Oriskany: A Place of Great Sadness: A Mohawk Valley Battlefield Ethnography

2009·12.6 MB·English

by  Bilharz, Joy

A
Oriskany: Place of Great Sadness
A Mohawk Valley Battlefield Ethnography
FortStanwix National Monument
Special Ethnographic Report

ORISKANY: A Place of Great Sadness
A Mohawk Valley Battlefield Ethnography
In
Joy Bilharz, Ph.D.
With assistance fromTrish Rae
Fort Stanwix National Monument
Special Ethnographic Report
UNIVERSITYOFGEORGIA
NOV 1 9 2009
LIBRARIES
DEPOSITORY
Northeast Region Ethnography Program
National ParkService
MA
Boston,
February2009
ThetitleofthisreportwasprovidedbyaMohawkelderduringan
interviewconductedforthisproject. Itisusedbecauseitso
eloquentlysummarizesthefeelingsofalltheIndiansconsulted.
CoverPhoto: ViewofOriskanyBattlefieldwiththe 1884monumenttotherebelsandtheir
allies. 1996. PhotographbyJoyBilharz.
Executive Summary
The Mohawk ValleyBattlefield Ethnography Projecl wasdesignedtodocument
therelationshipsbetweencontemporaryIndian peoplesandtheeventsthatoccurred in
central New Yorkduringthe mid tolateeighteenthcentury. Theparticularfocuswas
fort Stanwix,located neartheOneidaCarry,whichlinkedthe MohawkandSt. Lawrence
RiversviaWoodCreek,andtheOriskany Battlefield. Becauseofitsstrategiclocation.
Fori Stanv*i\ wasthesiteol severalcriticaltreatiesbetweenthe Britishandthe Iroquois
and. followingtheAmerican Revolution,between thelatterandthe UnitedStates. This
regionwasthehomeland oftheSix Nationsofthe Iroquois( onfederacj whose neutrality
ormilitarv support wasdesired b\ both the Britishand therebelsduringthe Revolution.
I he Battleol Oriskany,<> Wgusl 1777.occurredastheTryon( ount) militia,aided b\
Oneidawarriors,was rnarchingto relievethe British siegeof1 t. Stanwix. Withinafew
milesol the ion it wasambushed bva British forcecomprised primarilj ofIndian
warriors,most ofwhomwereSenecasand Mohawks,and.liketheOneidasmembersof
the Iroquois( onfederac\
Amongtheproject'sethnographic objectiveswastodetermine it therewereoral
historiesofeitherthebattleorthetreatieswhichcouldbalancetheethnocentric
eighteenth centur) documents. Descendantso\ participantsin thoseeventsweretobe
identifiedand theirconcernsand interestsabout thesitesdocumented. Thisinformation
could then beused bysite managersto provide moreaccurateandculturallyappropriate
interpretationstothe publicandtoinform management decisions. Anotherobjectivewas
toopen linesol communicationbetweenpark managersand Indiannationsandindividuals
that would becomepart ofan ongoingcollaborativeprocess. Inadditiontothe
ethnographic research,anarchivalcomponenl wasdesignedtodevelopahistorv ofthe
eventssurroundingthesiegeandbattleasrecordedinprimarysources.
BecausethebulkoftheIndianwarriorswere Iroquois,thefirstphaseoftheproject
focused exclusively on contemporary IroquoispeoplesintheUnitedStatesandCanada.
1hiringthecourseofthearchivalresearchitbecameapparentthatotherIndiannations
werealsorepresentedatthebattleandsiegeandthesecondphase,withsimilarobjectives,
focused on the Mississaugas,Hurons/Wyandots.Ottawas, Potawatomies,andChippewas.
ExecutiveSummary
Nosignificantoralhistoriesofeitherthebattleorthesiegewerefound. We
believethatthisisareflectionofboththelengthoftimeelapsedandthemassive
relocationsandtraumasthatoccurredasaresultoftheRevolution. Interestwasgreatest
amongtheOneidasandMohawksastheareaisclosesttotheirtraditionalhomelands.
Familiaritywiththebattlewasmuchlessamongnon-Iroquoiswhoneverthelesseagerly
soughtwhatinformationwecouldgivethemabouttheirancestors'participation.
Attemptstoidentifydescendantsofparticularwarriorswereunsuccessfuldueto
restrictionsontheuseoftribalenrollmentrecords. FortheIroquoisitisreasonableto
