In the funeral procession at the death of Skenandoa together were Oneida, students and officers from Hamilton College, Kirkland's widow and her family, and many citizens of Clinton, New York.
Other forms include Skenandoah or Scanandoa; Schenandoah, Schenandoa, Shenondoa, Shanandoah, or Shanendoah; Skenando or Scanondo; Schenando; Skenandore; and Skennondon, Scanandon, Skonondon, or Skeanendon.
The spelling Oskanondonha (which was not recorded in his lifetime) assumes derivation from Oneida oskanu:tú: [oˌskanũːˈtũː], "deer".
[5][8] Skenandoa was born in 1710 into the Iroquoian-speaking Susquehannock people (also called Conestoga), located in present-day eastern Pennsylvania.
This position allowed him a place in the Grand Council of 50 chiefs of the Confederacy, representing all the clans of all the nations.
Samuel Kirkland, a Protestant missionary who went to the Iroquois country of western New York in 1764, encountered Chief Skenandoa there and mentioned him in letters.
[11] In part due to the friendship with Kirkland, Chief Skenandoa favored the patriot colonials and led the Oneida to be their allies during the Revolutionary War.
Today it is displayed at Shako:wi, the Oneida Nation museum at their reservation near Syracuse.
About 1791 he started planning a seminary, a boys' school to be open to Oneida as well as white young men of the area.
The Oneida oral tradition tells that Chief Skenandoa provided critical food, sending corn to General George Washington and his men during their harsh winter at Valley Forge in 1777–1778.
Its inscription recognizes his leadership, friendship with Kirkland, and important contributions to the rebel colonists during the war.