The Treaty Held with the Indians of the Six Nations at Philadelphia Part 5

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_, } _SHICKALAMY_, } And other _Indian_ Chiefs.

CONRAD WEISER, Interpreter,

And a great Number of the Inhabitants of _Philadelphia_.

The Governor spoke to the _Indians_ as follows.

'_BRETHREN_,

This Meeting will be short: It is in order to make you a Present from the Governor, the Council, the a.s.sembly, and all our People. _William Penn_ was known to you to be a good and faithful Friend to all the _Indians_: He made a League of Friendship with you, by which we became one People. This League has often since been renew'd by friendly Treaties; and as you have declared that the Friendship shall always last on your Parts, so we would have you believe that it shall remain inviolable on ours while Sun and Moon endure.

'I gave you some Expectation of a Present, and we have it now ready to deliver to you. This Present is made you by the Governor, Council, a.s.sembly, and all our People, in Consideration of the great Miseries and Distresses which you our good Friends have lately suffered. This will be some Relief to you for the present, and 'tis to be hoped your own Industry will soon retrieve your Circ.u.mstances.

'It has sometimes hapened, and may happen again, that idle and untrue Stories are carried to you concerning us your Brethren; but our Desire is, and we expect it from you, that you will give no Credit to them; for we are, and always will be, your steady and sincere Friends.

'It is a Custom when we renew our Treaties with our good Friends the _Indians_, to clear the Road and make our Fire burn bright: We have done so upon this Occasion; and, in Token of our Sincerity, we deliver you, as a Present from the Governor, the Council, the a.s.sembly, and all the People of _Pensilvania_, the following Goods, _viz._

24 _Guns_, 600 _Pounds of Lead_, 600 _Pounds of Powder_, 25 _Strowdes_ } 90 _Duffel_ } _Match-Coats_.

30 _Blankets_, 62 _Yards of Half-Thicks_.

60 _Ruffled Shirts_, 25 _Hats_, 1000 _Flints_, 50 _Hoes_, 50 _Hatchets_, 5 _Pounds of Vermilion_, 10 _Dozen of Knives_, 8 _Dozen of Gimblets_, 2 _Dozen of Tobacco-Tongs_, 25 _Pair of Shoes_, 25 _Pair of Stockings_, 25 _Pair of Buckles_.

Whereupon the Chiefs and all the _Indians_, returned their solemn Thanks; and _Cana.s.sateego_ said, 'They had no more to say as to publick Business at present; but they had somewhat under Deliberation, which when they had duly considered they would communicate.'

At a COUNCIL held at the PROPRIETOR'S, _July_ 12, 1742.

PRESENT,

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

_James Logan_, _Clement Plumsted_, } _Thomas Lawrence_, _Abraham Taylor_, } Esqrs; _Robert Strettell_, }

Mr. _Richard Peters_.

_CANa.s.sATEEGO_, } And sundry Chiefs of the _SHICKALAMY_, } SIX NATIONS.

_Sa.s.sOONAN_, and _Delawares_.

_NUTIMUS_, and _Fork-Indians_.

_CONRAD WEISER_, Interpreter.

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

_Nicholas Scull_, }

_CANa.s.sATEEGO_ said:

'_BRETHREN 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 about ---- 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 you 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:

'_COUSINS_,

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 to preserve Friendship. On the other Hand, Your Cause is bad; your Heart far from being upright; and you are maliciously bent to break the Chain of Friendship 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 through your Guts; you have been furnish'd 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 their 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.sateego_ 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, medling 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.sateego_ then spoke to the Governor and Council:

'_BRETHREN_,

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, through 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 Councils.

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.

'_BRETHREN_,

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 this Request, about the_ Indian _Traders, we present you with this Bundle of Skins._

'_BRETHREN_,

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.

'_BRETHREN_,

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 and [Transcriber's Note: repeated word in original] 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 our selves, 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 Cloaths 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.

'_BRETHREN_,

'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.

'_BRETHREN of the Six Nations_, [Transcriber's Note: original has "BRRTHREN"]