal members 18 

years of age or older (Wonderley, n.d.). To present-day Oneida tribal members, the 

Annuity Treaty Cloth “is tangible proof that the articles of the [Canandaigua] treaty are, 
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and will remain, indelible. The pledges, signed on a government-to-government basis, are 

part of a living document and will continue forever” (Wonderley, n.d.). The Annuity 

Treaty Cloth is provided to the Oneida yearly in the form of three bolts of muslin, which 

are equally divided among qualifying tribal members. 

A second treaty between the U.S. and the Oneida signed in 1794 formally acknowledged 

the assistance provided by the Oneida to the Americans during the war and the resulting 

obligations of the U.S., “Whereas, in the late war between Great-Britain and the United 

States of America, a body of the Oneida and Tuscarora and the Stockbridge Indians, 

adhered faithfully to the United States, and assisted them with their warriors; and in 

consequence of this adherence and assistance, the Oneidas and Tuscaroras, at an 

unfortunate period of the war, were driven from their homes, and their houses were burnt 

and their property destroyed: And as the United States in the time of their distress, 

acknowledged their obligations to these faithful friends, and promised to reward them; 

and the United States now being in a condition to fulfill the promises then made; the 

following articles are stipulated by the representative parties for that purpose; to be in 

force when ratified by the President and the Senate” (Treaty with the Oneidas, December 

2, 1794). As compensation to settle its obligations, this second treaty provided that the 

U.S. government would pay the Oneida an award of $5,000 and promised to construct a 

gristmill, sawmill, and church. The U.S. government also would pay one or two millers to 

manage the mills for a period of three years. In return for the compensation, the Oneida 

relinquished all other claims for compensation against the U.S. government as a result of 

the Revolutionary War (Treaty with the Oneidas, December 2, 1794). 

The Oneida after the Late Eighteenth Century: Further Land Reduction and Tribal 

Division 

Commencing in 1795 and continuing through 1846, the State of New York purchased 

Nation lands in a series of transactions conducted almost without exception in violation of 

the requirement of federal supervision and consent. New York State was able to buy 

Nation lands very cheaply and resell them at a premium, reaping large profits (Taylor, 

2003). As lands were lost during the early nineteenth century, the once-fertile soils of the 

Oneida territory became less productive. Previously, the Iroquois had relocated their 

village periodically as local fields became exhausted and as easily collected firewood in 

surrounded forests was depleted. With the establishment of reservations, such movements 

of village settlements were increasingly difficult. The Oneida were forced to adopt 

European agricultural techniques in increasing numbers by the turn of the nineteenth 

century. Although requiring more work, these agricultural techniques enabled the Oneida 

to produce more foodstuffs on the available land. The annuities that the Nation received 

from the sale of their land facilitated somewhat the transition that they were experiencing 

as their economy changed from one based partly on hunting and partly on horticulture to 

one almost totally dependent upon intensive agriculture (Tooker, 1978). 
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Opposition to Kirkland and his followers renewed the divisions in existence among the 

Oneida since the years of the Revolutionary War. These divisions also reflected the degree 

to which the Oneida would adjust to the values of the dominant white society (Campisi, 

1978). The two factions fought for political control of the Oneida with the Christianized, 

pro-white society warriors who were pro-American during the Revolutionary War on one 

side and those who supported the traditional hereditary political and religious system on 

the other side; the latter were pro-British during the late war and continued to be opposed 

to contact with white society. By 1805 the differences between the two factions, which 

came to be referred to as the Christian Party and the Pagan Party, had become 

irreconcilable forcing them to sign articles of agreement dividing their territories around 

Oneida Lake into two separate tracts ((Tooker, 1978; Campisi, 1978). 

Increased white contacts during the early nineteenth century further disrupted elements of 

traditional culture such as religious beliefs, clan system, and political structures (Campisi, 

1978). Oneida men were encouraged to become farmers, seek education in white schools, 

and practice religion in white-controlled churches. A male dominated nuclear family was 

the model put forth to replace the traditional Oneida structure of a matrilineal extended 

family. Individuals who attempted to maintain traditional beliefs and practices were held 

to be backward or primitive and in need of salvation (Campisi, 1978). 

