The History of the Five Indian Nations of Canada Part 8

P R E S E N T

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

_James Logan_, } _Thomas Lawrence_, } _Robert Strettell_, } Esqrs; _Clement Plumsted_, } _Abraham Taylor_, } Mr. _Richard Peters_.

_C A N A S S A T E G O_, } And sundry Chiefs of the _Six Nations_.

_S H I C K C A L A M Y_, } _S A S S O O N A N_, and the _Delawares_.

_N U T T I M U S_, and the _Fork-Indians_.

_C O N R A D W E I S E R_, Interpreter.

_Pisquetoman_, } _Cornelius Spring_, } Interpreters to the _Fork-Indians_.

_Nicholas Scull_, }

_C A N A S S A T E G O_ said:

'_B R E T H R E N, the Governor and Council_,

'The other Day you informed us of the Misbehaviour of our Cousins the _Delawares_, with respect to their continuing to claim, and refusing to remove from some Land on the River _Delaware_, notwithstanding their Ancestors had sold it by a Deed under their Hands and Seals to the Proprietaries, for a valuable Consideration, upwards of _fifty_ Years ago; and notwithstanding that, they themselves had also not many Years ago, after a long and full Examination, ratified that Deed of their Ancestors, and given a fresh one under their Hands and Seals; and then you requested us to remove them, inforcing your Request with a String of Wampum.--Afterwards we laid on the Table our own Letters by _Conrad Weiser_; some of our Cousins Letters, and the several Writings to prove the Charge against our Cousins, with a Draught of the Land in Dispute.--We now tell you, we have perused all these several Papers: We see with our own Eyes, that they have been a very unruly People, and are altogether in the Wrong in their Dealings with you.--We have concluded to remove them, and oblige them to go over the River _Delaware_, and quit all Claim to any Lands on this Side for the future, since they have received Pay for them, and it is gone thro' their Guts long ago.--To confirm to you that we will see your Request executed, we lay down this String of Wampum in return for yours.'

Then turning to the _Delawares_, holding a Belt of Wampum in his Hand, he spoke to them as follows:

'_C O U S I N S_,

'Let this Belt of Wampum serve to chastise you. You ought to be taken by the Hair of the Head and shaked severely, till you recover your Senses and become sober. You don't know what Ground you stand on, nor what you are doing. Our Brother _Onas_'s Cause is very just and plain, and his Intentions are to preserve Friends.h.i.+p. On the other Hand, your Cause is bad; your Heart far from being upright; and you are maliciously bent to break the Chain of Friends.h.i.+p with our Brother _Onas_, and his People. We have seen with our Eyes a Deed sign'd by nine of your Ancestors above _fifty_ Years ago for this very Land, and a Release sign'd, not many Years since, by some of yourselves and Chiefs now living, to the Number of fifteen or upwards.--But how came you to take upon you to sell Land at all? We conquered you; we made Women of you; you know you are Women, and can no more sell Land than Women; nor is it fit you should have the Power of selling Lands, since you would abuse it. This Land that you claim is gone thro' your Guts; you have been furnished with Cloaths, Meat, and Drink, by the Goods paid you for it, and now you want it again, like Children as you are.--But what makes you sell Land in the Dark? Did you ever tell us that you had sold this Land? Did we ever receive any Part, even the Value of a Pipe-Shank, from you for it? You have told us a blind Story, that you sent a Messenger to us to inform us of the Sale, but he never came amongst us, nor we never heard any thing about it.--This is acting in the Dark, and very different from the Conduct our _Six_ Nations observe in the Sales of Land; on such Occasions they give publick Notice, and invite all the _Indians_ of their united Nations, and give them all a Share of the Present they receive for their Lands.--This is the Behaviour of the wise united Nations.--But we find you are none of our Blood: You act a dishonest Part, not only in this, but in other Matters: Your Ears are ever open to slanderous Reports about our Brethren; you receive them with as much Greediness as lewd Women receive the Embraces of bad Men. And for all these Reasons we charge you to remove instantly; we don't give you the Liberty to think about it. You are Women. Take the Advice of a wise Man, and remove immediately. You may return to the other Side of _Delaware_ where you came from: But we do not know whether, considering how you have demean'd yourselves, you will be permitted to live there; or whether you have not swallowed that Land down your Throats as well as the Land on this Side. We therefore a.s.sign you two Places to go, either to _Wyomen_ or _Shamokin_. You may go to either of these Places, and then we shall have you more under our Eye, and shall see how you behave.

