Oneida Nation Celebration
July 9, 2026
To celebrate the 250th anniversary of American independence, the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C., will hold a day of educational sessions on July 22 highlighting the Oneida people of central New York—the only tribal nation to stand alongside colonists in their fight for freedom during the Revolutionary War.
The Oneida Nation believes in the right of all people to sovereignty and self-determination. Polly Cooper, one of many Oneidas who played a central role in this legacy, traveled with a band of her tribe hundreds of miles from their Upstate New York homelands to bring essential food and supplies to General George Washington and his starving troops at Valley Forge. Cooper is featured on the U.S. Mint’s 2026 Native American dollar.
From The Reading Room