A revival of traditional Native American beliefs took hold among the Iroquois beginning 

in the late eighteenth century, stimulated by the social and physiological conflicts 

occurring within their society, the leadership of a few tradition-minded sachems, and the 

appearance of new prophets. By the early nineteenth century, revitalized Iroquois religious 

beliefs were well established among the Oneida and associated with a decline in Christian 

Church membership (Campisi, 1978). The death of Samuel Kirkland in 1808 contributed 

to the decline in church membership among the Oneida. 

The War of 1812, the second British-American conflict, saw the Oneida again take up 

arms in support of the U.S. Over 100 Oneida out of a population of 650 tribal members 

reportedly willingly and freely fought on the American side during the conflict, taking part 

in a number of battles along the northern New York State frontier (Babcock, 1927; 

Snyder, 1978; Benn, 1998; Wonderley, n.d.). The sacrifices of the Oneida during this 

conflict brought them little. According to Wonderley, the Oneida “Bore the burden of 

hosting their younger brothers, the Tuscaroras, who had been burned off their lands near 

Niagara in late 1813. Hardships were endured without help from the federal government, 

which during the years 1813-1817, suspended all annuity payments to the Iroquois (Benn 

1998). And Oneidas experienced the same gratitude New York State had shown them 

after the Revolution. Following a brief pause during the war years, New York’s 

remorseless efforts to acquire Oneida land started back up again (land cession treaties 

ceased between 1811 and 1815)” (Wonderley, n.d.). 
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Beginning in 1823, there was a movement among some Oneida to part with additional 

Nation lands in New York State and move to a new location near Green Bay, Wisconsin. 

The instigator behind this act was Eleazar Williams, an Episcopal lay reader and catechist 

who moved to the Oneida reservation in 1816. Williams found support for his ideas 

among some factions of Oneida, but it generally was met with opposition. However, 

Williams persisted and, “...with the support of a few young warriors, influential 

congressman, and the Ogden Land Company, which held preemptive rights to the Iroquois 

lands, negotiations were entered into with the Menominee and Winnebago [of Wisconsin]. 

Once again the tribe split into two factions with some members of the First and Second 

Christian Parties willing to follow their leaders to Wisconsin and others, now calling 

themselves the Orchard Party, opposed to any move. Without waiting for tribal approval, 

Williams and a delegation of Oneida made several trips to Wisconsin. By 1823, they had 

secured from the Menominee joint and undivided occupation of more than 4,000,000 

acres of land for approximately $3,000. President James Monroe, concerned over the size 

of the grant, reduced it to 500,000 acres. In 1838, it was reduced again, this time to 

65,426 acres. Oneida began emigrating in 1823, and by 1838 there were 654 relocated in 

Wisconsin. For some, the move suggested a way of protecting the Oneida from the worst 

effects of White acculturation, by permitting time for adjustment. For the Ogden Land 

Company, it was a way to clear title by securing alternate lands for the New York Indians. 

For Williams, the move meant the establishment of an Iroquois ecclesiastical empire with

himself as its leader, an empire that would include the bulk of the six Iroquois nations, 

resettled in the vastness of Wisconsin. Although the motives of the three parties differed, 

each was aware of, and gave support to, the objectives of the other. It is no wonder that 

the rejection by the Oneida of the plan to resettle them in the west had no effect on the 

outcome” (Campisi, 1978). 

In 1838, the U.S. concluded the Treaty of Buffalo Creek with the Five Iroquois Nations, 

then referred to as the New York Indians. Under the terms of this treaty, the Oneida had 

the opportunity but not the obligation to resettle in what later became the State of Kansas. 

