The Treaty Held with the Indians of the Six Nations at Philadelphia Part 3

500 _Awl-Blades_.

120 _Combs_.

2000 _Needles_.

1000 _Flints_.

24 _Looking-Gla.s.ses_.

2 _Pounds of Vermilion_.

100 _Tin Pots_.

1000 _Tobacco-Pipes_.

200 _Pounds of Tobacco_.

24 _Dozen of Gartering, &_ 25 _Gallons of Rum_.

Then the Governor told them that the Goods, of which the Particulars had been just Read to them, were in the Meeting-House, and would be sent to whatever Place they would direct.

The Governor then proceeded:

'_BRETHREN_,

'You have often heard of the Care that your great and good Friend and Brother _William Penn_ took at all Times to cultivate a perfect good Harmony with all the _Indians_: Of this your Nations have ever been fully sensible; but more especially a Number of your Chiefs, about ten Years ago, when, on the Arrival of a Son of your said great Friend _William Penn_, large and valuable Presents were exchanged by us with you; a new Road was made and clear'd; a new Fire kindled; and the Chain of Friendship made stronger, so as to last while the Sun and Moon endure.

'And now we cannot but congratulate ourselves that your Coming should happen at a Time when we are in daily Expectation of a War being declared between the King of _England_, and the _French_ King, well knowing, that should such a War happen, it must very sensibly affect you, considering your Situation in the Neighbourhood of _Canada_. Your Coming at this Juncture is particularly fortunate, since it gives us an Opportunity of mentioning several Things that may be necessary to be settled between People so strictly and closely united as we are.--An Union not to be express'd by any thing less than the affectionate Regards which Children of the same Parents bear for each other, as conceiving ourselves to be one Flesh and one People.

'The utmost Care therefore ought mutually to be taken by us on both Sides, that the Road between us be kept perfectly clear and open, and no Lets, nor the least Obstruction be suffered to lie in the Way; or if any should by Accident be found, that may hinder our free Intercourse and Correspondence, it must forthwith be removed.

_To inforce this, We lay down a String of_ Wampum.

'In next Place, We, on our Part, shall inlarge our Fire that burns between us. We shall provide more Fewel to increase it and make it burn brighter and clearer, and give a stronger and more lasting Light and Warmth.

_In Evidence of our sincere Intentions, We lay down this Belt of_ Wampum.

'In the last Place, considering the Obligations we are mutually under by our several Treaties, _That we should hear with our Ears for you, and you hear with your Ears for us_. We shall at all Times very willingly give you the earliest and best Intelligence of any Designs that may be form'd to your Disadvantage.--And if you discover any Preparations that can hurt us, we desire you will immediately dispatch some suitable Person in whom we can place a Confidence, to give us a proper Information.'

_To inforce this Request, as well as to brighten the Chain, we lay down this other Belt of_ Wampum.

On the Governor's concluding the Speech, the solemn Cry, by way of Approbation, was repeated by the _Indians_, as many Times as there were Nations present; and then _Cana.s.sateego_ rose up and spoke.

'_BRETHREN_, [Transcriber's Note: original has "BRRTHREN"]

'We thank you for your kind Speech: What you have said is very agreeable to us; and to-morrow when we have deliberated on the several Matters recommended to us, we will give you our Answer. We desire, as our Time will be wholly taken up in Council, you will order the Goods to be carried back to the Proprietaries to prevent their being lost, and that they may continue there till we call for them.'

At a COUNCIL held in the Meeting-House, _July_ 7. 1742.

PRESENT,

The Hon'ble GEORGE THOMAS, Esq; Lieut. Governor.

_James Logan, Samuel Preston,_ } _Thomas Lawrence, Samuel Hasell,_ } Esqrs; _Abraham Taylor, Robert Strettell,_ }

CANa.s.sATEEGO'S Speech on Behalf of the _Six Nations_.

