chiefdom · North America and Oceania

Oneida Nation

1450 CE – present (approx.)

The People of the Standing Stone, one of the five founding nations of the Iroquois Confederacy, and the main Haudenosaunee ally of the Americans in the Revolution.

Origins

The Oneida took shape as a nation in central New York around Oneida Lake and Oneida Creek, their name recalling a boulder that marked their principal settlement. Around the mid-15th century, according to Haudenosaunee tradition, they joined the Mohawk, Onondaga, Cayuga and Seneca in accepting the Great Law of Peace, forming the Iroquois Confederacy.

Rule and society

Like the other member nations, the Oneida were organised in clans, with women owning the longhouses and fields and clan mothers selecting the chiefs who represented the nation, nine of them, at the Grand Council. Villages farmed maize, beans and squash and traded furs. In council they sat with the Cayuga as the younger brothers. Influenced by the Presbyterian missionary Samuel Kirkland, many converted to Christianity in the 18th century.

To the present

In the American Revolution the Oneida fought for the Americans at Oriskany and sent corn to Valley Forge, yet lost most of their land through New York State treaties. Many moved to Wisconsin in the 1820s and to Ontario in 1840. Today there are Oneida nations in New York, Wisconsin and Ontario.

Connections (1)

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Oneida Nation. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/oneida-nation
MLA
“Oneida Nation.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/oneida-nation. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Oneida Nation.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/oneida-nation.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Oneida Nation’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/oneida-nation (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