page_title: Laura Cornelius Kellogg
section_title: Six Nations land claims
hierarchical_section_title: Laura Cornelius Kellogg / New York Land Claims / Six Nations land claims
caption_attribution_description: English: Laura Cornelius Kellogg (third from right) and Oneida Chiefs, 1925 Other information No. This work is in the public domain because it was published in the United States between 1923 and 1963 and although there may or may not have been a copyright notice, the copyright was not renewed. Unless its author has been dead for the required period, it is copyrighted in the countries or areas that do not apply the rule of the shorter term for US works, such as Canada (50 pma), Mainland China (50 pma, not Hong Kong or Macao), Germany (70 pma), Mexico (100 pma), Switzerland (70 pma), and other countries with individual treaties. See Commons:Hirtle chart for further explanation. Deutsch&#160;| English&#160;| español&#160;| français&#160;| italiano&#160;| 日本語&#160;| 한국어&#160;| македонски&#160;| português&#160;| português do Brasil&#160;| русский&#160;| українська&#160;| {{edit|Template:PD-U
context_page_description: Laura Cornelius Kellogg, was an Oneida leader, author, orator, activist and visionary. Kellogg, a descendant of distinguished Oneida leaders, was a founder of the Society of American Indians. Kellogg was an advocate for the renaissance and sovereignty of the Six Nations of the Iroquois, and fought for communal tribal lands, tribal autonomy and self-government. Popularly known as "Indian Princess Wynnogene," Kellogg was the voice of the Oneidas and Haudenosaunee people in national and international forums. During the 1920s and 1930s, Kellogg and her husband, Orrin J. Kellogg, pursued land claims in New York on behalf of the Six Nations people. Kellogg's "Lolomi Plan" was a Progressive Era alternative to Bureau of Indian Affairs control emphasizing self-sufficiency, cooperative labor and organization, and capitalization of labor. According to historian Laurence Hauptman, "Kellogg helped transform the modern Iroquois, not back into their ancient League, but into major actors, activists and litigants in the modern world of the 20th century Indian politics".
context_section_description: 1922 was a benchmark year for Kellogg.This was the year that her clan mother had died. Soon after the loss of her clan mother, Kellogg decided to return to the traditional practices of her tribe. During this time, Kellogg focused on two major issues: compliance with the Six Nations Laws and the advancement of land claiming rights. Also in 1922, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, in U.S. v. Boylan, denied New York state courts jurisdiction to dispose of Indian property or remove Indians without the consent of the federal government, returned a thirty-two acre parcel of land within the city of Oneida, New York, and confirmed the U.S. government's right to represent the Indians as well as the state's limited authority in Indian matters. In March 1922, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the Boylan case, thereby upholding the federal appeals court ruling. On March 17, 1922, Assemblyman Edward A. Everett, of Potsdam, New York, Chairman of the New York State Indian Commission (1919–1922), presented the Everett Report, officially known as the Report of the New York State Commission to Investigate the Status of the American Indian Residing in the State of New York. After a four-year study from 1919 to 1922, the Everett Report concluded the Six Nations Iroquois were entitled to 6 million acres in New York, due to illegal dispossession after the 1784 Treaty of Fort Stanwix. The report was promptly rejected by the legislature, and Everett stripped of his chairmanship. The Boylan decision and the Everett Report buoyed Kellogg and her supporters with the hope of successfully reclaiming Oneida and Six Nations lands in New York State and Pennsylvania.
  In October 1922, after an extensive investigation and report by Kellogg, the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin announced that they would pursue a claim for 6 million New York acres of land valued at $2 billion. A Committee of 22 was appointed to prosecute claim, and Kellogg was appointed secretary to raise funds for the undertaking. Kellogg and her husband set up a headquarters at Onondaga, New York, the traditional capital of the Six Nations, and spoke at public forums in Haudenosaunee communities in New York, Quebec, Ontario, Wisconsin, and Oklahoma to gather support and funds.
  In November 1922, Kellogg attended a meeting of the Indian Welfare League in Albany, in which Assemblyman Everett was chastised by both Indian and non-Indian reformers for his report, including his actions which allegedly stirred up false hope among Indians about the land claims issue. In a column of the Knickerbocker Press, Kellogg reacted to the meeting by defending Everett. She added that the real question was not the workings of the Everett Commission, but the legal status of the Six Nations according to Treaty of Fort Stanwix of 1784 granting the Iroquois Confederacy independence. Less than a week later, Kellogg sent Everett a letter endorsing his report, condemning the Indian Welfare League, and making an offer to retain his legal services for in future litigation.
  Edward A. Everett, Chairman of the New York State Indian Commission who was defeated for reelection because of his support for the Indians, would serve as legal counsel.
  Kellogg traveled throughout the Six Nations to raise funds to litigate claims to Iroquois lands, and her followers became known as the "Kellogg Party" throughout the U.S. and Canada. They collected money from Iroquois in New York, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Ontario and Quebec, stating it would be used to claim up to eighteen million acres of land in New York and Pennsylvania.  Collections were also received from the Stockbridge Indians, the Brothertowns and a number of white business people in the Green Bay area. These monies were not used for the purported purpose, nor were they returned to contributors, and many Indians filed protests with the federal government and with tribal elders.
  In 1925, Kellogg organized a ceremony recognizing Oneida chiefs and calling for federal protection while simultaneously exercising tribal governance.
caption: Kellogg and Oneida Chiefs, 1925
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