John Skenandoa (; c. 1706 – March 11, 1816), also called Shenandoah () among other forms, was an elected chief (a so-called "pine tree chief") of the
Oneida
Oneida may refer to:
Native American/First Nations
* Oneida people, a Native American/First Nations people and one of the five founding nations of the Iroquois Confederacy
* Oneida language
* Oneida Indian Nation, based in New York
* Oneida Na ...
. He was born into the
Iroquoian
The Iroquoian languages are a language family of indigenous peoples of North America. They are known for their general lack of labial consonants. The Iroquoian languages are polysynthetic and head-marking.
As of 2020, all surviving Iroquoian la ...
-speaking
Susquehannock
The Susquehannock people, also called the Conestoga by some English settlers or Andastes were Iroquoian Native Americans who lived in areas adjacent to the Susquehanna River and its tributaries, ranging from its upper reaches in the southern p ...
s, but was adopted into the Oneida of the
Iroquois Confederacy
The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...
. When he later accepted Christianity, he was
baptized
Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost ...
as "John", taking his Oneida name Skenandoa as his surname. Based on a possible reconstruction of his name in its original
Oneida
Oneida may refer to:
Native American/First Nations
* Oneida people, a Native American/First Nations people and one of the five founding nations of the Iroquois Confederacy
* Oneida language
* Oneida Indian Nation, based in New York
* Oneida Na ...
, he is sometimes called "Oskanondonha" in modern scholarship. His tombstone bears the spelling Schenando ().
During the colonial years, Skenandoa supported the English against the French in the
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754†...
. Later, during the
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
, he supported the colonials and led a force of 250 Oneida and
Tuscarora Tuscarora may refer to the following:
First nations and Native American people and culture
* Tuscarora people
**''Federal Power Commission v. Tuscarora Indian Nation'' (1960)
* Tuscarora language, an Iroquoian language of the Tuscarora people
* ...
warriors in western New York in their support. A longtime friend of the minister
Samuel Kirkland
Samuel Kirkland (December 1, 1741 – February 28, 1808) was a Presbyterian minister and missionary among the Oneida and Tuscarora peoples of present-day central New York State. He was a long-time friend of the Oneida chief Skenandoa.
Kirkland g ...
, a founder of
Hamilton College, his request to be buried next to Kirkland was granted. In the funeral procession at the death of Skenandoa together were Oneida, students and officers from Hamilton College, Kirkland's widow and her family, and many citizens of
Clinton, New York.
Name
Skenandoa's name is variously recorded; "Shenandoah" has become the most famous form, used in many versions of the folk song "
O Shenandoah
"Oh Shenandoah" (also called "Shenandoah", "Across the Wide Missouri", "Rolling River", "Oh, My Rolling River", "World of Misery''") is a traditional folk song, sung in the Americas, of uncertain origin, dating to the early 19th century.
...
", where the words "O Shenandoah, I love your daughter" and "The chief disdained the trader's dollars: / 'My daughter never you shall follow'" are found. Other forms include Skenandoah or Scanandoa; Schenandoah, Schenandoa, Shenondoa, Shanandoah, or Shanendoah; Skenando or Scanondo; Schenando; Skenandore; and Skennondon, Scanandon, Skonondon, or Skeanendon.
The origin of Skenandoa's name is uncertain. The spelling Oskanondonha (which was not recorded in his lifetime) assumes derivation from
Oneida
Oneida may refer to:
Native American/First Nations
* Oneida people, a Native American/First Nations people and one of the five founding nations of the Iroquois Confederacy
* Oneida language
* Oneida Indian Nation, based in New York
* Oneida Na ...
''oskanu:tú:'' , "deer". However, Skenandoa referred to himself as "an aged hemlock",
and the Oneida word for "
hemlock" is ''kanʌʔtú:saʔ'' ; this derivation has had a longer tradition of acceptance.
Life
Skenandoa was born in 1710 into the
Iroquoian
The Iroquoian languages are a language family of indigenous peoples of North America. They are known for their general lack of labial consonants. The Iroquoian languages are polysynthetic and head-marking.
As of 2020, all surviving Iroquoian la ...
-speaking
Susquehannock
The Susquehannock people, also called the Conestoga by some English settlers or Andastes were Iroquoian Native Americans who lived in areas adjacent to the Susquehanna River and its tributaries, ranging from its upper reaches in the southern p ...
people (also called Conestoga), located in present-day eastern Pennsylvania. He was adopted into the
Oneida people
The Oneida people (autonym: Onʌyoteˀa·ká·, Onyota'a:ka, ''the People of the Upright Stone, or standing stone'', ''Thwahrù·nęʼ'' in Tuscarora) are a Native American tribe and First Nations band. They are one of the five founding nat ...
, one of the Five Nations of the
Iroquois Confederacy
The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...
.
As an adult man, he was notable for his height, estimated to be 6'5," and was said to have a commanding presence. The Oneida elected him as a "Pine Tree Chief", in recognition of his leadership and contribution to the tribe. This position allowed him a place in the
Grand Council of 50 chiefs of the Confederacy, representing all the clans of all the nations. It was not hereditary, nor could Skenandoa name a successor.
["Pine Tree Chiefs"](_blank)
Haudenosaunee Confederacy, accessed 20 May 2014 The name referred to a man being recognized as a chief and rising up inside the tribe.
During the
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754†...
(also called the
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the ...
in the United States), Chief Skenandoa favored the British against the French and led the Oneida in their support in central New York. He was said to have saved German colonists in
German Flatts
German Flatts is a town in Herkimer County, New York, United States. The population was 13,258 at the 2010 census.
