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Using profits from its successful casino, the Oneida Nation has opened four more businesses that, combined with the gambling operation, employ more than 2,000 people. (Photograph by Melissa Farlow )
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n the winter of 1777, at the height of the Revolutionary War, the Continental Army was on the verge of starvation at Valley Forge. While most Indian tribes had sided with the British or remained neutral, the Oneidas -- a forward-thinking tribe that recognized they had much to lose under British rule -- came to the soldiers' rescue with 600 bushels of corn. More than 200 years later, the Oneidas are still looking ahead, this time to the Internet. In May 1994, the Oneida Nation, located in the heart of New York State, was the first Indian tribe in the country -- and one of the first sovereign nations in the world -- to launch its own Web page. "We've reached an audience we'd never have been able to reach otherwise," says Dale Rood, a member of the tribe's governing board. With online cultural and historical artifacts, and with political and legislative policy statements, the website offers a thorough introduction to the Oneida Nation. "For the first time, we've been able to tell our story, in our own words, rather than having researchers, scholars, and historians publish accounts about our history," Dale asserts.
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