(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Indians 101: Minnie Kellogg, Oneida activist [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-12-21 During the first part of the twentieth century there were several American Indians who rose to public prominence through their speaking, writing, and actions for American Indian rights. One of these was an Oneida Indian woman, Minnie Kellogg. She was known as a powerful orator and an activist for Indian rights, particularly Oneida and Iroquois land claims, and for women’s rights. Background: The Oneida Indians The Oneidas were one of the original five tribes of the Iroquois Confederacy (also known as the League of Five Nations). The Oneida aboriginal territory in what is now New York state lay between two other members of the Iroquois Confederacy: the Mohawks to the west and the Onondagas to the east. While the Oneidas had lived and farmed in New York for thousands of years, and had been American allies in the Revolutionary War, unscrupulous American investors, motived by the American value of greed, sought to obtain their land. Many people felt that the United States should not have any Indians; that Indians were in the way of American progress and Manifest Destiny; and, therefore, the Oneidas should be removed from their homelands. In 1767, the seeds of division were planted among the Oneida with the establishment of a Presbyterian mission among the Oneida by Samuel Kirkland. He placed a great deal of emphasis on determinism, stern self-discipline, repentance, regeneration, and baptism. Kirkland attacked the traditional tribal political structure and weakened the position of the traditional chiefs. The chiefs opposed the new religion while the warriors saw it as a way of challenging the authority of the chiefs. Oneida society split into two factions: one Christian (known as the Christian Party) and one which supported the traditional religion and political structure (known as the Pagan Party). In 1830, the United States passed the Indian Removal Act in which Indians were to be removed from their homelands and settled in the western plains. The Act passed 28 to 19 in the Senate and 102 to 97 in the House. The rationale for removal, rather than “civilizing” Indian people in their homelands, was explained in one letter to an agent: “An Almighty hand has stamped upon every creature a particular genius, propensity, and leading traits of character. The polish of education may improve, but cannot change, for the imperishable seal is there; bars and dungeons, penitentiaries, and death itself, have been found insufficient, even in civilized society, to restrain man from crime, and constrain him to the necessity of moral and virtuous action. How then are we to look for, or expect it, in a community made up of savage and illiterate people?” By 1831, many Oneidas had moved to Wisconsin where they purchased lands from the Menominees. In his chapter on the Oneida in the Handbook of North American Indians: Volume 15: Northeast, Jack Campisi describes life among the Wisconsin Oneidas this way: “Neighbors aided each other in clearing fields, planting, harvesting, constructing and repairing buildings and roads, as well as with other activities common in farming communities.” The United States, however, brought pressure for the Oneidas to be removed once again. Oneida leader Daniel Bread addressed the Oneida Council and the territorial governor, outlining the broken promises made by federal, state, and territorial officials as well as by the missionary societies. He said: “We have just settled in this country; have hardly laid down the packs from our shoulders and recovered from the fatigue of our journey here, when you wish us again to remove. It is discouraging.” The Oneida Reservation in Wisconsin was broken up by the 1887 General Allotment Act and the formal tribal government ceased to function. By the first part of the twentieth century, the Wisconsin Oneidas had lost most of their land. Minnie Kellogg Minnie Kellog was born in 1880 in a Wisconsin Oneida community. She was the daughter of Adam Poe Cornelius and Celicia Bread Cornelius, and is related to Chief Daniel Bread. In his biographical sketch of Minnie Kellogg in the Encyclopedia of North American Indians, Laurence Hauptman writes: “One of the best Indian linguists of her generation, Kellogg had a superior command of Oneida and Mohawk as well as English. But she gained national attention through her spellbinding oratory and her eloquent writing skills. As a public speaker, she told of the eighteenth-century League of the Iroquois, the lessons and wisdom of Indian elders, and the overriding concerns of the Iroquois to win back their lands, which she insisted had been taken fraudulently by New York State and by land speculators.” In addition to writing about American Indian political issues and women’s rights, Minnie Kellogg also wrote plays and short stories. She was educated at Grafton Hall, an Episcopal boarding school at Fond du Lac. Grafton Hall was largely for non-Indians. At Grafton Hall, she received a classical education and graduated with