Oriskany

Variant name of place

Oriskene; Oriska

Geographic position

43.1567° N, 75.3317° W

Sources

Bilharz, Joy. "Oriskany: A Place of Great Sadness." Fort Stanwix National Monument. http://www.nps.gov/fost/historyculture/upload/oriskany_report.pdf. Accessed 11/17/14. Glatthaar, Joseph. Forgotten Allies: The Oneida Indians and the American Revolution. New York: Hill and Wang (2007). "History of the Village of Oriskany." Village of Oriskany. http://villageoforiskany.org/content/History. Accessed 11/17/14. Munsell, J. Proceedings of the Commisioners of Indian Affairs. New York State, 1861. Reynolds, Nicolas. "The Oneida Carrying Place." Oneida Nation. http://www.oneidanation.org/uploadedFiles/Departments/Cultural_Heritage/Sub_Pages/09.08.31%20Oneida%20Carrying%20Place.pdf. Accessed 11/17/14. Geo coordinates at https://www.google.com/#q=geographic+coordinates+of+oriskany+ny.

General note

Oriskany was an Oneida village in northern New York, located at the junction of the Mohawk River and the Oriskany Creek. Its name is derived from "oriska," the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) name for nettles. Oriskany developed on the Oneida Carry, an Indian trading route that ran from the Mohawk River to Wood Creek, part of a larger system of Indian trails that led from the Atlantic to the Great Lakes. The English constructed Fort Stanwix in 1758 to protect the Oneida Carry from the French, and a few years later, the village of Oriskany appeared. Its residents benefited from the constant influx of traders who traveled along the Oneida Carry. Samuel Kirkland visited Oriskany during his extended time as a missionary among the Oneidas. In 1777, Oriskany was the site of a major Revolutionary War battle. English forces, primarily composed of an army of Senecas and Mohawks led by Joseph Brant, tried to invade New York by way of Oriskany. An army of patriots and Oneidas unsuccessfully engaged them at Fort Stanwix. After what became known as the Battle of Oriskany, Mohawks burned the village. The battle widened the existing divide between different Haudenosaunee tribes. As a result, Oriskany is often known as "A Place of Great Sadness" in Haudenosaunee oral histories. Oriskany was reestablished in 1784 by wealthy Americans as a base for trade with the Oneidas, even though the Oneidas disputed American claims to the village. It has since developed into the present-day village of Oriskany in New York's Oneida County.