 And so the Oneidas had a responsibility to protect their homeland. It was more than simply property, as we would think of it in our terms. It was, you know, an ancestral homeland, too. And if the Oneida land was going to be the battleground between the rebels and the Indians, then the homeland would have been destroyed. And both sides really wanted them. From the French and Indian wars, there were generals on both sides, including George Washington, who knew what great fighters they were.