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Oneida of Wisconsin (U.S.)

Native American

image by Donald Healy, 21 January 2008

The band
The flag
Previous flag

See also:

The Band

map image by Peter Orenski based on input from Don Healy

Oneida of Wisconsin - Wisconsin

Following the Revolutionary War, many Oneida in upper New York State sold their lands. In 1838 a group of these Oneida bought land from the Menominee in what is now northern Wisconsin (ENAT, 169). The Oneida of Wisconsin are today the largest concentration of Oneida in the United States.

The Flag

A new flag was adopted in 2017 showing a central seal-like device with an evergreen tree, a wolf, a bear and an eagle, overlain by a purple wampum belt.
Ben Cahoon, 31 May 2020

Previous Flag

image by Donald Healy, 21 January 2008

The Wisconsin Oneida share the symbols utilized by the eastern branch of the Tribe in New York [see Oneida]. Both employ the great tree, the wolf, the eagle, the bear, and the wampum belt as symbols in their tribal seals. The seal of the Wisconsin Oneida features the great tree standing atop the "turtle island" representing the earth. From either side of the tree appear the bust of a wolf and the head of a bear, the two clan totems of the Oneida people. The inner circle, a green line, forms the outline of an eagle's head at the top, above the tree. The eagle, an important creature in Native American beliefs, serves as the contact between the Great Spirit and man. Below the turtle stretches the wampum belt of the Iroquois League [see Iroquois Confederacy].

On the white background of the flag, the seal appears in green outline with a brown wolf and bear head. The wampum belt is depicted in purple, the natural color of the quahog shells that composed it. The Oneida of New York and the Oneida of Wisconsin demonstrate their common ancestry through the unity of their emblems, despite the 1,000 miles that separate them.

© Donald Healy 2008
information provided by Peter Orenski, 21 January 2008