continue, and I hope yet to be able to spin wool for a blanket, if
the Good Spirit will continue my sight. I am very thankful for the
knowledge I have acquired of your women Friends.
“Brothers, I hope this may find you all well, and I wish the Great
Spirit may bless you.”
In the spring of 1809, a Friend, who had spent many years among the
natives, returned again to his former station at Tunesassa, and being
acquainted with the weaving business, he was usefully employed in
manufacturing into cloth the yarn which the Indian women had spun in
the last winter, and the industry of several of them procured them
sufficient specimens of domestic manufactures, to stimulate them to
further exertions.
This spring four of the Friends resident at Tunesassa proceeded to
Cattaraugus, in order to carry on the improvements at this new station,
and to instruct the Indians in that settlement.
The Indians at Alleghany continued to make a satisfactory progress in
their agricultural labours, seven or eight families sowed flax this
spring, and other marks of improvement were observable. The settlement
was visited again by a deputation from the committee, and the situation
of the Indians fully inspected, and much advice and counsel were
communicated to them relative to their moral conduct, as well as in
regard to their temporal concerns.
They were particularly warned of the iniquity of men and their wives
separating, (a practice which was too common among them,) and marrying
again with others; the natural consequence of which was, leaving their
children in poverty and distress, besides being attended with a variety
of other evils.
The communications of Friends appeared to be well received, and in the
replies which the Indians made, among many other things, Cornplanter
remarked, “We are sensible that it is displeasing to the Great Spirit
for men and their wives to separate, and I am very happy that you have
now mentioned it, when so many of our young warriors are present who
have the opportunity of hearing; and I hope they will attend to the
good counsel you have given us.”
This deputation from the committee also visited Cattaraugus settlement,
and had satisfactory interviews with those Indians, encouraging them to
industry and sobriety, and to avail themselves of the opportunity they
now had of receiving instruction from our Friends, who had lately come
to settle near them.
In their replies to Friends, the chief warrior observed:--“You still
continue to speak the same language to our nation, and we believe your
views towards us are the effects of pure friendship, and a desire for
our welfare; and although we have fallen short in fulfilling your
former advices, we are still encouraged to follow your counsel, and
to pursue the path you have set before us. We hope you will continue
to have patience towards us, as Indians cannot adopt all these habits
that you recommend at once; but we are convinced that industry in
cultivating our lands, is the only method by which we can receive
lasting benefits, and we are determined to pursue it--and we hope we
shall still continue to make a gradual advancement.”
During the winter and spring of 1810, the Indian women at Alleghany
gave increasing attention to spinning. Some elderly females, who had
acquired sufficient knowledge, and being anxious to promote this
valuable art, took the superintendence of the young girls, and this
season they spun sufficient to make one hundred and twenty yards, part
of which was woollen, and manufactured into blankets.
Some small premiums were offered to such of the men as should sow
spring wheat, which had a stimulating effect; and sixteen or seventeen
individuals availed themselves of the offer.
The Indians purchased four yoke of oxen, which enabled them to do more
ploughing--and during the course of the season many of the young men
inclined to hire to work for other Indians, a practice which had not
been common among them. This, however, was in part produced by the
embargo system which was now in operation, and had an effect to reduce
the price of skins and furs, so as to render hunting not worth pursuing
as an object of profit.
Red Jacket, and three other chiefs of the Seneca nation, visited
Philadelphia this year, and Friends had a satisfactory interview with
them. Red Jacket in his remarks, stated:
“I am unable to express the thankfulness I feel for the many acts of
kindness your society have shown to us; particularly when that old
gentleman, (pointing to an elderly Friend present,) and many others now
no more, attended at our treaties. And I am happy in observing your
disposition to pursue the same track of conduct your fathers observed
towards Indians, now they are removed to the world of spirits.”
