The History of the Five Indian Nations of Canada Part 11

When you mentioned the Affair of the Land Yesterday, you went back to old Times, and told us, you had been in Possession of the Province of _Maryland_ above One Hundred Years; but what is One Hundred Years in Comparison of the Length of Time since our Claim began? since we came out of this Ground? For we must tell you, that long before One Hundred Years our Ancestors came out of this very Ground, and their Children have remained here ever since. You came out of the Ground in a Country that lies beyond the Seas, there you may have a just Claim, but here you must allow us to be your elder Brethren, and the Lands to belong to us long before you knew any thing of them. It is true, that above One Hundred Years ago the _Dutch_ came here in a s.h.i.+p, and brought with them several Goods; such as Awls, Knives, Hatchets, Guns, and many other Particulars, which they gave us; and when they had taught us how to use their Things, and we saw what sort of People they were, we were so well pleased with them, that we tied their s.h.i.+p to the Bushes on the Sh.o.r.e; and afterwards, liking them still better the longer they staid with us, and thinking the Bushes too slender, we removed the Rope, and tied it to the Trees; and as the Trees were liable to be blown down by high Winds, or to decay of themselves, we, from the Affection we bore them, again removed the Rope, and tied it to a strong and big Rock [_here the Interpreter said, They mean the_ Oneido _Country_] and not content with this, for its further Security we removed the Rope to the big Mountain [_here the Interpreter says they mean the_ Onandago _Country_] and there we tied it very fast, and roll'd Wampum about it; and, to make it still more secure, we stood upon the Wampum, and sat down upon it, to defend it, and to prevent any Hurt coming to it, and did our best Endeavours that it might remain uninjured for ever. During all this Time the New-comers, the _Dutch_, acknowledged our Right to the Lands, and sollicited us, from Time to Time, to grant them Parts of our Country, and to enter into League and Covenant with us, and to become one people with us.

After this the _English_ came into the Country, and, as we were told, became one People with the _Dutch_. About two Years after the Arrival of the _English_, an _English_ Governor came to _Albany_, and finding what great Friends.h.i.+p subsisted between us and the _Dutch_, he approved it mightily, and desired to make as strong a League, and to be upon as good Terms with us as the _Dutch_ were, with whom he was united, and to become one People with us: And by his further Care in looking into what had pa.s.sed between us, he found that the Rope which tied the s.h.i.+p to the great Mountain was only fastened with Wampum, which was liable to break and rot, and to perish in a Course of Years; he therefore told us, he would give us a Silver Chain, which would be much stronger, and would last for ever. This we accepted, and fastened the s.h.i.+p with it, and it has lasted ever since. Indeed we have had some small Differences with the _English_, and, during these Misunderstandings, some of their young Men would, by way of Reproach, be every now and then telling us, that we should have perished if they had not come into the Country and furnished us with Strowds and Hatchets, and Guns, and other Things necessary for the Support of Life; but we always gave them to understand that they were mistaken, that we lived before they came amongst us, and as well, or better, if we may believe what our Forefathers have told us. We had then Room enough, and Plenty of Deer, which was easily caught; and tho'

we had not Knives, Hatchets, or Guns, such as we have now, yet we had Knives of Stone, and Hatchets of Stone, and Bows and Arrows, and those served our Uses as well then as the _English_ ones do now. We are now straitened, and sometimes in want of Deer, and liable to many other Inconveniencies since the _English_ came among us, and particularly from that Pen-and-Ink Work that is going on at the Table (_pointing to the Secretary_) and we will give you an Instance of this. Our Brother _Onas_, a great while ago, came to _Albany_ to buy the _Sasquahannah_ Lands of us, but our Brother the Governor of _New-York_, who, as we suppose, had not a good Understanding with our Brother _Onas_, advised us not to sell him any Land, for he would make an ill Use of it; and, pretending to be our good Friend, he advised us, in order to prevent _Onas_'s, or any other Person's imposing upon us, and that we might always have our Land when we should want it, to put it into his Hands; and told us, he would keep it for our Use, and never open his Hands, but keep them close shut, and not part with any of it, but at our Request.

Accordingly we trusted him, and put our Land into his Hands, and charged him to keep it safe for our Use; but, some Time after, he went to _England_, and carried our Land with him, and there sold it to our Brother _Onas_ for a large Sum of Money; and when, at the Instance of our Brother _Onas_, we were minded to sell him some Lands, he told us we had sold the _Sasquahannah_ Lands already to the Governor of _New-York_, and that he had bought them from him in _England_; tho', when he came to understand how the Governor of _New-York_ had deceived us, he very generously paid us for our Lands over again.

Tho' we mention this Instance of an Imposition put upon us by the Governor of _New-York_, yet we must do the _English_ the Justice to say, we have had their hearty a.s.sistances in our Wars with the _French_, who were no sooner arrived amongst us than they began to render us uneasy, and to provoke us to War, and we had several Wars with them; during all which we constantly received a.s.sistance from the _English_, and, by their Means, we have always been able to keep up our Heads against their Attacks.