assumethatallcontemporarypeoplehavesomeancestralconnection.
CommunityconsultantswhohadvisitedFortStanwixNationalMonumentwere
unanimousandoutspokenintheirobjectionstotheorientationfilmthenshownatthe
fortbecauseitignoredtherolesplayedbyIndianwarriors,dismissingthemas"savages."
(Thefilmwaswithdrawnwithinafewmonthsofthereceiptofthefinalreportofthe
project'sfirstphase).
Theprimarymanagement concernexpressedbybothIroquoisandnon-Iroquois
wasfortheprotectionofboththebattlefieldandthebodiesthatremainburiedthere,
eventhoughtheyaremostlikelythoseofthemilitia. Concernwasexpressedthatthesite
wasnotadequatelyprotectedfromtreasurehuntersseekingartifactsorbones. Therewas
strong,thoughnotunanimous,oppositiontoanyattemptstolocatebodiesorany
activitiesatthesitethatmightresultindisturbanceofburials. FortheIroquois,Oriskany
isasacredsitewhereeventscontrarytotheGreatLawoccurred. Divisionsbetween
OneidasandothermembersoftheConfederacywhicheruptedintoarmedconflictatthe
battlehavehadramificationslastingtothepresentday. AstheIroquoisnationsseekto
reaffirmtheirprehistoricandhistoricties,anyglorificationofthesiteortheeventsthat
occurredwouldbeinappropriate. Formanyyearsithasbeenaplacewhereprivaterituals
wereheldforthosewhofell. Itis"aplaceofgreatsadness"thatshouldremainaplacefor
remembranceandreflection. TheongoinghistoricalandculturalimportanceofOriskany
BattlefieldtoIroquoispeoplemandatesthatitsdocumentationfortheNational Register
ofHistoricPlacesbeupdatedtoincluderecognitionasaTraditionalCulturalProperty.
Table of Contents
ExecutiveSummary
i
ListofMapsand Figures v
Acknowledgements vii
Forward xi
ChapterOne: Introduction 1
Terminology 5
ChapterTwo: Methodology 9
FieldResearch 9
DifficultiesEncountered 11
ArchivalResearch 13
ChapterThree TheEthnohistoryoftheBattleofOriskany 19
:
TheIroquoisandOthersinNewYork 19
TheIroquois 19
SirWilliamJohnson 22
TheProvincialElite:TheDelanceysandtheLivingstons 24
TheOthers 25
TheRoadtoOriskany 27
TheConfederacyCouncilFireisCovered/Extinguished 29
ThePlanofInvasion 31
EncounteratUnadilla 37
TheCouncilatOswego 42
TheSiegeBegins 49
TheBattle 51
TheAftermath 58
The"WesternIndians"andtheMississaugas 67
The"Western Indians" 67
TheSt.LegerCampaign 71
The Mississaugas 81
Chapter lour:ContemporaryIndiansandOriskany Battlefield 87
The Ethnographic Research 87
Introductionand Methodology 87
TableofContents
HistoricalSummary 88
BackgroundforRecommendations 89
Consultation 89
ValueoftheEthnohistoryoftheBattleandtheLackofOralTradition .90
..
Familiaritywith/InterestintheHistoricalSites 91
TheFortStanwixNationalMonumentOrientationFilm 92
DocumentingtheHistoricalandCulturalImportanceoftheSites
toAmericanIndians 93
FuturePreservationandTreatmentoftheBattlefield 93
CulturalValuesAssociatedwiththeBattlefield 99
ArchivalCenter 101
Recommendations 101
PhaseI:Introduction 101
PhaseI:ManagementIssues 102
PhaseI:PlanningIssues Ill
PhaseII 118
EndNotes 123
Appendix 1: BriefStatementofObjectives 135
PhaseI:MohawkValleyBattlefieldEthnographyProject 135
PhaseII:MohawkValleyBattlefieldEthnographyProject 136
Appendix2: ListofCommunitiesConsulted 139
Appendix3:TranscriptsofSelectedDocumentson"WesternIndians" 141
References 159
List of Maps and Figures
Map 1 GuyJohnson'sMap, 1771 xiv
Map2 CurrentIroquoisReservations 3
Map3 EuropeanSettlementsintheMohawkValleyca. 1775 21
Map4 DetailedMapoftheMohawkRiverValleyca. 1775 26
Map5 TheOriginalPlanfortheBritishInvasionofNewYork 32
Figure 1 ThereconstructedFortStanwix 8
Figure2 Thayendanegea(JosephBrant) 38
Figure3 Gyantwakia(Cornplanter) 45
Figure4 JosephRobertaccioattheheadofthefirstravine,OriskanyBattlefield 57