'_BRETHREN, the Governor and Council, and all present_,

According to our Promise we now propose to return you an Answer to the several Things mentioned to us Yesterday, and shall beg Leave to speak to publick Affairs first, tho' they were what you spoke to last. On this Head you Yesterday put us in Mind, first, _Of_ William Penn's _early and constant Care to cultivate Friendship with all the_ Indians; _of the Treaty we held with one of his Sons, about Ten Years ago; and of the Necessity there is at this Time of keeping the Roads between us clear and free from all Obstructions._ We are all very sensible of the kind Regard that good Man _William Penn_ had for all the _Indians_, and cannot but be pleased to find that his Children have the same. We well remember the Treaty you mention held with his Son on his Arrival here, by which we confirmed our League of Friendship that is to last as long as the Sun and Moon endure: In Consequence of this, We, on our Part, shall preserve the Road free from all Inc.u.mbrances: in Confirmation whereof, we lay down this String of _Wampum_.

'You in the next Place said, _You would inlarge the Fire and make it burn brighter_, which we are pleased to hear you mention; and a.s.sure you, we shall do the same, by adding to it more Fewel, that it may still flame out more strongly than ever: In the last Place, you were pleased to say, _that we are bound, by the strictest Leagues, to watch for each others Preservation; that we should hear with our Ears for you, and you hear with your Ears for us_: This is equally agreeable to us; and we shall not fail to give you early Intelligence whenever any Thing of Consequence comes to our Knowledge: And to encourage you to do the same, and to nourish in your Hearts what you have spoke to us with your Tongues, about the Renewal of our Amity and the Brightening of the Chain of Friendship; we confirm what we have said with another Belt of _Wampum_.'

'_BRETHREN_,

We received [Transcriber's Note: original has "rececived"] from the Proprietor's, yesterday, some Goods in Consideration of our Release of the Lands on the West-Side of _Susquehanna_: It is true we have the full Quant.i.ty according to Agreement; but if the Proprietor had been here himself, we think, in Regard of our Numbers and Poverty, he would have made an Addition to them.--If the Goods were only to be divided amongst the _Indians_ present, a single Person would have but a small Portion; but if you consider what Numbers are left behind, equally int.i.tuled with us to a Share, there will be extreamly little. We therefore desire, if you have the Keys of the Proprietor's Chest, you will open it, and take out a little more for us.

'We know our Lands are now become more valuable: The white People think we do not know their Value; but we are sensible that the Land is everlasting, and the few Goods we receive for it are soon worn out and gone. For the Future we will sell no Lands but when Brother ONAS is in the Country; and we will know beforehand the Quant.i.ty of the Goods we are to receive. Besides, we are not well used with Respect to the Lands still unsold by us. Your People daily settle on these Lands, and spoil our Hunting.--We must insist on your Removing them, as you know they have no Right to settle to the Northward of _Kittochtinny-Hills_.--In particular, we renew our Complaints against some People who are settled at _Juniata_, a Branch of _Susquehanna_, and all along the Banks of that River, as far as _Mahaniay_; and desire they may be forthwith made to go off the Land; for they do great Damage to our Cousins the _Delawares_.

'We have further to observe, with Respect to the Lands lying on the West Side of _Susquehanna_, that tho' Brother ONAS (meaning the Proprietor) has paid us for what his People possess, yet some Parts of that Country have been taken up by Persons whose Place of Residence is to the South of this Province, from whom we have never received any Consideration.

This Affair was recommended to you by our Chiefs at our last Treaty; and you then, at our earnest Desire, promised to write a Letter to that Person who has the Authority over those People, and to procure us his Answer: As we have never heard from you on this Head, we want to know what you have done in it. If you have not done any thing, we now renew our Request, and desire you will inform the Person whose People are seated on our Lands, that that Country belongs to us, in Right of Conquest; we having bought it with our Blood, and taken it from our Enemies in fair War; and we expect, as Owners of that Land, to receive such a Consideration for it as the Land is worth. We desire you will press him to send us a positive Answer: Let him say _Yes_ or _No_: If he says _Yes_, we will treat with him; if _No_, we are able to do ourselves Justice; and we will do it, by going to take Payment ourselves.

