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Childcare in Oneida and Dutch Communities

Two objects symbolize the double duty of mothers in the early colonial period.

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Childcare in the New World
A flat wooden cradleboard with a supportive footrest and a protective upper frame shade cover, used by Oneida women as a baby carrier.
Cradleboard—Oneida, Iroquois

Oneida, Iroquois, Cradleboard, n.d. Division of Anthropology, American Museum of Natural History.

A 19th century drawing by Baroness Hyde de Neuville of an Oneida family; two women with loaded cradleboards, another child on foot, and a male hunter.
Oneida Family

Baroness Anne-Marguerite-Henriette Hyde de Neuville, Oneida Family, 1807. New-York Historical Society.

A 18th century wooden, Dutch baby walker (“loopwagen”) featuring a circular center, four ornately carved spindles mounted on a square- framed base, supported by short legs, and connected wheels.
Baby walker

Unidentified Maker, Baby walker, 1700-1750. New-York Historical Society, purchased from Elie Nadelman.