In fact, only a small number of Oneida journeyed to the State of Kansas; the journey was 

arduous and the land was unattractive. Those who did not perish en-route returned to 

New York. By the 1840’s, there were three Oneida communities that were located in the 

States of New York and Wisconsin, and in Canada. According to Campisi, the Oneida, 

“divided into three groups: those intending to move to Ontario, those desirous of moving 

but uncertain where, and a few who wished to remain in New York. In 1839, 242 Oneida 

sold their land in New York and pooling their money, purchased a tract of 5,200 acres 

near London, Ontario. Between 1840 and 1845, 410 moved to Ontario, and by 1848 

only 200 Oneidas resided in New York on the remnants of their land or at the Onondaga 

Reservation near Syracuse, New York. In 1843 New York State passed legislation 

permitting the division of the remaining lands in severalty” (Campisi, 1978). 
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By the late 1840’s, transactions between New York State and the Nation left them with 

possession of only a small fraction of their 300,000 acre reservation. The 1843 New York 

State legislature permitted the allotment of Nation lands to individuals, which resulted in 

the gradual alienation of most of the land over the next century (Snow, 1996). By 1920, 

the Nation retained only 32 acres located in Madison County of their original reservation 

in New York State. This parcel itself was the subject of earlier New York State 

foreclosure proceedings, which resulted in the loss of possession of this parcel in 1909. In 

1916, however, the federal government brought suit on behalf of the Oneida to recover 

these lands, which were restored to the Oneida pursuant to federal law and court order. 

The Nation was confined to these 32 acres of land until 1987. 

3.6.3 Historic, Cultural, and Religious Properties 

Within the Nation’s Group 1, 2, and 3 lands (17,370 acres) or within 1,000 feet of those 

lands there are a number of properties that have particular cultural, historic, and/or 

religious significance to the Oneida. Many of these properties or sites have been 

mentioned above and are discussed in detail in Appendix D. In addition, formal requests 

for consultation under the National Historic Preservation Act Section 106 have been made 

to both the Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin and the Stockbridge-Munsee 

Community Band of Mohican Indians. These requests were meant to establish if the 

Oneida of Wisconsin or the Stockbridge-Munsee attribute religious or cultural significance 

to any of the Nation’s lands that are proposed for conveyance into trust. These requests 

dated January 20, 2006 and June 13, 2006 are presented in Appendix J. Responses to 

these information requests are pending from both the Oneida Tribe of Indians of 

Wisconsin and the Stockbridge-Munsee Community Band of Mohican Indians. 

In Section 3.7.11 Lifestyle and Cultural Values, properties of cultural or religious 

significance to the Nation that are currently in use for various programs and services are 

described in detail. These include, for example, the Shako: wi Cultural Center, Ray Elm 

Children & Elders Center, the Festival Site, the traditional Three Sisters cropland, and 

others. In this section, some of the properties that have had special ancestral importance to 

the Oneida heritage, tradition, and identity are highlighted. Most of these properties are 

potentially eligible for listing on the New York State and National Registers of Historic 

Places. 

Because of their nature and/or location, the ancestrally significant Nation lands typically 

supported a combination of salient historic, cultural, and religious events and activities. In 

other words, these properties do not usually lend themselves to significance due to either 

history or culture or religion only. For example, there are a number of ancient Oneida 

burial sites located throughout the reservation that have been acquired by the Nation or 

are located in immediate proximity to Nation lands and include archaeological sites such 

as Cameron, Clark, Ancestors, Olcott, Thurston, Simpson, Nichols Pond, and NYSM sites 

numbered 3805, 3808, 3832, 4112, 4113, 4118, 4119, 4121, 9342. An Oneida burial 
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ground with internments dating from at least 1837 to 1931 is located along NYS Route 46 

in the City of Oneida. The Beecher (Blowers) site overlooking Stockbridge Valley to the 

west, which was occupied from 1620-1635, contains what may be the earliest Oneida 

cemetery burial plan site with 19 internments. These properties all have implied religious 

or cultural importance because they have known Oneida burial grounds. However, in 

almost every case the burial grounds are associated with a past village site that has New 

York State and county historical value as well. 