Don't deliberate; but remove away, and take this Belt of Wampum.'

This being interpreted by _Conrad Weiser_ into _English_, and by _Cornelius Spring_ into the _Delaware_ Language, _Cana.s.satego_ taking a String of Wampum, added further.

'After our just Reproof, and absolute Order to depart from the Land, you are now to take Notice of what we have further to say to you. This String of Wampum serves to forbid you, your Children and Grand-Children, to the latest Posterity for ever, meddling in Land-Affairs; neither you, nor any who shall descend from you, are ever hereafter to presume to sell any Land: For which purpose, you are to preserve this String, in Memory of what your Uncles have this Day given you in Charge.--We have some other Business to transact with our Brethren, and therefore depart the Council, and consider what has been said to you.'

_Cana.s.satego_ then spoke to the Governor and Council:

'_B R E T H R E N_,

'We called at our old Friend _James Logan_'s, in our Way to this City, and to our Grief we found him hid in the Bushes, and retired, thro' Infirmities, from publick Business. We press'd him to leave his Retirement, and prevailed with him to a.s.sist once more on our Account at your Councils. We hope, notwithstanding his Age, and the Effects of a Fit of Sickness, which we understand has hurt his Const.i.tution, that he may yet continue a long Time to a.s.sist this Province with his Counsels.

He is a wise Man, and a fast Friend to the _Indians_. And we desire, when his Soul goes to G O D, you may chuse in his Room just such another Person, of the same Prudence and Ability in counselling, and of the same tender Disposition and Affection for the _Indians_. In Testimony of our Grat.i.tude for all his Services, and because he was so good as to leave his Country-House, and follow us to Town, and be at the Trouble, in this his advanced Age, to attend the Council, we present him with this Bundle of Skins.'

'_B R E T H R E N_,

'It is always our Way, at the Conclusion of a Treaty, to desire you will use your Endeavours with the Traders, that they may sell their Goods cheaper, and give us a better Price for our Deer-Skins. Whenever any particular Sort of _Indian_ Goods is scarce, they constantly make us pay the dearer on that Account.

We must now use the same Argument with them: Our Deer are killed in such Quant.i.ties, and our Hunting-Countries grown less every Day by the Settlement of white People, that Game is now difficult to find, and we must go a great Way in quest of it; they therefore ought to give us a better Price for our Skins; and we desire you would speak to them to do so. We have been stinted in the Article of Rum in Town. We desire you will open the Rum-Bottle, and give it to us in greater Abundance on the Road.'

_To inforce our Request, about the_ Indian _Traders_, _we present you with this Bundle of Skins_.

'_B R E T H R E N_,

'When we first came to your Houses, we found them clean and in Order; but we have staid so long as to dirty them; which is to be imputed to our different Way of Living from the white People: And therefore, as we cannot but have been disagreeable to you on this Account, we present you with some Skins to make your Houses clean, and put them into the same Condition they were in when we came amongst you.'

'_B R E T H R E N_,

'The Business the _Five_ Nations transact with you is of great Consequence, and requires a skilful and honest Person to go between us; one in whom both you and we can place a Confidence.--We esteem our present Interpreter to be such a Person, equally faithful in the Interpretation of whatever is said to him by either of us, equally allied to both; he is of our Nation, and a Member of our Council, as well as of yours.

When we adopted him, we divided him into two equal Parts: One we kept for ourselves, and one we left for you. He has had a great deal of trouble with us, wore out his Shoes in our Messages, and dirty'd his Clothes by being amongst us, so that he is become as nasty as an _Indian_.

'In Return for these Services, we recommend him to your Generosity; and on our own Behalf, we give him _Five Skins_ to buy him Clothes and Shoes with.'

'_B R E T H R E N_,

'We have still one more Favour to ask. Our Treaty, and all we have to say about publick Business, is now over, and to-morrow we design to leave you. We hope, as you have given us Plenty of good Provision whilst in Town, that you will continue your Goodness so far as to supply us with a little more to serve us on the Road. And we likewise desire you will provide us with Waggons, to carry our Goods to the Place where they are to be conveyed by Water.'

To these several Points the Governor made the following Reply.

'_B R E T H R E N of the Six Nations_,

'The Judgment you have just now pa.s.s'd on your Cousins the _Delawares_, confirms the high Opinion we have ever entertained of the Justice of the _Six Nations_. This Part of your Character, for which you are deservedly famed, made us wave doing ourselves Justice, in order to give you another Opportunity of convincing the World of your inviolable Attachment to your Engagements. These unhappy People might have always liv'd easy, having never receiv'd the least Injury from us; but we believe some of our own People were bad enough to impose on their Credulity, and engage them in these wrong Measures, which we wish, for their Sakes, they had avoided.

