May 2022: papercut work from Nibiiwakamigkwe – Collateral Damage Projecthttps://www.collateraldamageproject.com/Artists-Galleries/Nibiiwakamigkwe/I, and all my matrilineal ancestors before me, sit in the…bear clan of the...Oneida Nation, part of the Haudenosaunee//Iroquois Confederacy. Our role has always been that of medicine carriers and protectors of the people. Traditional Haudenosaunee tattooing practices carry medicine both physically and spiritually, and our connections to place, community, and our own identities are held within these lines.
In creating...a resting place, it was important that the piece exist on both sides of pre- and post-contact. Haudenosaunee chest tattoos depict the land the wearer comes from. After the suicide of several of my cousins, this design does not currently have a young male family member to carry it. But, this piece can still be worn as a yoke over the chest; emblematic of contemporary Oneida regalia, but only composed from pre-contact materials. It is a reminder to keep our hearts wrapped in leather for protection, and remember where we come from.
As someone with c-PTSD, descended from Native ancestors with similar trauma, these pieces combined acknowledge permanence and impermanence of mental states across families and culture.
To summarize, KL claims:- Their Bear Clan Oneida grandmother is Kateri Johnson.
- Kateri Johnson had lace made by her mother, Theresia Hill, in her sewing box.
- Kateri Johnson taught KL how to bead, quill, sew, tuft, weave and the importance of them.
- Their Bear Clan Oneida great grandmother is Theresia Hill.
- Theresia Hill was born in upstate New York.
- Theresia Hill learned lace making at what “she described as a girls Catholic finishing school” and made lace for 50 years. She
taught her daughters to make lace.
- Theresia Hill had 10 children.
- KL's Oneida ancestors lived in New York until “about the Great Depression” when they moved to Wisconsin to farm.
- KL's family has a Haudenosaunee chest tattoo design that does not currently have a young male family member to carry it after the
suicide of several of KL’s male cousins.
I looked at Kathleen Marie (Ortlieb) Johnson’s maternal AND paternal family's genealogy. Related to the claims above, this is what I found:- KL’s maternal grandmother was Kathleen Marie (Ortlieb) Johnson, NOT Kateri Johnson.
- Kathleen Marie (Ortlieb) Johnson’s paternal AND maternal grandparents were all born in Germany and immigrated to the United
States between the years 1874-1887.- KL’s great-grandmother and Kathleen Marie (Ortlieb) Johnson’s mother was Theresa (Hastreiter) Ortlieb, NOT Theresia Hill.
- Theresa (Hastreiter) Ortlieb was born in Marshfield, Wisconsin in 1904.
- I can find no record of her living in New York before or during the Great Depression.
- KL’s great-great-grandmother, Kathleen Marie (Ortlieb) Johnson’s grandmother, and Theresa (Hastreiter) Ortlieb’s mother was Theresia
(Reitmeier) Hastreiter, NOT Theresia Hill.
- Theresia (Reitmeier) Hastreiter arrived in Baltimore, Maryland from Germany on April 20, 1887, with her fiancée, Joseph
Hastreiter.
- The couple were married 10 days later, on April 30, 1887, in Medford, Wisconsin.
- I can find no record of her living in New York before or during the Great Depression.
Kathleen Marie (Ortlieb) Johnson's maternal and paternal grandparents were all born in Germany, were listed as "white" on every census, birth certificate, and death certificate, AND did not live with/near the tribes claimed.
In my opinion, based on publicly available information, Kathleen Marie (Ortlieb) Johnson could not be the source of nibiiwakamigkwe / Kay LeClaire/ Kathryn Le Claire’s claims of Oneida, Anishinaabe, Metis, or Cuban ancestry. It directly calls into question her Oneida claims based on the specificity of her statements. To "sit in the Bear Clan of the Oneida Indian Nation of New York" KL would need their mother, maternal grandmother, great grandmother, and great-great grandma to be Oneida. At this point in time, the documentation indicates they were German. Now I am looking at KL's genealogy through their paternal grandparents and maternal grandfather for Cuban, Anishinaabe (Leech Lake Band of the Minnesota Chippewa), and Metis ancestry which would prove their claims. Despite KL's statements tying their Oneida ancestry to their maternal grandmother, I will continue to look for an Oneida connection with their paternal grandparents and maternal grandfather.The supporting documentation exceeded the character limit for a single post. It will be posted separately.
