"Oneida Nation Homelands— Visitors to the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian are encouraged to begin their tour on the fourth floor, the level named for the Oneida Indian Nation. Featured on this top floor is a pause area and in it is the statue “Allies in War, Partners in Peace,” a bronze embodiment of the alliance and friendship forged between the Oneida Nation and the United States during the Revolutionary War.
The 19 ½ foot tall, 2,200 lb. statue created by Utah sculptor Edward Hlavka depicts Oneida Chief Oskanondohna and an Oneida woman, Polly Cooper, along with Gen.George Washington. The statue is a commemoration of the bonds between the Oneida Nation and the United States.
“We wanted a statue that would tell the story of how the Oneidas embraced the colonists’ cause of freedom, fighting beside their colonial friends and aiding them in their time of need,” said Keller George, Wolf Clan Representative to the Oneida Nation’s Men’s Council, and a member of the museum’s board of trustees. “We also wanted symbols of importance in our culture depicted, and I think the artist captured all these elements, telling our story as we have told it for generations.”
Oneidas fought alongside the colonists in key battles of the war, including Oriskany and Saratoga. The alliance was further cemented when Oneida leader Han Yerry and a group of Oneidas walked from their home in Central New York to Valley Forge, a journey of more than 400 miles, during the winter of 1777-78, carrying life-saving corn to feed the starving soldiers. With them traveled Polly Cooper, who taught the soldiers how to prepare the corn.
During the Revolutionary War, Gen. George Washington asserted that “[t]he Oneidas have manifested the strongest attachment to us throughout the dispute.”
As depicted, Washington is holding a wampum belt, which symbolizes an agreement between the U.S. and the Oneida Nation, and acknowledges that neither will interfere in the internal affairs of the other.
A white pine tree in the background looms high above the three figures. The white pine bears significance to the Oneida Nation and the other nations of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy. The Peacemaker united the warring Indian nations with his message of the Great Law of Peace, unearthing the white pine tree and burying the weapons of war beneath its roots. A hatchet is buried under the tree in the sculpture, signifying this event.
High atop the branches of the formidable pine is an eagle, ready to warn the nations of approaching danger. Five bound arrows, symbolizing the union of the nations of the confederacy, are shown in the base at the back of the work. Also in the tree is a rock, which was used by the Oneidas to mark boundary lines.
Several icons of the Oneida Nation are also embedded in the statue. The turtle, wolf and bear have prominent places in the statue as they represent the three clans of the Oneida Nation.
The Three Sisters -- the sustainers of life -- corn, beans and squash are also represented in the intricately detailed work.
In the back of the statue a little girl is rendered clutching a no-face doll. The child represents the seventh generation to come – the future. The no-face doll’s story is an allegory told by Oneidas to teach children about the foibles of vanity." (
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