Cornelius Hill

Cornelius Hill
The Rev. Cornelius Hill
Born	(1834-11-13)November 13, 1834
Died	January 25, 1907(1907-01-25) (aged 72) Oneida, Wisconsin

Cornelius Hill (November 13, 1834 – January 25, 1907) or Onangwatgo (“Big Medicine”) was the last hereditary chief of the Oneida Nation, and fought to preserve his people's lands and rights under various treaties with the United States government. A lifelong Episcopalian, he was ordained a priest of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America at age 69, and ministered to his people until shortly before his death.

The Oneida, one of the five founding tribes of the Iroquois Confederacy, had aligned with the Americans during the American Revolutionary War, but when faced with pressure from white settlers who often mistook them for members of hostile tribes, had begun negotiating with the Ho-Chunk and Menominee tribes and moving to Wisconsin around 1821. Many members had become Christians under missionaries sent by the Episcopal and Methodist Churches to both New York and Wisconsin. In 1825, tribal members built a log church near the Fox River and an important portage on their new lands about 10 miles southwest of Green Bay, Wisconsin, which they called the Hobart Chapel after its consecrating bishop, John Henry Hobart of New York.