We now come nearer home. We have had your Deeds interpreted to us, and we acknowledge them to be good and valid, and that the _Conestogoe_ or _Sasquahannah Indians_ had a Right to sell those Lands to you, for they were then theirs; but since that Time we have conquered them, and their Country now belongs to us, and the Lands we demanded Satisfaction for are no Part of the Lands comprized in those Deeds; they are the _Cohongorontas_[6] Lands; those, we are sure, you have not possessed One Hundred Years, no, nor above Ten Years, and we made our Demands so soon as we knew your People were settled in those Parts. These have never been sold, but remain still to be disposed of; and we are well pleased to hear you are provided with Goods, and do a.s.sure you of our Willingness to treat with you for those unpurchased Lands; in Confirmation whereof, we present you with this Belt of Wampum.

_Which was received with the usual Ceremonies._

_C A N A S S A T E G O_ added, that as the three Governors of _Virginia, Maryland_, and _Pensylvania_, had divided the Lands among them, they could not, for this Reason, tell how much each had got, nor were they concerned about it, so that they were paid by all the Governors for the several Parts each possessed, and this they left to their Honour and Justice.

[Footnote 6: _Cohongorontas_, i. e. _Potomack_.]

In the C o u r t-H o u s e at _Lancaster, June_ 27, 1744, _A. M._

P R E S E N T,

The Honourable _G E O R G E T H O M A S_, Esq; Governor, &c.

The Honourable the Commissioners of _Virginia_.

The Honourable the Commissioners of _Maryland._ The Deputies of the _Six Nations._ _Conrad Weiser_, Interpreter.

_The Commissioners of_ Virginia _ordered the Interpreter to let the_ Indians _know the Government of_ Virginia _was going to speak to them, and then they spoke as follows:_

_Sachems and Warriors of the_ Six United Nations, _our Friends and Brethren,_

At our Desire the Governor of _Pensylvania_ invited you to this Council Fire; we have waited a long Time for you, but now you are come, you are heartily welcome; we are very glad to see you; we give you this String of Wampum.

_Which was received with their usual Approbation._

_Brethren,_

In the Year 1736, four of your Sachems wrote a Letter to _James Logan_, Esq; then President of _Pensylvania_, to let the Governor of _Virginia_ know that you expected some Consideration for Lands in the Occupation of some of the People of _Virginia_. Upon seeing a Copy of this Letter, the Governor, with the Council of _Virginia_, took some Time to consider of it. They found, on looking into the old Treaties, that you had given up your Lands to the Great King, who has had Possession of _Virginia_ above One Hundred and Sixty Years, and under that Great King the Inhabitants of _Virginia_ hold their Land, so they thought there might be some Mistake.

Wherefore they desired the Governor of _New-York_ to enquire of you about it. He sent his Interpreter to you in _May,_ 1743, who laid this before you at a Council held at _Onandago_, to which you answer, "That if you had any Demand or Pretensions on the Governor of _Virginia_ any way, you would have made it known to the Governor of _New-York_." This corresponds with what you have said to Governor _Thomas,_ in the Treaty made with him at _Philadelphia_ in _July_, 1742; for then you only make your Claim to Lands in the Government of _Maryland_.

We are so well pleased with this good Faith of you our Brethren of the _Six Nations_, and your Regard to the Treaties made with _Virginia_, that we are ready to hear you on the Subject of your Message eight years since.

Tell us what Nations of _Indians_ you conquered any Lands from in _Virginia_, how long it is since, and what Possession you have had; and if it does appear, that there is any Land on the Borders of _Virginia_ that the _Six Nations_ have a Right to, we are willing to make you Satisfaction.

_Then laid down a String of Wampum, which was accepted with the usual Ceremony, and then added,_

We have a Chest of new Goods, and the Key is in our Pockets. You are our Brethren; the Great King is our common Father, and we will live with you, as Children ought to do, in Peace and Love.

We will brighten the Chain, and strengthen the Union between us; so that we shall never be divided, but remain Friends and Brethren as long as the Sun gives Light; in Confirmation whereof, we give you this Belt of Wampum.

_Which was received with the usual Ceremony_.

_T A C H A N O O N T I A_ replied:

_Brother_ a.s.saragoa,

You have made a good Speech to us, which is very agreeable, and for which we return you our Thanks. We shall be able to give you an Answer to every Part of it some Time this Afternoon, and we will let you know when we are ready.

In the C o u r t-H o u s e at _Lancaster, June_ 27, 1744, _P. M._

P R E S E N T,

The Honourable _G E O R G E T H O M A S_, Esq; Governor, &c.

The Honourable the Commissioners of _Virginia_.

The Honourable the Commissioners of _Maryland_.

The Deputies of the _Six Nations_.

_Conrad Weiser_, Interpreter.