Some implements of husbandry were furnished to the Tuscarora Indians,
residing on the Seneca reservation near Buffalo; and the situation of
the Delaware Indians residing on the Cattaraugus reservation claiming
the sympathy of Friends, as being the remnant of a scattered tribe
who formerly inhabited the parts along the river Delaware, and who
for many years lived on terms of sincere friendship and reciprocal
acts of kindness with the early settlers, while the country was then a
wilderness; it was believed right to make them an offer of purchasing
a tract of land in the neighbourhood of Cattaraugus, provided they
would live on, and occupy it. Although the offer was not accepted they
gratefully acknowledge the kindness of Friends, and their answer on
this occasion strongly excites our sympathy for the destiny of this
once great and powerful nation.
“Our nation, say they, seem as if they were scattered over the whole
world; and we have been desirous, for many years past, of getting
together, and have now fully concluded to leave the country of the
Senecas. The land you propose giving us here, if we could take it on
our backs and set it down in the neighbourhood of our nation to the
westward, we should be very thankful for; but we don’t feel satisfied
to remain in this country, and have concluded certainly to leave it as
soon as we can.”
Considerable progress was made this season by the Cattaraugus Indians.
Many of them enclosed fields separately, and had plentiful crops of
corn; and as an incitement to this plan of farming, small premiums had
been offered by Friends. And as a further encouragement, to accommodate
the Indians, preparations were made to erect grist and saw-mills on
the tract of land belonging to Friends, whereby they could have their
grinding done, and be furnished with boards to enable them to build
better houses.
In the beginning of the year 1811, the Indian women at Alleghany
manifested a much earlier attention to the spinning business; and
before the time they usually began, had sufficient spun for one
hundred and sixty yards of cloth. Near one half of their women by this
time, had acquired some knowledge of this business; and though they
had heretofore, for the most part, attended to it at the house of
employment, many of them now procured wheels of their own, and attended
to it at their own houses. Four of them within two years had spun yarn
for about one hundred and twenty-five yards; and two others, in the
last season, had spun and wove themselves twenty-one yards of linsey.
The instruction of their children in school learning, had for several
years past, been but little attended to, owing to the impediments the
Indians themselves had thrown in the way--but this year it was again
revived; and a young man, qualified for that purpose, kept a school
among them, at their request.
The Indians at Cattaraugus were also making satisfactory improvement
this season. The saw-mill was in operation this fall, and the grist
mill in a considerable state of forwardness.
The progress of improvement had, for many years past, exhibited an
encouraging prospect--affording a comfortable hope, that the desirable
object would be effected, of reclaiming at least a portion of the
Indians from a savage and rambling life, to enjoy in a plentiful
manner, and in undisturbed security, the productions of the fruitful
field. Yet it now seems our painful task to record some circumstances,
which for a time much unsettled the minds of the Indians, and retarded
their progress in civilization.
By a company of individuals, claiming what they called the pre-emption
right, an attempt was now made to purchase from the Seneca nation,
all their land which they held in the state of New York, and under a
specious show of benevolence, to give them a large tract of country far
to the westward, where they might enjoy their native forest, away from
the intrusions of white people.
The peculiar situation of their land--being generally of an excellent
quality, and an increasing white population fast settling round
it--made it an object very desirable to this company, who, it is
probable, paid a large sum of money for this pre-emption right.
From the best information I have received respecting this claim, it
appears, by the original charter, that the state of Massachusetts had
this pre-emption right, or privilege of purchasing the Indians’ land
in this part of the territory; and to satisfy this claim, in 1787, the
state of New York ceded to Massachusetts the right of soil--reserving
to itself the jurisdiction thereof. The state of Massachusetts, in
1792, again sold their right of purchase to an individual, who, in the
year 1797, at a treaty held at Genessee river, in the state of New
York, purchased of the Indians a large tract of country, as has been
already stated--the Indians “_nevertheless and always reserving_” out
of this grant and conveyance, such reservations as were therein agreed
upon; “_to remain the property of the said Seneca Indians, in as full
and ample a manner_,” as if the said sale had not been made. This
purchase again passed into other hands, and finally the pre-emption
right to the Indians’ reservations into the hands of the company now
claiming them.
