Onyota'a:ka First Nation

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The Onyota'a:ka people (Oneida) reside in a rural area commonly referred to as the "Oneida Settlement", which is about a 20-minute drive from London, Ontario, Canada.

1 The Oneida Settlement
2 The People of the Standing Stone
3 Governance
4 Roles and Responsibilities
5 Community
6 Facilities
7 Neighbours

[edit] The Oneida Settlement

The Oneidas, as a Iroquoian people, had a traditional territory once covered a large section of the eastern part of North America. So, although the Oneida people are located in their traditional hunting area known as the Beaver Hunting Grounds, which was recognized in the 1701 Nanfan Treaty, it was actually several Oneida families that relocated to Southwold, Ontario, Canada from New York state in the 1840's that formed the current day settlement.

The Oneida people who live or are descendants of people at the "Oneida Settlement" always insist that their lands be called a "settlement" because their relocation lands in Ontario were purchased outright by Oneida people. This is a distinct process from having the lands "set aside" or "reserved" for them. Many other lands inhabited by indigenous people in North America are called "Indian reserves".

Historically Iroquoian people were agriculturalists known for their corn-beans-and-squash companion planting, and so many of the original families that moved to Ontario in the 1840's maintained their livelihood by farming and living off the land.

[edit] The People of the Standing Stone

The name Oneida is the English mispronounciation of Onyota'a:ka. Onyota'a:ka means people of the Standing Stone. The identity of the People of the Standing Stone is based on a legend in which the Oneida people were being pursued on foot by an enemy tribe. The Oneida people were chased into a clearing within the woodlands and disappeared instantaneously. The enemy of the Oneida could not find them and so it was said that these people had turned themselves into stones that had stood in the clearing. As a result, they became known as the People of the Standing Stone.

There are older legends in which the Oneida people self-identify as the Big Tree People. Not much is written about this and Iroquoian elders would have to be consulted as to the oral history of that. This may simply correspond to other Iroquoian notions of the Great Tree of Peace and the associated belief system of the people.

Individuals born into the Oneida Nation are identified according to their spirit name, or what we now call an Indian name, their clan, and their family unit within a clan. Further to that, each gender, clan and family unit within a clan all have particular duties and responsibilities. Clan identities go back to the Creation Story of the Onyota'a:ka peoples and there are three clans that the people identify with, either the Wolf, Turtle or Bear clans. A person's clan is the same as his or her mother's clan.

In the face of colonizing forces that tried to assimilate or extinguish the Original Nations of North America, the majority of the Oneida Nation people who descend from the Oneida Settlement can still identify their clan. Further, if a person does not have a clan because their mother is not Oneida, then the Nation still makes provisions for customary adoptions into one of the clans. However, the act of adopting is primarily a responsibility of the Wolf clan, so many adoptees are Wolf.

[edit] Governance

Governance in the Oneida community...

[edit] Roles and Responsibilities

[edit] Community

The community contains three sub-divisions, a community center, and three parks. Bingo and radio bingo are very popular, and sports are important. The people attend long house and the annual ceremonies, and the Oneida language is taught to all children in school.

[edit] Facilities

The Oneida people who live in this reserve have a traditional long house and government. The people own their own businesses. Two elementary schools have been built: Standing Stone and The Log School. A health clinic is located in downtown Oneida, which also includes a radio station, administration building, golden ages rest home, a volunteer fire hall, and a little market.