_T A C H A N O O N T I A spoke as follows_:

_Brother_ a.s.saragoa,

Since you have joined with the Governor of _Maryland_ and Brother _Onas_ in kindling this Fire, we gladly acknowledge the Pleasure we have in seeing you here, and observing your good Dispositions as well to confirm the Treaties of Friends.h.i.+p, as to enter into further Contracts about Land with us; and, in Token of our Satisfaction, we present you with this String of Wampum.

_Which was received with the usual Ceremonies_.

_Brother_ a.s.saragoa,

In your Speech this Morning you were pleased to say we had wrote a Letter to _James Logan_, about seven Years ago, to demand a Consideration for our Lands in the Possession of some of the _Virginians_; that you held them under the Great King for upwards of One Hundred and Sixty Years, and that we had already given up our Right; and that therefore you had desired the Governor of _New-York_ to send his Interpreter to us last Year to _Onandago_, which he did; and, as you say, we in Council at _Onandago_ did declare, that we had no Demand upon you for Lands, and that if we had any Pretensions, we should have made them known to the Governor of _New-York_; and likewise you desire to know if we have any Right to the _Virginia_ Lands, and that we will make such Right appear, and tell you what Nations of _Indians_ we conquered those Lands from.

Now we answer, We have the Right of Conquest, a Right too dearly purchased, and which cost us too much Blood, to give up without any Reason at all, as you say we have done at _Albany_; but we should be obliged to you, if you would let us see the Letter, and inform us who was the Interpreter, and whose Names are put to that Letter; for as the whole Transaction cannot be above a Year's standing, it must be fresh in every Body's Memory, and some of our Council would easily remember it; but we a.s.sure you, and are well able to prove, that neither we, nor any Part of us, have ever relinquished our Right, or ever gave such an Answer as you say is mentioned in your Letter. Could we, so few Years ago, make a formal Demand, by _James Logan_, and not be sensible of our Right? And hath any thing happened since that Time to make us less sensible? No; and as this Matter can be easily cleared up, we are anxious it should be done; for we are positive no such thing was ever mentioned to us at _Onandago_, nor any where else. All the World knows we conquered the several Nations living on _Sasquahannah_, _Cohongoronta_, and on the Back of the Great Mountains in _Virginia_; the _Conoy-uch-such-roona_, _Coch-now-was-roonan, Tohoa-irough-roonan_, and _Connutskin-ough-roonaw_, feel the Effects of our Conquests, being now a Part of our Nations, and their Lands at our Disposal. We know very well, it hath often been said by the _Virginians_, that the _Great King_ of England, and the People of that Colony, conquered the _Indians_ who lived there, but it is not true. We will allow they have conquered the _Sachdagughroonaw_, and drove back the _Tuscarroraws_, and that they have, on that Account, a Right to some Part of _Virginia_; but as to what lies beyond the Mountains, we conquered the Nations residing there, and that Land, if the _Virginians_ ever get a good Right to it, it must be by us; and in Testimony of the Truth of our Answer to this Part of your Speech, we give you this String of Wampum

_Which was received with the usual Ceremony_.

_Brother_ a.s.saragoa,

We have given you a full Answer to the first Part of your Speech, which we hope will be satisfactory. We are glad to hear you have brought with you a big Chest of new Goods, and that you have the Key in your Pockets.

We do not doubt but we shall have a good Understanding in all Points, and come to an Agreement with you.

We shall open all our Hearts to you, that you may know every thing in them; we will hide nothing from you; and we hope, if there be any thing still remaining in your Breast that may occasion any Dispute between us, you will take the Opportunity to unbosom your Hearts, and lay them open to us, that henceforth there may be no Dirt, nor any other Obstacle in the Road between us; and in Token of our hearty Wishes to bring about so good an Harmony, we present you with this Belt of Wampum.

_Which was received with the usual Ceremony_.

_Brother_ a.s.saragoa,

We must now tell you what Mountains we mean that we say are the Boundaries between you and us. You may remember, that about twenty Years ago you had a Treaty with us at _Albany_, when you took a Belt of Wampum, and made a Fence with it on the Middle of the Hill, and told us, that if any of the Warriors of the _Six Nations_ came on your Side of the Middle of the Hill, you would hang them; and you gave us Liberty to do the same with any of your People who should be found on our Side of the Middle of the Hill. This is the Hill we mean; and we desire that Treaty may be now confirmed. After we left _Albany_, we brought our Road a great deal more to the West, that we might comply with your Proposal; but, tho' it was of your own making, your People never observed it, but came and lived on our Side of the Hill, which we don't blame you for, as you live at a great Distance, near the Seas, and cannot be thought to know what your People do in the Back-parts: And on their settling, contrary to your own Proposal, on our new Road, it fell out that our Warriors did some Hurt to your People's Cattle, of which a Complaint was made, and transmitted to us by our Brother _Onas_; and we, at his Request, altered the Road again, and brought it to the Foot of the Great Mountain, where it now is; and it is impossible for us to remove it any further to the West, those Parts of the Country being absolutely impa.s.sable by either Man or Beast.