James Powlis, whose Oneida name Tewakatelyλ·thale! means "I'm Worried," was born around 1750, probably in New York State. In 1777, after the disintegration of the Iroquois Confederacy's neutrality, Congress sought to offset the allegiance of four of the six Confederacy tribes to the British by winning the allegiance of the remaining two, the Oneida and Tuscarora. Powlis, an Oneida Chief, enlisted in the Continental Army in 1777 after Congress paired promises of American protection and supplies with offers of army commissions. On April 3, 1779, Congress resolved that twelve chiefs from the Oneida and Tuscarora tribes be given commissions as Officers of the Line in the Continental Army, and James Powlis was among them and one of four captains so commissioned. He served with Lt. Colonel Louis Cook, a Mohawk whose Oneida name Atyelú·ta! means "A Body," and Cook's New York Line; Cook was the highest ranking Indian in the Continental Army. Captain Powlis was honorably discharged in December 1784 and received 1800 acres in New York State as a pension from the federal government for his military service. As Chief of the First Christian Party, he came to Wisconsin from New York after the death of his wife Nelly. He died in Oneida, Wisconsin, on March 15, 1849, at the age of 99, and although his headstone is now gone, it is believed that he is buried in the Powlis family plot of the Oneida Holy Apostles Cemetery.