Another example of significant Nation lands is Nichols Pond, which is a dual village site 

occupied from around 1350 to 1400 and is considered one of the most important and 

sacred locations for the Oneida. A limestone boulder located at this site is considered to 

be an Oneida Stone and is referred to as a Council Rock. This stone may link the village 

to the origin of the Nation and the formation of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. In the 

earliest record of Iroquois traditions written by Tuscarora David Cusik an Iroquois in 

1825, the Oneida are seated in their territory by their god Sky-holder (Tallonyawagon, 

Upholder of the Heavens, the Good Mind) at a creek called the Pineries, Kaw-na-taw-teruh. This is the area of Nichols Pond. Clearly Nichols Pond has material consequence to 

the understanding of the Nation’s history, culture, and religion. 

Some of the other prominent Oneida ancestral properties; all of which bear evidence of 

intertwined historic, cultural and religious import to the Nation include the following: 

• Vaillancourt – This is a large habitation site of about 20 acres located on a high 

plateau that slopes eastward toward Cowaselon Creek. This site was occupied 

from 1475 to 1550 and contained major traditional longhouses that have been 

unearthed and researched. Some of the earliest evidence of European contact in 

the Oneida homeland is associated with this village. 

• Sterling – This is a large multicomponent site located on level ground along the 

east side of Oneida Creek in the Town of Verona. This site was used as a fishing 

camp dating back to 6,000 B.C. and was variously inhabited from then to the 

eighteenth century, a record of nearly 8,000 years of usage. Louis Cook, an 

Akwasasne Mohawk who fought with the Oneida in the Revolutionary War, lived 

there during the late 1780’s and early 1790’s. Cook was valued by the Oneidas 

because he could speak English and French and they thought he could help 

negotiate land leases, but he submitted to personal interests and betrayed the 

Oneida in a number of land schemes. 

• Onneyuttehage – This is a village site of about five acres overlooking Stockbridge 

Valley that was occupied from 1635 to 1655. This site was visited by the Dutch 

trader Harmen Meyndertsz van den Bogaert in 1634-1635 and he is believed to be 

the first European to meet the Oneida. Van den Bogaert referred to the village and 

its people as Onneyuttehage, which derives from the contemporary name of that 

village Oneyote the place of the standing stone. They called themselves Onyota’ 

a:ka or the people of the standing stone, the name later converted by the 

Europeans to the term Oneida. Onneyuttehage also refers to the boulder, the 

standing stone, believed to always appear providentially to mark the site for a new 
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Oneida village. The standing stone from the Onneyuttehage village now stands at 

the Oneida Cultural Center.

• Oneida Castle – This Oneida village, which was occupied from about 1750-1850, 

covered much of the present Village of Oneida in the Town of Vernon along 

Oneida Creek. This village was traditionally referred to as Kanonwalohale and 

became the principal Oneida village in 1765 with a population of over 700 with 70 

houses. This village was also home to the noted missionary Samuel Kirkland and 

to Oskanondonha (Skenando), the famous and long-lived war chief of the Oneida 

Wolf Clan. The Oneida supported the American cause during the Revolutionary 

War with the Oneida Castle settlement becoming the center of pro-American 

sentiment and activities. Oneida Castle was attacked and destroyed by Joseph 

Brant in 1780, but subsequently rebuilt by the Oneida after the Revolutionary 

War.

• Dungey - This site, which was approximately ten acres in size, is located on the 

crest of East Hill with a view towards Oneida Lake and the Stockbridge Valley. 

This site is thought to represent a principal Oneida village c. 1655-1670. French 

Jesuits reportedly visited the village in the winter of 1656-1657 and in the late fall 

of 1663; eighteenth century cultural material was also recovered from this site. 

• Simpson - This site, which is approximately three quarters of an acre in size, is 

situated on raised ground overlooking a steep ravine on the east and a low-lying 

pond on the south. Native American use of this location is thought to date to c. 

1350-1400; burials were reportedly found on this site. A Historic house 

constructed around 1828 and the remains of a saw mill constructed prior to 1853 

are also located on this parcel. Local tradition identifies the saw mill as a stopping 

point along the Underground Railroad. A small shed on the property was 

constructed in 1941 as a shelter for Civil Air Patrol volunteers on-watch for enemy 

airplanes. 

