Native Allies of the Revolution – How the Oneida Nation Saved George Washington’s Starving Army

When the Revolutionary War broke out, it created a devastating civil war within the ancient, powerful Iroquois Confederacy in New York. For centuries, the Six Nations had maintained an unbroken peace pact. But the American Revolution fractured that union.

The Mohawk, Seneca, Onondaga, and Cayuga nations chose to ally with the British, believing the Crown would stop colonial expansion into their territories. However, the Oneida Nation, heavily influenced by an American missionary named Samuel Kirkland, made the incredibly brave, dangerous choice to officially ally with the struggling American rebels. Their scouts became George Washington’s most reliable eyes and ears in the wilderness.

During the legendary, brutal winter of 1778 at Valley Forge, George Washington’s army was literally starving to death. Supply lines were completely non-existent, and men were dying by the hundreds from malnutrition.

Hearing of their desperate plight, Oneida Chief Skenandoa organized a massive relief mission. A large group of Oneida people packed up hundreds of bushels of white corn and carried it on their backs, trekking hundreds of miles through freezing snow and rough wilderness directly into the Valley Forge encampment.

They didn’t just drop off the food; they stayed to teach the clueless colonial soldiers how to properly cook and ferment the specialized corn so it would be digestible and safe to eat, instantly saving thousands of American lives.

Among the Oneida people who traveled to Valley Forge was a remarkable woman named Polly Cooper.

She volunteered to stay at the military camp for months, serving as a dedicated cook and medical nurse for the sickest American soldiers, absolutely refusing to accept a single penny of financial payment for her tireless labor, stating that it was her duty to help friends in need.

To show their immense gratitude, the wives of the American officers, led by Martha Washington, took Polly Cooper into the city and gifted her a beautiful, elegant black shawl. That shawl has been carefully preserved by Polly’s descendants for over two centuries as a sacred symbol of alliance.

The Oneida Nation paid an incredibly heavy price for their loyalty to America.

In retaliation for their alliance with Washington, British-aligned Native forces attacked and burned down the primary Oneida villages, leaving their families refugees. In recognition of their immense sacrifice, George Washington wrote an explicit letter promising that the United States would protect the Oneida people forever.

While future American treaties unfortunately broke many of those promises, the Oneida’s legacy as founding partners of our freedom remains unshakeable as we celebrate our 250th birthday this July. Tomorrow, we finish with the high-stakes diplomacy that finally ended the war: the Treaty of Paris.