'It is Customary with us to make a Present of Skins whenever we renew our Treaties. We are ashamed to offer our Brethren so few; but your Horses and Cows have eat the Gra.s.s our Deer used to feed on. This has made them scarce, and will, we hope, plead in Excuse for not bringing a larger Quant.i.ty: If we could have spared more, we would have given more; but we are really poor; and desire you'll not consider the Quant.i.ty, but, few as they are, accept them in Testimony of our Regard.'

_Here they gave the Governor a Bundle of Skins._

The Governor immediately replied:

'_BRETHREN_,

We thank you for the many Declarations of Respect: you have given us in this solemn Renewal of our Treaties: We receive, and shall keep your String and Belts of _Wampum_, as Pledges of your Sincerity, and desire those we gave you may be carefully preserved, as Testimonies of ours.

'In Answer to what you say about the Proprietaries.--They are all absent, and have taken the Keys of their Chest along with them; so that we cannot, on their Behalf, enlarge the Quant.i.ty of Goods: Were they here, they might, perhaps, be more generous; but we cannot be liberal for them.--The Government will, however, take your Request into Consideration, and, in Regard to your Poverty, may perhaps, make you a Present. I but just mention this now, intending to refer this Part of your Speech to be answered at our next Meeting.

'The Number of Guns, as well as every Thing else, answers exactly with the Particulars specified in your Deed of Conveyance, which is more than was agreed to be given you. It was your own Sentiments, that the Lands on the West Side of _Susquehanna_ were not so Valuable as those on the East; and an Abatement was to be made, proportionable to the Difference in Value: But the Proprietor overlooked this, and ordered the full Quant.i.ty to be delivered, which you will look on as a Favour.

'It is very true, that Lands are of late become more Valuable; but what raises their Value? Is it not entirely owing to the Industry and Labour used by the white People in their Cultivation and Improvement? Had not they come amongst you, these Lands would have been of no Use to you, any further than to maintain you. And is there not, now you have sold so much, enough left for all the Purposes of Living?--What you say of the Goods, that they are soon worn out, is applicable to every Thing; but you know very well, that they cost a great deal of Money; and the Value of Land is no more than it is worth in Money.

'On your former Complaints against People's Settling the Lands on _Juniata_, and from thence all along on the River _Susquehanna_ as far as _Mahaniahy_, some Magistrates were sent expresly to remove them; and we thought no Persons would presume to stay after that.

Here they interrupted the Governor, and said:--'_These Persons who were sent did not do their Duty: So far from removing the People, they made Surveys for themselves, and they are in League with the Trespa.s.sers. We desire more effectual Methods may be used and honester Persons imploy'd._'

Which the Governor promised, and then proceeded:

'_BRETHREN_,

According to the Promise made at our last Treaty with you, Mr. _Logan_, who was at that Time President, did write to the Governor of _Maryland_, that he might make you Satisfaction for such of your Lands as his People had taken up; but did not receive one Word from him upon that Head. I will write to him again, and endeavour to procure you a Satisfactory Answer. We do not doubt but he will do you Justice: But we exhort you to be careful not to exercise any Acts of Violence towards his People, as they likewise are our Brethren, and Subjects of the same Great King; and therefore Violence towards them must be productive of very evil Consequences.

'I shall conclude what I have to say at this Time with Acknowledgments for your Present; which is very agreeable to us, from the Expressions of Regard used by you in presenting it: Gifts of this Nature receiving their Value from the Affection of the Giver, and not from the Quant.i.ty or Price of the Thing given.'

At a COUNCIL held at _Philadelphia_, _July_ 8. 1742.

PRESENT