New York State/National Registers of Historic Places 

National Register listed Historic period architectural resources are not located within any 

of the Nation parcels that constitute the current APE. However, one parcel lies within the 

bounds of a Historic District and a Multiple Resource area in the Village of Canastota. 

Eight other parcels lie within the bounds of another Historic District, located in the City of 

Oneida. In addition, nine listed properties and a third Historic District all located in the 

Village of Canastota are situated within approximately 1,000 feet of Nation lands that are 

included in the Proposed Action. These properties and districts are identified below, 

described in detail in Appendix D, and shown on Figures 3.6-1 through 3.6-3. 

Eight of the significant architectural properties referred to here are individually listed on 

the New York State and National Registers of Historic Places while those properties 

included in the Historic Districts are listed on the New York State and National Registers 

of Historic Places as contributing structures within single (District) nominations. The 

individually listed properties, which are all located in the Village of Canastota, are: 

• The Peterboro Street Elementary School, 
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• Canal Town Museum, 

• Canastota U.S. Post Office, 

• United Church of Canastota, 

• Residences at 326 and 328 North Peterboro Street, and 

• Residences at 115 and 203 South Main Street. 

The two Historic Districts are the South Peterboro Street Commercial Historic District and 

the South Peterboro Street Residential Historic District, also located in the Village of 

Canastota. Nation parcel 33 is located within the South Peterboro Street Commercial 

Historic District, the South Peterboro Street Residential Historic District, and the 

Canastota Multiple Resource Area. All listed structures were built between 1820 and 

1941. 

Both the individually listed properties and the two Historic Districts also are included 

within the Canastota Multiple Resource area. A Multiple Resource Area is comprised of 

noncontiguous but geographically linked properties that are recognized as components of 

a significant group of significant properties. These properties are collectively nominated 

for listing on the National Register of Historic Places but also may be individually listed 

(Shaver, 1993). The United States Post Office in Canastota also is included on the 

National Register of Historic Places within a Thematic Resources category; Thematic 

Resources are noncontiguous but thematically linked properties (Shaver, 1993). The 

category containing the U.S. Post Office in the Village of Canastota is United States Post 

Offices in New York State 1858-1943. 

In addition to the properties indicated above, the Canastota Multiple Resource Area 

consists of five other houses, the Canastota Public Library, and the Canastota Methodist 

Church (Shaver, 1993). These historic properties are not located within approximately 

1,000 feet of Nation lands. 

Two other properties listed on the New York State and National Registers of Historic 

Places are located within approximately 1,000 feet of Nation lands. One property is 

located in the City of Oneida (Mount Hope Reservoir) and one is located in the Village of 

Vernon (Vernon Methodist Church). The Broad-Main-Grove Streets Historic District is 

located within the City of Oneida. This district bounds include eight Nation parcels, 

although those properties are not part of the district nomination. 

Properties 50 Years and Older Located within Nation Lands 

All structures 50 years of age or older that are located on Nation lands proposed for 

conveyance into trust were identified by architectural historian Ms. Cynthia CarringtonCarter for the Nation Historian’s Office (see Appendix D and Figures 3.6-4 through 3.6-

13). Ninety structures were recorded, briefly described, and evaluated as to their 

significance. The Nation Historian concluded that three of the structures are considered 
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eligible for inclusion on the New York State and National Registers of Historic Places with 

seven other structures considered potentially eligible for listing. The remaining 80 

properties are considered to be architecturally insignificant. Detailed information on the 

90 structures is provided in Appendix D. 

Architectural Resources 

This section identifies the National Register of Historic Places listed Historic period 

architectural resources or architectural properties considered to be eligible for listing, that 

are located within the APE for the Proposed Action or within approximately 1,000 feet of 

it (Appendix D). In addition, all existing structures 50 years or older that are present 

within the current APE also are referenced. 

