Oneida Nation Theater
Meet the Figures
"This is the best museum I've ever been to. I almost cried when my son, who is Native American, was in the gallery and went to touch the figures that look like him. We spent a lot of time in that room." - Ruth, Visitor
Meet people of the Oneida Nation in the midst of a debate about how they will engage in the Revolutionary War. The Oneida would ultimately chose to break with all other tribes of the Six Nations Confederacy and join the United States against the British. A film and six life-cast figures, including Two Kettles Together (Tyonajanegen), Han Yerry (Han Yerry Tweahangarahken or Han Yerry Doxtader), Skenandoah (Johannus Skenandoah), Wale (Mary Hanonwayele), Grasshopper (Cornelius Ojistalak), and Paul Powless (Tegahsweangalolis), bring the discussion to life at the Museum of the American Revolution's Oneida Nation Theater.
Each of the figures is based on a real Oneida person and dressed in garments representative of what these people wore in the 1770s, combining Native fashion and Euro-American textiles and trade goods. Their words are drawn from a variety of sources and written in the style apparent in recorded Native American speeches, treaty negotiations, and conversations.
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Meet the Oneida
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Related Resources
People of the Standing Stone
Purchase the Museum documentary, which explores the contributions of Native American people to American independence, from the Museum Shop.
Forgotten Allies
Read an excerpt from Joseph T. Glathaar and James Kirby Martin’s book, Forgotten Allies: The Oneida Indians and the American Revolution.
The Divided Ground
Read an excerpt from Alan Taylor's book, The Divided Ground: Indians, Settlers, and the Northern Borderland of the American Revolution.