Photo by ELIZABETH A. MUNDSCHENK Kandice Watson, director of Education Relations for the Onedia Indian Nation.

'We need to hang on to our culture'

By TOM LAMBERT
Observer-Dispatch

Kandice Watson wants her daughters to live the same "simple life" she did on the Oneida Nation Territory.

She also wants them to accept the outside world.

"They can succeed in both worlds," says Watson, who is three-eighths Oneida Indian, as well as English and Irish. "They don't have to choose one or the other."

By living on the reservation, Keira, 13, and Kayla, 11, learn the Oneida ceremonies and language that have been a part of life in the Mohawk Valley for many hundreds of years.

Teaching the children these traditions — along with a strong sense of family and a duty to protect the environment — helps them embrace their culture, Watson says.

Watson, 36, who has lived on the Oneida Indian reservation along Route 46 in Oneida for most of her life, says her children have more opportunities than when she was growing up.

The 10-year-old Turning Stone Casino has changed fortunes for the once-poor tribe.

"We have more financial resources now so our children have a gym, playground and a pool," she says.

Watson, who is director of education relations for the Oneida Nation, hopes people realize the Oneidas are not just part of the area's long history, but are contributing members of modern society.

"Sometimes there are stories out there that sound as if we are things of the past," she says. "We need to hang on to our own culture and own religion. It's important we remain an Indian population."