Onyota'a:ka, or the English derivative name, Oneida, are one of the founding 5 nations of the Haudenosaunee/Six Nations Confederacy in the Great Lakes area and upper state New York. Their name, “people of the standing stone”, comes from an ancient legend of being pursued on foot by an enemy tribe into a clearing where they suddenly disappeared. They were believed to have shapeshifted into the stones that stood there. 

Today, there are four federally recognized Oneida nations in North America. Oneida Nation allied with the British colonists during the American Revolutionary War (1775-83). In 1794, George Washington signed the Treaty of Canandaigua recognizing the Oneida Nation as a sovereign entity, granting them federal protection of 300,000 acres.  

By early 1900s, illegal state treaties depleted their homelands, to only 32 acres. Today, they have regained 18,000 acres of their original homelands - the most they have had sovereignty over since 1824. This economic upturn has allowed them to provide many programs and services to their members and reinvest in their enterprises and community to become an economic engine in the Central New York region, one of the largest employers in the state.  

Much like their ancestors, the Oneida people of today, maintain a deeply rooted connection to the land, their culture, and traditions. They are focused on reinvesting the nations revenues in initiatives to help guarantee a prosperous and sustainable future for its current members. Presently, the Oneida Nation resides on tribal land in Verona, Oneida, and Canastota, New York, on which it runs a wide variety of businesses. Many Oneida members also live at Six Nations of the Grand River territory, and on non-reserve land.