3.6.4 Archaeological Resources 

3.6.4.1 Previously Identified Archaeological Sites 

Eighty-one Native American and Historic period archaeological sites have been previously 

recorded within the site files of OPRHP, NYSM, and the Office of the Nation Historian 

that are now located within or in proximity to the APE for the proposed trust transfer (see 

Figures 3.6-14 through 3.6-23). More precise information concerning the locations of the 

sites is not provided in order to protect them from disturbance and aid in their 

preservation. In addition, available data on the sites is insufficient to provide definitive 

information as to their boundaries. Such boundary information as well as a determination 

as to a site’s eligibility for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, following 

current OPRHP guidelines, typically is generated as a result of Phase II level archaeological 

investigations of that property. Accordingly, none of the sites are listed on the New York 

State or National Registers of Historic Places or have been determined eligible for listing. 

A preliminary evaluation of the eligibility of the sites, based upon the information 

available in the collections and files of the agencies identified above as well as the 

archaeological literature, has determined that 36 of the sites are potentially eligible for 

listing on the New York State and National Registers of Historic Places and 12 of the sites 

are not eligible for listing. Not enough information is available for a determination to be 

made for the remaining 33 archaeological sites. The National Register of Historic Places 

status of the sites is indicated in Appendix D. Regardless of their status, however, none of 

the identified archaeological sites will be affected by the trust action because the 

undertaking is not ground disturbing and there will not be a change in property use. 

Consultation between the BIA and the OPRHP currently is on-going. 

The majority of the sites (64 or 79 percent) reportedly contain only Native American 

components while eight (10 percent) contain only evidence of Historic period occupation. 

Thirty-five of the Native American sites cannot be assigned to any specific Native 

American period of occupation. Two of these (NYSM #8791 and OPRHP 

A05315.000092), in fact, consist of only stray finds of single Native American artifacts; 
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NYSM #8791 consists of a stone gouge-like tool and OPRHP A05315.00092 consists of a 

single chert flake likely derived from stone toll making or maintenance activity. Five (six 

percent) sites also reportedly contain Native American and Historic period components. 

No recorded information as to cultural affiliation or site function is available on the files 

for four (five percent) OPRHP sites that are located within the current APE. 

By municipality, 27 (33 percent) of the identified sites are located in the Town of Verona; 

21 (26 percent) in located in the Town of Stockbridge; seven (nine percent) are located in 

the City of Oneida; five (six percent) are located in the Town of Vernon; four (five 

percent) each are located in the Towns of Cazenovia Lincoln, and Smithfield; three (four 

percent) are located in the Town of Lenox; two (two percent) are located in the Town of 

Fenner; and one (one percent per town) each are located in the Towns of Vienna, Sullivan, 

and Sherrill and the City of Rome. Appendix D provides more detailed information on 

the sites contained in the files of the OPRHP, the NYSM, and the Office of the Nation 

Historian. The Native American sites identified within the APE may date to the time prior 

to the European colonization of New York, referred to by archaeologists as the Native 

American Cultural Periods identified below: 

• PaleoIndian Period 

• Archaic Period 

• Transitional Period 

• Woodland Period including late prehistoric Oneida 

• Protohistoric Oneida 

Further descriptions of these cultural periods are provided above under Section 3.6.2 

Historic Context of the Nation. Two of the recorded sites are identified as dating to the 

Archaic period; one contains Early through Late Woodland period components; four are 

identified as containing Late Woodland components; 13 contain late prehistoric or 

Protohistoric Oneida components; and 15 are associated with the Historic Oneida. Two 

archaeological sites are identified in the site files only as Prehistoric sites. 

The Native American archaeological resources previously identified on Oneida Indian 

Nation lands consist in part of camp sites (10) likely related to hunting, gathering, toolmaking, and other production related activities; village/habitation sites (32) of which nine 

contained burials; other mortuary sites (11); and stray finds (2). Nine other site areas are 

described in the NYSM’s files as consisting of traces of [Native American] occupation, 

which are based on the descriptions and work of the avocational archaeologist Arthur C. 

