The Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin is sovereign government with a long and proud history of self-government. We are a federally-recognized treaty tribe of the United States. We have faced threats and continue to face threats to our homelands. The Oneida have persevered in the face of adversity for centuries, and we proudly and passionately continue to protect and preserve our homelands.

The Oneidas, along with the Mohawk, Seneca, Cayuga and Onondaga comprised the original Five Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy that dates back to the 1500s, which later became the Six Nations when the Tuscarora joined in the 1700s. The Iroquois held millions of acres of land in what is now the State of New York, which entered statehood in 1776. During the Revolutionary War, the Oneida and the Tuscarora supported the colonies and served in General George Washington’s army. For this service, our lands were to be protected forever, a promise reflected in the 1794 Treaty of Canandaigua between the Oneida and United States. The 1784 Treaty of Fort Stanwix was the first treaty between the Oneida and United States that established peace between the Iroquois Confederacy and the colonial states, which operated under the Articles of Confederation at the time.

The Oneidas purchased 5 million acres of land from the Winnebago and Menominee Tribes for the purpose of preserving sovereignty as a self- governing sovereign nation. This band of Oneidas became recognized as the Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin, who entered their final treaty with the United States in 1838, ten years before Wisconsin entered statehood.

Upon adoption of the Oneida Constitution, the United States federal government purchased 1,270 acres of land within the Oneida Reservation and placed that land into trust for the benefit of the Oneida Tribe.