Life Story: Polly Cooper (Oneida) (dates unknown)

Very little is known about the early life of Polly Cooper. Historians know that she was an Oneida woman who grew up in the area known today as central New York. The Oneida were one of the six Indigenous communities that made up the larger Haudenosaunee Confederacy. Polly grew up in a world that was constantly changing. Throughout her childhood, the Oneida and other Haudenosaunee nations were engaged in ongoing negotiations with the British colonial government and white settlers who were encroaching on their ancestral lands. 

When the Revolutionary War broke out in 1775 the Haudenosaunee were divided over how to respond. Some of the confederacy, like the Mohawk, chose to side with the British because they did not believe the Americans would respect their lands after the war. Some did not have a unified response, with individual members choosing the side they supported. The Oneida tried to stay neutral. At the outbreak of the war they sent a message to the governor of New York stating that they did not intend to fight for either side. But as the war spread, the pressure to choose a side and join the fighting became too great. In August 1777 the British undertook a campaign to capture central New York. They called on their Mohawk allies for support. Some Oneida warriors took up arms to stop their advance on Fort Stanwix. They may have been motivated by many years of land disputes in the region. The British and Mohawk responded by destroying the Oneida village Oriska in September 1777. This infuriated the larger Oneida community, who committed to fighting for the Americans for the rest of the conflict.

In the fall of 1777 General George Washington’s troops were wintering at Valley Forge in Pennsylvania and he was desperate for scouts who could keep watch over the surrounding area. He sent the Marquis de Lafayette to recruit 200 Oneida warriors in central New York. The Oneida could not send all of the warriors Washington desired. They did not want to leave their own lands undefended. But forty-seven warriors volunteered to follow Lafayette south to support the Americans. They also packed sixty to seventy bushels of corn donated by the larger community. 

When the Oneida warriors left New York on foot on April 25, 1778, Polly went with them. There are no records that indicate why she chose to make this difficult journey. When Polly and the warriors arrived at Valley Forge on May 15 the Continental Army was in a bad state. The winter had been particularly harsh, and supply lines had broken down after the British captured Philadelphia. Washington did not have enough food to feed his army of 12,000, and historians estimate that more than 2,000 soldiers died of starvation over the winter. When the soldiers saw the bushels of corn the Oneida brought with them, they were so hungry they tried to eat them raw.

But Polly was a skilled cook and healer, and she intervened before the troops made themselves sick. She advised the soldiers to be patient and then taught them how to properly prepare and cook the corn so that it had the most nutritional value. She probably prepared a variety of meals using the corn, like bread, mush, and soup. She likely gathered local ingredients to enhance the taste and nutritional impact of her meals. The results not only satisfied the soldiers’ hunger, they also boosted their morale. 

Polly also treated sick and wounded soldiers, sharing some of the traditional knowledge used by Oneida healers. Her contributions did not go unrecognized. The army offered to pay her for her services, but Polly refused. It may be that she saw the work she was doing for the Americans as an extension of the work she did for her community at home. Instead, the army bought Polly a shawl and bonnet she had seen and admired in a nearby town.

While Polly was caring for the soldiers, the Oneida warriors she traveled with had their first taste of battle. Led by Lafayette, they took a stand against some British soldiers at a place called Barren Hill. A warrior named Thomas Sinavis was killed and two others were captured. After the battle at Barren Hill, General Washington concluded that this was not the best use of his Oneida allies. He preferred that they return to Central New York and continue to protect their homelands and American settlers in the region from British and Mohawk aggressions. In mid-June, thirty-four Oneida warriors set off for home. Polly likely joined them, because she is not mentioned in the records again.

The Oneida excursion was short, but it had a large impact for both the Americans and the Oneida. The Oneida confirmed their support of the Patriot cause, which continued through the end of the war, and Polly provided critical services at a time of real need. The shawl Polly received for her contributions was carefully preserved by her descendants. Today it is a revered symbol of the Oneida Nation’s support of the American Revolution.   

In 2004 the Oneida Indian Nation donated a statue of Polly standing alongside Washington and Oneida Chief Oskanandonha to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian to commemorate her contribution and the alliance between the Oneida Indian Nation and the United States.  

• Continental Army: The army formed by the Second Continental Congress and led by General George Washington.
• Haudenosaunee: Haudenosaunee, also known as the Iroquois Confederacy or Six Nations, refers to an alliance of Indigenous communities traditionally located in the northeastern region of North America, primarily in present-day New York State. There were five communities in the original Haudenosaunee alliance: Mohawk, Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga, and Seneca. The Tuscarora joined the alliance in 1722.
• Mohawk: The easternmost nation of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy (also known as the Iroquois Confederacy). The Mohawk historically lived in the northeastern United States and southern Canada, particularly in the Mohawk River valley and St. Lawrence region. Today, there are Mohawk communities in northern New York State and southeastern Canada.
• Patriot: A person who supported the American rebellion during the American Revolution.
• Oneida: One of the six founding nations of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. They are known as “People of the Standing Stone” and historically lived in what is today known as upstate New York, in the areas called Oneida Lake and Oneida County. Today, there are large Oneida communities in New York State, Wisconsin, and Canada.
• oral tradition: The process of transmitting cultural knowledge, stories, and beliefs through spoken word across generations.

• Pair this life story with Life Story: Nanyehi Nancy Ward and Life Story: Molly Brant to consider how Indigenous women participated in the American Revolution.
• To learn more about how the Haudenosaunee were impacted by the American Revolution, see Madam Sacho and Sullivan’s Army.
• For a broader discussion of women’s service during the revolutionary war effort, pair this life story with Life Story: Margaret Corbin, Life Story: Lorenda Holmes, and Life Story: Margaret “Peggy” Shippen Arnold.

POWER AND POLITICS