Parker in the early twentieth century (Parker, 1922). Usually no further information is 

recorded in the NYSM’s files on those occupations, which may have dated to any of the 

Native American culture historic periods mentioned previously. No information on site 

function or cultural affiliation is available for four of the sites identified (see Appendix D). 
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Twenty-seven of the village sites comprise the accepted Oneida village development 

sequence (Wonderley, 2004). Of the 27 village sites, 15 are located within the current 

APE and described in Appendix D. Those indicated by a * are not located within the 

current APE, but are, nevertheless, described in Appendix D due to their importance to 

Oneida culture and identity. The accepted village development sequence is identified in 

Table 3.6-1. 

Table 3.6-1 

Oneida Village Sites Located within the APE that are 

Part of the Accepted Oneida Cultural Development Sequence 

Site Period of Occupation 

Nichols Pond 

Dougherty* 

Simpson 

Tuttle* 

Buyea* 

Moon 

Goff 

Bronck 

Olcott* 

Vaillancourt 

Bach* 

Diable* 

Cameron 

Beecher

Wilson 

Thurston* 

Marshall* 

Stone Quarry 

Dungey 

Sullivan 

Marsh 

Upper Hogan* 

Collins* 

Primes Hill* 

Lanz-Hogan* 

Sterling 

Oneida Castle 

c. 1350-1400 

c. 1350-1400 

c. 1350-1400 

c. 1400-1425 

c. 1425-1475 

c. 1425-1475 

c. 1425-1475 

c. 1425-1475

c. 1475-1525 

c. 1475-1525 

c. 1525-1575 

c. 1525-1575 

c. 1605-1620 

c. 1620-1635

c. 1620-1635 

c. 1635-1655 

c. 1635-1655 

c. 1650-1660 

c. 1655-1670 

c. 1665-1680 

c. 1655-1670 

c. 1665-1685 

c. 1677-1685 

c. 1685-1750 

c. 1720-1770 

c. 1750-1762 

c. 1762-1820 

Note: * means are located within the APE 

Source: Wonderly, 2004 

3.6.4.2 Previously Identified Areas of Archaeological Sensitivity and the Proposed 

Action’s APE 

The OPRHP has identified general areas that are considered to be archaeologically 

sensitive for the presence of Native American sites (see Figures 3.6-24 through 3.6-23). 

The criteria for determining such areas is based on the presence of previously identified 

Native American sites in the vicinity and environmental characteristics similar to those of 

known sites in the region. These characteristics typically include the presence of high, 

well-drained ground (knoll, ridge top, terrace, etc.) in proximity to a fresh water source 

(watercourse, pond/lake, wetland, spring, etc.). Other characteristics that may result in an 

area being determined to be archaeologically sensitive include the presence of outcrops of 
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certain types of stone (chert, quartz, quartzite, etc.) that are suitable for the production of 

tools and the presence of caves or rockshelters, particularly when located near a fresh 

water source, which may have been utilized by Native Americans. 

One hundred and ninety-two (192) Nation parcels that are included within the current 

APE are situated within OPRHP zones of general archaeological sensitivity. The 

designation indicates that Native American sites may be found almost anywhere within an 

archaeologically sensitive area which has not been previously disturbed. By municipality, 

the sensitive parcels are distributed as follows: 

• 92 (48 percent) parcels are located within the Town of Verona; 

• 27 (14 percent) parcels are located within the Town of Stockbridge; 

• 22 (11 percent) parcels are located within the City of Oneida; 

• 17 (nine percent) parcels are located within the Town of Lenox; 

• 11 (six percent) parcels are located within the Village of Canastota/Town of 

Verona area; 

• Eight (four percent) parcels are located within the Town of Vernon; 

• Five (three percent) parcels are located within the Town of Lincoln; 

• Three (one percent per township) parcels are located within the Town of 

Verona/City of Rome area; 

• Two (one percent per township) parcels per town each are located within the 

Towns of Sullivan and Smithfield; and 

• Single parcels (0.5 percent per township) are located within the Towns of Augusta, 

and Sherrill and the Village of Cazenovia. 

