Contesting Knowledge: Museums and Indigenous Perspectives

9. Tsi?niyukwaliho?ta, the Oneida Nation Museum: Creating a Space for Haudenosaunee Kinship and Identity

257 9 Tsi niyukwaliho t , the Oneida Nation Museum Creating a Space for Haudenosaunee Kinship and Identity kristina ackley Visitors driving to Tsi¥niyukwaliho¥Λ (“This is our way”), the Oneida Nation Museum (onm) in Oneida, Wisconsin, will notice several things as they approach.1 The onm is located just downhill from a tribal seniorhousing facility and from a row of low, vacant buildings that used to house the former Oneida Health Care Center. Turning into the driveway, a pink neon Open sign is visible just above the onm front door, somewhat incongruous with the otherwise-understated wood building that is surrounded by trees. A small garden is well tended in the back of the museum, and at the end of the parking area there is a marked trail that leads into a wooded area. Probably most striking about the setting of the onm is the longhouse (see fig. 13), about ten feet wide by sixteen feet long, just in front of the main entrance. The longhouse replica, made of a wood frame and wood shingles, has occupied different places on the museum site throughout the years. In its current placement, visitors to the onm cannot help but pass by the longhouse. The longhouse replica (Kanúses néka¥ikΛ) immediately marks the space as Oneida. It conveys a multifaceted meaning of both place and a belief system. The Wisconsin Oneidas are a distinct people and consider themselves a nation. However, they also participate in a shared cultural system that is based on the teachings of the Peacemaker and Handsome Lake, and they recognize a spiritual kinship with other Haudenosaunee people (also known as the Iroquois Confederacy, or Six Nations). The ceremonies of the longhouse are the outward and public expression of a liv- 258 ackley ing spirituality. The longhouse permeates every aspect of life, proscribes ethics, and helps one deal with hardships; it has been called, “the highest form of political consciousness.”2 Longhouse spirituality reinforces the social life of the community and distinguishes its participants from others . While the replica outside the onm is not used for ceremonies, it is still associated with the belief system and is used by onm staff and the community for a variety of functions. The longhouse and the onm represent tsi¥niyukwaliho¥tΛ or “the ways” of the people for Oneida and Haudenosaunee people. It is part of ka¥nikuli.yó (“the Good Mind”), which has been described as a process toward balance, harmony, and peace. Ka¥nikuli.yó is not a state of being or the ultimate goal, but a discipline toward peace.3 It requires continual reflection and work. The ka¥nikuli.yó provides a way in which to mediate dissension in a framework of cultural resilience and nation building. When the Wisconsin Oneidas refer to the longhouse, they mean not only the physical structure but also a way of life and much of what encompasses tsi¥niyukwaliho¥tΛ. Additionally, it is shorthand that refers to the people who take part in the ceremonies. Inside the onm there is also a smaller structure that is meant to resem13 . The longhouse (Kanúses néka¥ikΛ) located just outside the Oneida Nation Museum . Photo courtesy Linda Torres. Tsi¥niyukwaliho¥tΛ 259 ble the longhouse, in the hands-on area, where visitors are encouraged to view and handle items such as lacrosse sticks, pottery, clothing, and rattles. The longhouse connotes security—it is a shelter, after all. If the replica outside the onm seems exposed to the elements, it also gives the impression of having protection from them. It seems simultaneously of the surroundings as well as existing separately from them. Inside the structure are low benches, fire pits, and smoke holes. It is a simulation, not nearly as large as the current community longhouse at Oneida, Wisconsin, but rather a model that is meant to evoke the sentiment of tsi¥niyukwaliho¥tΛ. Because it is necessary to rebuild the structure every seven years or so, it also seems a transitory yet enduring sign of Oneida culture and history. It is important to view the longhouse replica in terms of the overall history of the Wisconsin Oneidas. Assimilation policies and removal from their Aboriginal territory resulted in the absence of a community longhouse in Wisconsin for nearly a century (though personal rituals and some smaller ceremonies remained). However, the longhouse outside the onm does not signify a memorial to its absence...