JULY 23, 1873

ONEIDA LEADER TEKAYA-TILU OR TEGA-WIR-TIRON (DANIEL BREAD) DIED

Born March 27, 1800, in Oneida Castle, New York (NY), Bread, whose Oneida name meant “Learning Body,” was educated at the Presbyterian mission school.  At age 14, he fought in the defense of the American naval base at Sackett’s Harbor during the Battle of Big Sandy Creek.  Bread’s chief notoriety was in connection with the Oneida’s removal to Wisconsin in 1829.  He led a delegation to Albany and addressed the New York legislature regarding the theft of Oneida lands in New York.  After removal to Wisconsin, he went to Washington, D.C., to protest reductions in the Menominee lands that the Oneida claim were ceded to them by the U.S.  He convinced President Jackson to offer better land in southern Menominee country.  In 1832, Bread became the principal leader of the Wisconsin Oneidas.  He ran a successful blacksmith shop and other stores.  He was, however, criticized for being too friendly to whites and, by 1869, his power waned.  He died in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

Sources:   Hauptman, Laurence; McLester III, Gordon, Chief Daniel Bread and the Oneida Nation of Indians of Wisconsin (Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 2002).  Retrieved 7/8/2019,  https://books.google.com/books?id=qvCDyQ5xhlUC&pg=PP4&lpg=PP4&dq=daniel+bread&source=bl&ots=oiODzgOdjT&sig=ACfU3U2zeatM0QNIeeGeQ-ln29ndmEpQ-g&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi7kuy9-aTjAhXHKM0KHfEECj84ChDoATAJegQICBAB#v=onepage&q=daniel%20bread&f=false “Daniel Bread: Reminiscences of an Oneida chief,” Wisconsin Historical Society, Chicago Tribune, 3/23/1874.  Retrieved 7/8/2019, https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Newspaper/BA494 
Painting:  George Catlin (-- - 1872), 1831.  Smithsonian American Art Museum.  Public Domain in U.S.:  Pre 1/1/1925.  Public Domain elsewhere where copyright term is author’s life plus 100 years or less.