The town is in the southern part of Herkimer County, on the south side of the Mohawk River, across from the village of Herkimer. T ...
, in the Mohawk Valley, from a massacre.
During the next decades, he formed more alliances with the ethnic German and British colonists in central and western New York.
Samuel Kirkland
Samuel Kirkland (December 1, 1741 – February 28, 1808) was a Presbyterian minister and missionary among the Oneida and Tuscarora peoples of present-day central New York State. He was a long-time friend of the Oneida chief Skenandoa.
Kirkland g ...
, a Protestant
missionary
A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...
who went to the Iroquois country of western New York in 1764, encountered Chief Skenandoa there and mentioned him in letters. Kirkland returned to the area in 1766 and worked with the Oneida for the remainder of his life. After Kirkland persuaded the chief to become baptized, Skenandoa took the name "John". Many of the Oneida converted to Christianity in the decade before the
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
.
In part due to the friendship with Kirkland, Chief Skenandoa favored the patriot
colonials and led the Oneida to be their allies during the Revolutionary War. He led many Oneida to fight against the British and their Iroquois allies, who came from four nations of the Confederacy. Chief Skenandoa commanded 250 warriors from the Oneida and
Tuscarora tribe
The Tuscarora (in Tuscarora ''Skarù:ręˀ'', "hemp gatherers" or "Shirt-Wearing People") are a Native American tribe and First Nations band government of the Iroquoian family, with members today in New York, USA, and Ontario, Canada. They c ...
s.
In the 1800s New York Governor
Daniel D. Tompkins
Daniel D. Tompkins (June 21, 1774 – June 11, 1825) was an American politician. He was the fifth governor of New York from 1807 to 1817, and the sixth vice president of the United States from 1817 to 1825.
Born in Scarsdale, New York, Tompkins ...
gave him a silver pipe in recognition of his contributions. Today it is displayed at ''Shako:wi'', the
Oneida Nation
The Oneida Nation is a federally recognized tribe of Oneida people in Wisconsin. The tribe's reservation spans parts of two counties west of the Green Bay metropolitan area. The reservation was established by treaty in 1838, and was allotted to ...
museum at their reservation near Syracuse.
[Michael Nassar, "Five Native American Treasures Within Driving Distance"](_blank)
''New York Daily News'', 15 July 2008
Mohawk war leader
Joseph Brant
Thayendanegea or Joseph Brant (March 1743 – November 24, 1807) was a Mohawk people, Mohawk military and political leader, based in present-day New York (state), New York, who was closely associated with Kingdom of Great Britain, Great B ...
, who allied with the British during the revolution, had Skenandoa jailed at
Fort Niagara for a period in 1779 during the war when the Oneida chief was on a peace mission to the Iroquois. Brant hoped that the British could help contain colonial encroachment against the Iroquois.
After the war, Kirkland continued to minister to the Oneida. About 1791 he started planning a
seminary
A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...
, a boys' school to be open to Oneida as well as white young men of the area. In 1793 he received a charter from the state for the Hamilton Oneida Seminary, and in 1794 completed its first building, known as Oneida Hall.
By 1812, the seminary developed as the four-year institution known as
Hamilton College.
Skenandoa lived into great old age. Nearing the end of his life and having gone blind, the chief is recorded as having said:
After Skenandoah died in 1816 at well over a hundred years old, he was buried upon his request (and with the Kirkland family's approval) next to his friend Kirkland, who had died in 1808, on the grounds of Kirkland's home in
Clinton, New York.
Today the property is known as
Harding Farm
Harding Farm is a historic site west of the village of Clinton in Oneida County, New York, United States. It is located on New York State Route 233 (Harding Road) and is situated south of the junction of NY 233 and New York State Route 412 ...
. As a measure of the respect for the chief, the procession at his funeral in 1816 included students and officers from Hamilton College, the widow Mrs. Kirkland and other members of her family, and numerous town residents, in addition to his son and members of his family and nation.
[John Warner Barber, Henry Howe, ''Historical Collections of the State of New York''](_blank)
"Account of the Death of Skenandoa"], S. Tuttle, 1842, pp. 362-364, accessed 5 July 2011 In 1851, both bodies were reinterred in the cemetery of
Hamilton College, of which Kirkland was a co-founder.
Legacy and honors
The Oneida oral tradition tells that Chief Skenandoa provided critical food, sending corn to General
George Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...
and his men during their harsh winter at
Valley Forge in 1777–1778. Washington is said to have named the
Shenandoah River
The Shenandoah River is the principal tributary of the Potomac River, long with two forks approximately long each,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed August 15, 2011 in t ...
and valley in his honor, and subsequently numerous other places in the United States were named
Shenandoah. He is also referred to in the title and lyrics of the folk song "
Oh Shenandoah".
A monument to Skenandoa was erected by the Northern Missionary Society at the Hamilton College cemetery. Its inscription recognizes his leadership, friendship with Kirkland, and important contributions to the rebel colonists during the war.
In 2002 he was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Oneida County Historical Society.
"Polly Cooper"
Oneida Indian Nation
The Oneida performer-composer Joanne Shenandoah
Joanne Lynn Shenandoah (June 23, 1957November 22, 2021) was a Native American singer, composer, and multi-instrumentalist based in the United States. She was a citizen of the Oneida Indian Nation, Wolf clan, based in New York. Her music combine ...
(1957–2021) was a descendant of Chief Shenandoah.
References
{{authority control
Oneida people
1706 births
1816 deaths
18th-century Native Americans
Native American Christians
Native Americans in the American Revolution
Shenandoah River
Burials in New York (state)