Mapping Oquaga: Reconstructing the Socio-Political Landscape of an 18th Century Oneida and Refugee Communit

Abstract.;By the end of the 18th century, the Haudenosaunee had been working and living with multiple European groups for over 250 years. Though they were adept at political negotiation, they were losing their ability to negotiate as an equal power or nation with Europeans and Euro-Americans. The Oneida Nation was an important negotiating unit in the Haudenosaunee Confederacy during this power struggle. The village of Oquaga was on the very southern fringes of Iroquois territory and thus a key town in the borderlands and frontier. Oquaga was a firmly established Oneida town, but served as a refugee site for numerous Native groups including the Tuscarora, which symbiotically kept the rest of the Oneida communities further north safer within a buffer of refugee settlements. There are numerous primary source documents associated with Oquaga; these sources were analyzed to reconstruct the socio-political and physical landscape of late 18th century Oquaga. The content of each source was considered for what they relate about social and political relationships among Native and non-Native groups. The primary sources were coded using geographical and other place and people-related tags. These attributes were entered into a Microsoft Excel database. As the attributes were entered into the database for each source, there were several similar themes in both the text and subtext observed between sources; after the attributes were sorted bundles of attributes became apparent (such as numerous mentions of an orchard, a specific house, a specific satellite village, the river, etc.). Those areas mentioned the most were then mapped in a GIS layer for each source, and then layered onto a contemporary map creating a resource for further archaeological research at Oquaga. The resulting map lays out where many of the Oquagan satellite villages were probably located, plus the location of additional potential features such the blockhouse and planting grounds. Furthermore through that Oquaga used to be nestled within.