Notwithstanding these were the only persons who had a legal right to
purchase, it was only when the Indians were disposed to sell: and
always to be understood, as the original owners of the soil, they had
the right to refuse to sell, as guaranteed in the most solemn manner by
the president of the United States.
But notwithstanding their indubitable title to the soil, the attempt
thus made, in an artful manner, to obtain their land, had the effect to
produce great commotion and disturbance among them. Nor was it to be
doubted, but that means, too frequently practised on such occasions,
would be resorted to. These were, to offer rewards to the chiefs or
principal men of the nation, to gain their influence, in order to bring
about the object they had in view.
The Indians, however, at this time, did not accede to the proposals
that had been held out to them, as may be seen from the following
extracts of a speech of Red Jacket to an agent, who, it seems, was
employed by the primitive holders to negotiate this business.
“Brother, we opened our ears to the talk you lately delivered to us, at
our council fire. In doing important business, it is best not to tell
long stories, but to come to it in a few words--we shall therefore not
repeat your talk, which is fresh in our minds. We have well considered
it, and the advantages and disadvantages of your offers--we request
your attention to our answer, which is not from the speaker alone, but
from all the sachems and chiefs now round our council fire.
“Brother, your application for the purchase of our lands is, to our
minds, very extraordinary. It has been made in a crooked manner.
You have not walked in the straight path, pointed out by the Great
Council of your nation. You have no writing from our Great Father
the president. We have looked back, and remembered how the Yorkers
purchased our lands in former times. They bought them, piece after
piece, for a little money, paid to a few men in our nation, and not to
all our brethren,--until our planting and hunting grounds have become
very small; and if we should sell these, we know not where to spread
our blankets.
“Brother, you tell us your employers have purchased of the council of
Yorkers, a right to buy our lands. We do not understand how this can
be. The lands do not belong to the Yorkers. They are ours, and were
given to us by the Great Spirit.
“Brother, you want us to travel with you, and look for other lands. If
we should sell our lands, and move off into a distant country, towards
the setting sun, we should be looked upon, in the country to which we
go, as foreigners and strangers, and be despised by the red, as well as
the white men. We should soon be surrounded by the white people, who
would there also kill our game, come upon our lands, and try to get
them from us.
“Brother, we are determined not to sell our lands, but to continue on
them. They are fruitful, and produce us corn in abundance, for the
support of our women and children, and grass and herbs for our cattle.
“Brother, the white people buy and sell false rights to our lands; and
your employers, you say, have paid a great price for their right. They
must have plenty of money to spend it buying and selling false rights
to lands belonging to Indians. The loss of it will not hurt them, but
our lands are of great value to us; and we wish you to go back to your
employers, and tell them and the Yorkers, that they have no right to
buy and sell false rights to our lands.”
Although the inducements held out to Indians at this time were
rejected, yet the scheme, on the part of the applicants, was by no
means abandoned; and as a measure like this, so inimical to the cause
in which Friends were engaged, could not fail of exciting considerable
alarm, it was reasonable to suppose, their influence would interpose
to prevent the adoption of a measure so pregnant of evil to the poor
Indians. Accordingly, an appropriate address was presented to the
Seneca nation, strongly recommending them to a diligent improvement of
their land, and to keep strong in their resolution not to part with
it--for if they should sell and remove to a distant country, it was
not likely Friends would go with them, or assist them, as they had
heretofore done.
The minds of the Indians appeared to be quieted for the present, and
they were peculiarly pleased with the communications of Friends on this
occasion. One of their chiefs observed in council--“Your words reached
our hearts, and as though they had been handed down from the Great
Spirit above, they have satisfied our minds.”