honors in 1898. Her graduation essay, “The Romans of America,” compared the Iroquois Confederacy and the ancient Roman Empire. She also studied at Barnard College, Cornell University, New York School of Philanthropy, Stanford University, and University of Wisconsin. However, she never received a degree. In 1911, Minnie Kellogg spoke at the first conference of the newly formed Society of American Indians. Laurence Hauptman writes: “Kellogg differed from the majority of her colleagues in the Society of American Indians, however, in her vehement opposition to the economic and educational policies of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.” She envisioned communal cooperation as the basis of economic development on the reservation. By contributing their labor to community development, Indians could capitalize their labor and bypass the need for outside money. She said: “I cannot see that everything the white man does is to be copied.” In her biographical sketch of Minnie Kellogg in Native American Women: A Biographical Dictionary, Gretchen Harvey reports: “In her address she asked the Society’s leadership for a commitment to Indian self-sufficiency and independence, goals she believed were attainable by instituting plans for self-sustaining economic development on Indian reservations. While her message did not prove overwhelmingly popular among national Indian leaders, Kellogg did find a supportive constituency among the Iroquois.” In 1912, she married Orrin Joseph Kellogg, a non-Indian attorney. Laurence Hauptman writes: “Kellogg and her husband spent much of the time before, during, and after World War I organizing a massive Iroquois land-claims suit. For this legal effort, they made exorbitant promises and collected funds from poor Indians in Iroquois communities throughout the United States and Canada. Their collection methods led to their arrests in Oklahoma (1913) and Montreal (1925), although they were never convicted of fraud.” By 1913, she was no longer listed as a member of the Society of American Indians: her marriage to a non-Indian and her political activism alienated many Indian leaders, particularly those employed in the Indian Service. In 1920, her book Our Democracy and the American Indian as published by the Syracuse University Press as a part of their series The Iroquois and Their Neighbors. She viewed a sound economic foundation as the basis for tribal sovereignty and suggested that traditional tribal collectives were important. She also drew inspiration from the Mormon economic model, particularly the cooperative store, as mechanisms for community development and survival. In her book, Kellogg criticized the Indian Service (today known as the Bureau of Indian Affairs). She felt that the Indian Service fostered dependence by encouraging Indian poverty, and destroyed Indian independence by removing traditional leadership through appointing tribal councils. Indian boarding schools, she claimed, destroyed Indian individuality, exploited student labor, and produced Indians who were subservient. In 1922, the Everett Commission (led by Edward A. Everett), established by the New York State Legislature to investigate the Indian situation in the state, reported that Indians in New York still had title to six million acres of State land. The Indians were illegally dispossessed of their title after the Treaty of Fort Sanwix in 1784. The report was not accepted by the Legislature. Inspired by the Everett Commission report, Kellogg and her husband collected money with the intention of using it for Iroquois land claims. However, the money was not used for its intended purpose and, consequently, her reputation was damaged. Laurence Hauptman writes: “Acknowledged as a pioneer of the land-claims movement and as a determined advocate of Indian education and economic development, Kellogg nevertheless has been accused by many Indian elders of fomenting divisions within the Iroquois communities and of swindling Indians out of hundreds of thousands of dollars in her abortive efforts to litigate their land claims.” She was unable to restore her reputation and died in poverty and obscurity in New York City sometime in the late 1940s. Gretchen Harvey reports: “Minnie Kellogg’s special genius as a leader of the Oneida land claim struggle included her use of traditional Iroquois images and institutions to solve modern problems. The strategies she developed have influenced all subsequent twentieth century campaigns to reclaim Iroquois lands.” More American Indian biographies Indians 101: Gertrude Simmons Bonnin, Writer, Musician, and Activist Indians 101: Susette La Flesche, Indian Activist Indians 101: Ilchee, a Powerful Chinook Woman Indians 101: Sacagawea (Sacajawea) Indians 201: Dr. Susan LaFlesche, Omaha Physician Indians 201: Natawista, a Trader's Wife Indians 201: Mourning Dove, first American Indian woman novelist Indians 201: Mary Musgrove Bosomworth, Creek translator, leader [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/12/21/2212412/-Indians-101-Minnie-Kellogg-Oneida-activist?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/