The Oneida Tribe are members of the League of the Iroquois, a confederacy of the Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, and Mohawk based on mutual non-aggression. At a later date, the Tuscarora joined the Confederacy. The Oneida’s traditional territory is in upstate New York. The Oneida refer to themselves as Oneyoteaka, "People of the Standing Stone." According to Oneida traditions, there was always a large, red boulder near the main Oneida village.
The Chilkat is a Tlingit band that lives in southeastern Alaska. Their blankets, woven from mountain goat wool and cedar bark, are five-sided, heavily fringed, and display stylized animal figure designs. During important ceremonies, the blankets are worn as capes. The Chilkat blanket weaving tradition originated with the Tsimshian people who live south of the Chilkat, but the tradition spread to them through trade and marriage. The Chilkat refined this blanket weaving style to its highest level in the late 19th century but largely died out about 100 years ago; the traditional form is continued by only a few weavers. Dr. H. M. Brown of Milwaukee received this blanket as payment by an American Indian father for treating his daughter. It was donated to the Museum in 1929 by Dr. Brown's wife.
Paintings from the 19th century Plains tribes serve as narratives of important historical events. This piece was made at Standing Rock Agency (now Reservation) in North Dakota. Painted on a large sheet of muslin, 19 male figures and 15 horses are complemented by an additional 35 horse heads in the lower left-hand corner. Each individual figure appears to float on the surface of the muslin, as there is no evidence of a horizon. The scene represents the heroic deeds of the members of a Sioux group known as Gall's Band, one of the last American Indian bands to surrender to the US army, as they waged hand-to-hand combat with a group of Crow warriors.
They are also one of the few tribes to have made treaties with an individual state -- in this case, New York.
There were both games of dexterity and games of chance, and betting was also customary. In addition, there were games for children. Later, modern cards and card games were adopted from Whites. Games were played by men, by women, and by the children, but only rarely did the two sexes, as adults, play together.
