“He said about the traditional Oneida people that they offer nothing,” Schenandoah said.

In May 1995, several dozen Oneidas participated in a “March for Democracy” to demand greater representation in tribal government.

Several opponents of Halbritter said steps had been taken to remove him from power.

But the Bureau of Indian Affairs, a department in the United States federal government, continues to recognize Halbritter as head of the Oneidas.

Schenandoah said her sister’s non-tribal, privately-owned house was torn down on Halbritter’s order because of the opposition they posed to the tribal leader.

Halbritter was unavailable for comment, but Mark Emery, a spokesperson for the Oneida Indian Nation, said the houses of about a dozen Oneidas were torn down for safety reasons.

“It was just unsafe,” Emery said. They were “living in pretty awful conditions.”

Halbritter was democratically elected, Emery said, and “every government has some people that are not happy with what the government is doing.”

Armini, the HLS spokesperson, had no comment on the opposition to Halbritter.

To the visiting professor, Williams, the opposition to Halbritter represents a political squabble, not a response to injustice.

“Tribal people play politics for keeps,” Williams said. “That’s the nature of democratic politics.”

And of the nation’s decision to donate to Harvard, Williams said: “The Oneidas are quite able and brilliant entrepreneurs.”

—Staff writer Alexander J. Blenkinsopp can be reached at blenkins@fas.harvard.edu.