'We hoped, from what we have constantly given in Charge to the _Indian_ Traders, that they would have administred no just Cause of Complaint: If they do you Wrong, it is against our Inclinations, and contrary to our express Directions. As you have exhibited no particular Charge against them, we shall use our best Endeavours to persuade them to give you as much for your Skins as they can possibly afford; and to take Care that their Goods which they give in Exchange for Skins, be of the best Sort. We will likewise order you some Rum to serve you on your journey home, since you desire it.

'We wish there had been more Room and better Houses provided for your Entertainment; but not expecting so many of you, we did the best we could. 'Tis true, there are a great many Houses in Town, but as they are the Property of other People, who have their own Families to take care of, it is difficult to procure Lodgings for a large Number of People, especially if they come unexpectedly.

'We entertain the same Sentiments of the Abilities and Probity of the Interpreter as you have express'd. We were induc'd at first to make use of him in this important Trust, from his being known to be agreeable to you, and one who had lived amongst you for some Years, in good Credit and Esteem with all your Nations; and have ever found him equally faithful to both. We are pleas'd with the Notice you have taken of him, and think he richly deserves it at your Hands. We shall not be wanting to make him a suitable Gratification, for the many good and faithful Services he hath done this Government.

'We have already given Orders for Waggons to carry your Goods, and for a Supply of Provisions to serve you on the Road in your Return home, where we heartily wish you may arrive in good Health.'

After the Governor had concluded, Mr. _Logan_ return'd an Answer to that Part of _Cana.s.satego_'s Speech which related to him, and said, 'That not only upon the Account of his Lameness, of which the _Indians_ themselves were Witnesses; but on Account of another Indisposition, which about three Years since had laid him under an Incapacity of expressing himself with his former usual Freedom, he had been obliged to live retired in the Country. But that our first Proprietor, the Honourable _William Penn_, who had ever been a Father and true Friend to all the _Indians_, having above forty Years since recommended them to his particular Care, he had always, from his own Inclination, as well as from that strict Charge, endeavoured to convince all the _Indians_, that he was their true Friend; and was now well pleased, that after a Tract of so many Years, they were not insensible of it. He thanked them kindly for their Present, and heartily joined with them in their Desires, that this Government may always be furnished with Persons of equally good Inclinations, and not only with such, but also with better Abilities to serve them.'

And then _Cana.s.satego_ said, he had forgot to mention, that _s.h.i.+ckcalamy_ and _Caxhayn_ had been employ'd on several Messages to this Government, and desir'd they might be consider'd on that Account.

At a C O U N C I L held the 12th of _July_, P. M. 1742.

P R E S E N T,

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

_James Logan_, } _Clement Plumsted_, } _Samuel Hasell_, } _Robert Strettell_, } Esqrs; _Samuel Preston_, } _Thomas Lawrence_, } _Abraham Taylor_, } Mr. _Richard Peters_.

The Board taking into Consideration the Regulation of the necessary Expences of the _Indians_ travelling down hither, and returning; and upon an Estimate made by _Conrad Weiser_, amounting to about _one hundred Pounds_, it appearing that the said Sum of 100 _l._ will be necessary to be advanced to _Conrad Weiser_ to defray those Expences, Mr. _Logan_, on the Proprietaries Behalf, proposes to advance 40 _l._ and the Treasurer declaring he had no publick Money in his Hands, and that if he had, he would not advance Money without the a.s.sembly's Order; it is recommended to Mr. _Preston_ and Mr. _Lawrence_, to confer with Mr. _Kinsey_, and know whether he, as Speaker of the a.s.sembly, and Trustee of the Loan-Office, will advance the other 60 _l._

And the _Indians_ having requested that they might have a small Quant.i.ty of Rum, to be added to their Provisions, to comfort them on the Road: The Board is of Opinion, that there be added to the said Estimate for twenty Gallons of Rum for the aforesaid Use. And in Return for their Present of Skins, at requesting that the _Indian_ Traders be enjoin'd to sell their Goods cheaper, the Board directs that two Strouds be presented. And that _five Pounds_ be given to _Caxhayn_ on the Account of the Province, for his Services; and to _s.h.i.+ckcalamy_ the like Sum.

_A just Copy, compared by_

_P A T R I C K B A I R D_, Secr.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

A