Shenandoah–Kirkland Initiative maintains ties with Oneida Nation

This past weekend, a group of students celebrated the relation between the Oneida Indian Nation and Hamilton College by traveling to the reservation a mere 20 minutes off campus.

Meeting Tuesdays at 8 p.m., the organization hopes to rekindle the relationship with the Oneida Nation, which began in 1793 with the founding of the college, and to expand the awareness of this relationship amongst students.

Samuel Kirkland, a missionary to the Oneida Indian Nation, founded the college, originally the Hamilton-Oneida Academy, for the children of the Oneida Nation, and white settlers that were arriving upstate from New England.

However, the college did not ultimately fufill Kirkland’s goal of helping Oneidas, instead ending up as a predominantly white school. In 1812, after Kirkland’s death, the Hamilton-Oneida Academy was chartered as Hamilton College and the relation with the Oneida Nation was no longer on the forefront of the college’s goals.

The Shenandoah-Kirkland Initiative was established last fall by Christina Florakis ’19 and Lily Pieper ’18 in hopes of revitalizing this relation.

Florakis first learned of the founding story in a Native American Spiritualities course, during which Kandice Watson, the Director of Education & Cultural Outreach for the Oneida Nation, came as a guest speaker and spoke of the land given to Kirkland by Shenandoah, and the initial purpose of the school as laid out by Kirkland and Shenandoah.

“This history is barely known and once I heard about it I knew that something simply had to be done,” said Florakis. Pieper had learned of the history through Oneida’s Cultural Center, and they both have recognized the importance of connecting with the neighboring Oneida community.

Since the group’s creation last fall, they, along with three other current board members, have hosted a dinner for both communities, gone to several Oneida social dances, taught Hamilton students about Native American history and invited language specialist and leader in the Oneida Nation’s community, Sheri Beglan, to speak at the 2017 Baccalaureate Ceremony.

Adding a trip to Canada to the list of the group’s activities, they hope to further develop this relation between the Nation and Hamilton.

With the organization still in relative infancy, they hope to expand it to not only advertise and involve Hamilton students in various activities, but help Oneidas with additional services.

The group has made it very easy to become involved, hosting events both on and off campus.