In addition, the OPRHP recognized areas of archaeological sensitivity and the Nation 

parcels that are included within these areas are indicated on an archaeological sensitivity 

map recently prepared by O’Brien and Gere for New York State as part of the its 

comments on the Nation’s Trust Application (O’Brien and Gere, 2006). The information 

provided in Appendix D and the O’Brien and Gere map are generally comparable. 

One of the most important regions in terms of historical and archaeological sensitivity and 

Oneida tradition is the Stockbridge Valley area. The location represents the ancient 

Oneida homeland with a number of occupied villages formerly located there over the span 

of more than a hundred years from the late sixteenth century to early eighteenth century 

(Wonderley, 1999a). The recognized sites and their periods of occupation, which are 

discussed in Appendix D are identified in Table 3.6-2. These sites are part of the basic 

Oneida village development archaeological sequence and represent the movement of a 

village over a span of time. 
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Table 3.6-2 

Previously Identified Native American Village Sites Located in the Stockbridge 

Valley Area, Ancient Oneida Homeland 

Beecher c. 1595-1625 Dungey c. 1650-1660 

Wilson c. 1595-1625 Sullivan c. 1660-1677 

Thurston c. 1625-1637 Marsh c. 1660-1677 

Marshall c. 1637-1640 Collins c. 1677-1685 

Stone Quarry c. 1640-1650 Primes Hill c. 1696-1720 

Source: Wonderly, 1999a 

3.6.4.3 Archaeological and Historic Resources Located Within Groups 1, 2, and 3 

This section presents a general overview of the recognized archaeological and historic 

resources (including potentially eligible buildings/structures 50 years or older on Nation 

lands) contained within Nation lands and the APE according to their distribution in 

Groups 1, 2, and 3. Table 3.6-3 shows the number of cultural resources by category in 

each of the Groupings. On occasion, these sites or building/structure locations overlap 

with more than one location occurring on an individual property or within its respective 

APE. As the table illustrates there are more historic and cultural resources are located 

within Groups 1 and 2 than are found within Group 3. 

Table 3.6-3 

Cultural Resources Located on or within 1,000 feet of Nation Lands 

Resource Type Group 1 Lands Group 2 Lands Group 3 Lands Total 

New York State and 

National Register of 

Historic Places 

0 11 2 13 

Properties with 

Buildings 

50 Years or Older* 

12 55 18 85 

Archaeological 

Sensitive Properties 33 116 43 192 

Archaeological Sites 6 94 57 157 

Total Resource 

Count 51 276 120 447 

*Note: Seventy-nine (88 percent) of the 90 identified structures on 85 Nation parcels were determined not to be 

architecturally significant while two (two percent) other structures were determined to be architecturally significant. 

Seven structures (eight percent) are considered eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places or 

potentially eligible while two (two percent) are considered not to be eligible for listing. 

Sources: The Nation, 2005; State Historic Preservation Office, 2005; National Register of Historic Places, 2005 

Group 1 Lands 

Group 1 lands contain the least number of cultural resource sites/buildings among the 

Groupings and has 51 or 11.4 percent of the total number. Group 1 lands contains six 

(3.8 percent) of the 157 currently identified archaeological sites on or within Nation lands 

or its APE. 

Group 2 Lands 

Group 2 lands and the associated APE have the largest number of cultural resources, 277 

or 62 percent of the total. Group 2 lands has in fact the most sites in all four of the 
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categories shown in the above table, which is, in the numbers of National Register of 

Historic Places, Properties with Buildings over 50 years in age, Archaeological Sensitive 

Properties, and identified Archaeological Sites. Some of the more notable historic and 

archaeological sites located within Group 2 or its APE include Nichols Pond, Sterling, 

Oneida Castle, and McNab. These sites are described in detail in the above sections 

and/or in Appendix D. 

Group 3 Lands 

Group 3 lands and their associated APE have the second largest number of cultural 

resources, 119 or 26.6 percent, of the total among the Groupings. Some of the more 

prominent historic and archaeological sites located within Group 3 lands or their APE 

include Vaillancourt, Dungey, Wilson, Simpson, Marsh, Stone Quarry (Clark), and 

Onneyuttehage.