Mohawk Valley Health System (MVHS) Foundation announced recently that the Oneida Indian Nation has made a $1 million donation in support of the new Wynn Hospital in downtown Utica. MVHS President/CEO Darlene Stromstad, was joined by Oneida Indian Nation Representative and Oneida Nation Enterprises CEO Ray Halbritter, Oneida County Executive Anthony J. Picente, Jr. and Larry Gilroy, Wynn Hospital Capital Campaign Co-Chair, to announce the donation at the Wynn Hospital site.
It was important to MVHS that as part of the Oneida Indian Nation’s donation there would be the commission of two pieces of art that will honor the shared history of the Oneida people and the region. A bronze sculpture created by artist Edward Hlavka called “Allies in War, Partners in Peace” will be located outside the hospital’s entrance.
The monument at Wynn Hospital will only be the second “Allies in War, Partners in Peace” ever created — the original is located at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian in Washington D.C.
The original sculpture is a 20-foot bronze embodiment of the friendship that was forged between the Oneida Indian Nation and the United States during the Revolutionary War. It depicts George Washington, Oneida Indian Chief Shenendoah and Polly Cooper, an Oneida woman who traveled hundreds of miles to feed General Washington and his troops. All three individuals were critical in establishing the partnership between the Oneidas and the United States and defining a pivotal moment in history and Central New York’s role in the founding of the country.
The second piece of art the Oneida Indian Nation will commission at the Wynn Hospital is a mural that will honor the shared history and longtime partnership between Upstate New York and the Oneida Indian Nation. The mural will be prominently featured on the Central Utility Plant located on Columbia Street adjacent to the hospital.