Laura Cornelius Kellogg (1879-c.1940) was an orator, author and reformer, dedicated to transforming Native communities into economically sufficient, self-governing cooperatives.
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Today’s activist was an orator, author and reformer, dedicated to transforming Native communities into economically sufficient, self-governing cooperatives. She fought for Six Nations’ autonomy, serving as a voice for contemporary Indigenous politics in the United States.
Let’s talk about Laura Cornelius Kellogg.
Laura Minnie Cornelius was born on the Oneida reservation in Wisconsin in 1879. Her maternal grandfather, Daniel Bread, or Great Eagle, was a prominent Oneida member. Great Eagle shouldered the responsibility of helping his people find a new home, after they were forced from New York in the early 19th century.
Matriarchy also played an important role in Six Nations society, with women responsible for choosing the representatives of the league’s council. It was her female ancestors who gave Laura her driving strength.
Unlike many of her peers, Laura was able to avoid attending the abusive Indian boarding schools that were common at the time. Instead, Laura was sent to Grafton Hall, a boarding school in Fond Du Lac [Fawn duh Lack], Wisconsin. She was only one of a few Indigenous students. Her graduation essay, entitled “The Romans of America,” compared the Iroquois Confederacy to the ancient Roman Empire.
Laura’s unique educational background, which blended Eurocentric and Indigenous traditions, positioned her as a sort of liaison.
In 1902, she embarked on a literary career, publishing two short stories, The Legend of the Bean, and The Sacrifice of the White Dog. Of her ambitions, Laura said, “Perhaps it seems strange to an outsider, for I know the ideas that prevail in regards to Indian life, but to do something great when I grow up was impressed upon me from my cradle from my parents, and I’ve no other ambition and I have known no other ambition.”
Over the next few years, Laura continued her education. She became one of the few, and first, Native women to attend college. Though she didn’t graduate with a degree, Laura spent time at Stanford University, Barnard College, the New York School of Philanthropy, Cornell University and the University of Wisconsin.
In 1908, she embarked on a two-year trip across Europe. There, she was drawn to the Garden city movements of Europe, France and Germany. Self-contained communities were surrounded by green belts. Emphasis was put on finding a balance between homes, agriculture and industry. This model inspired Laura to dedicate the rest of her life to tribal autonomy.
She also caught the attention of the European press, who wasted no time in exocitizing her and her evolving political goals. She was dubbed “Princess Neoskalita,” “Indian Princess Wynnogene,” and the Indian Joan of Arc. Back in the U.S., when she debuted her Lolomi plan, which promised to lead 300,000 Native people out of what she called, “the bondage of bureaucracy into the self-respect of complete self-government,” the papers called her The Fighting Squaw of the Six Nations.
Upon her return from Europe, Laura rose to prominence as a sort of thought leader for Native people. She argued for an identity and an education centered around the knowledge of elders. She was a vocal critic of the Bureau for Indian Affairs, whose notorious boarding schools Laura had managed to avoid.
In 1912, Laura became a founding member of the Society of American Indians. The Society promoted what they called, “Pan-Indianism,” which encouraged unity among all Native people, regardless of tribe or nation. Their leaders were often Native professionals -- doctors, lawyers, teachers -- who reflected many of the ideals of the Progressive Era.
That same year, Laura married Orrin J. Kellogg, a lawyer of Seneca ancestry. Orrin supported Laura’s work, which increasingly thrust her into the spotlight, preferring to keep his own profile much lower.
But trouble soon arose for Laura and Orrinn. An anonymous accusation came through ranks at the Society of American Indians: that Laura and Orrinn conned Native communities out of money. They were arrested and charged with “Pretense of Indian Agents with intent to invest Indian funds.”
Though the charges were later dropped, Laura was removed from the Society of American Indians board. It was a humiliation that she never forgot, and a reputation she never quite outran.
Nevertheless, Laura continued in her career as an orator, writer and educator. In 1918, Laura appeared before the League of Nations, calling out the hypocrisy of the United States. They were willing to defend and support allies across the globe, she said, but abused Native communities on their own land.
Laura was also steadfast in her Lolomi plan, which would set up reservations as villages outside the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ authority. Industry, she said, would be geared towards local needs. Society itself would be set up to reflect a lifestyle interconnected with nature. “We believe the greatest economy in the world is to be just to all men,” she wrote.
In 1920, Laura published Our Democracy and the American Indian: A Presentation of the Indian Situation as it Is Today. She wrote of her Lolomi plan, of its promise, and of the name itself, which comes from the Hopi word for “perfect goodness be upon you.”
She pursued land claims on behalf of the Oneida, spending years fundraising and in and out of courtrooms. After years of investigating and reporting, Laura’s findings inspired the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin to pursue a claim to 6 million acres of New York. But there was pushback. She and Orrin were accused of inspiring false hope. And the land claim, ultimately, never came through.
Laura died in the 1940s, though the date and place are unknown.
Laura Cornelius Kellogg dedicated her life to being a spokesperson for Native people across the U.S. Having watched how her own Oneida people were forced off their ancestral lands, she fought for tribal autonomy and land claims. Laura’s dreams were dramatic. They were, to some, unrealistic. And her unwavering hopefulness for a utopian future made her a controversial figure. But Laura believed deeply in the promise of her people. In their ability, if given the chance, to make something better.
All month we’re talking about Activists.
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