The spring of 1812, commenced with very encouraging prospects of
improvement at both the settlements. The women were engaged in their
spinning business, and the men in their agricultural pursuits, which
relieved the women of much of their former hardships and burthens in
procuring a livelihood. The measures adopted for their improvement had
now been in operation at the Alleghany settlement for fourteen years,
and the advantages resulting therefrom were more sensibly felt, and
clearly distinguished by the Indians than at any former period. The
progress of the Indians at Cattaraugus, considering the infant state
of the establishment of Friends there, afforded the most sanguine
prospect, that, by a steady perseverance, in the course of a few years
more, a very important change would be effected in their situation
and manner of life. But a reverse of circumstances, in the course of
events, again took place, which it seems proper now to mention.
It was in the Sixth month, this year, that war was proclaimed by
the United States against Great Britain, and her dependencies. This
circumstance created very considerable alarm amongst the Indians, and
to use their own expressions, “seemed to turn the world upside down.”
Their situation was peculiarly trying. War was a circumstance replete
with many evils, which would inevitably involve them in serious
difficulties. Their money, for which they had sold their land in 1797,
was in the hands of the government. Their remaining lands were nearly
all within the boundaries of the state of New York, and lying near to
the British lines, which it was probable would become the seat of war,
and therefore they would be liable to be much harassed by either party,
even should they remain neutral. In the next place, there were several
tribes of their confederates of the Six Nations, whom they had always
considered as brethren, who resided within the British dominions, and
called upon to fight their battles; and it was probable they would be
called upon by the United States to assist in the contest, and thus
they would be reduced to the sad dilemma, of either being considered,
in case of a refusal, as enemies to the United States, or otherwise be
under the necessity of raising the hatchet against their own flesh and
blood, who had not given the slightest cause of offence or provocation.
Nor were these all the evils that seemed to threaten their repose. They
were generally represented, in war, as a ferocious, unrelenting people;
and hence it was natural to conclude, that jealousies would exist among
their surrounding white neighbours, and prejudices be excited, which it
would be difficult to remove.
Their fears were not groundless in this respect; for soon after war was
proclaimed, many of the surrounding inhabitants became very uneasy, and
divers left their settlements, and removed to places more remote from
the natives. This circumstance caused some alarm among the Indians.
They apprehended that their sincerity and friendly dispositions were
suspected; in consequence whereof, a council was held between them
and their white neighbours, to endeavour to eradicate the fears and
jealousies which existed between them. The result of this was, that the
Indians promised to take no part in the war, and the whites agreed not
to molest them in their peaceable possessions.
This conclusion, however, did not stand long, on the part of the
Indians. They were called upon by the United States to engage in
the contest, and to take up arms against their brethren in Canada,
who were, no doubt, excited to this unnatural war, by the British
government. Some of the young warriors, who had never before seen
the dreadful effects of such a conflict, were anxious to try their
valour, and gain themselves a name; while many of their elderly people,
who retained some knowledge of former wars, were more disposed to
remain quiet at home. But as it is not the design of this work to
give a history of the war, in all its bearings on the Indians, it is
sufficient to say, that during the period the war lasted, they were at
times engaged therein by parties; and in proportion to the part they
acted on this occasion, their advancement in civilization was impeded.
In the autumn of this year, two of the committee visited the
settlements at Tunesassa and Cattaraugus, by whom a suitable address
was sent to the Indians. But they found them in a very unsettled
situation, on account of the war; and said “they could not, at present,
attend to their improvements--for, look which way they would, they saw
nothing but war.”
As the situation of the Friends stationed among the Indians was also
trying at this period, they were left at liberty either to leave them,
and return home, or to remain, as they felt best satisfied to do.
In the year 1813, although frequent alarms continued to pervade the
Indians’ borders, our Friends did not apprehend it sufficient cause to
abandon their residence, or to relax their endeavours to establish the
Indians in a more permanent advantage from the soil. The Indians, too,
appeared to have a special confidence in Friends, and often consulted
them on account of their own safety, stating “that if Friends removed
from them, they would become uneasy, and flee also.”
Although some of the Indians attended to their business, yet the
continual alarms, and frequent calls on them to assist in the invasion
of Canada, very much diverted their attention from their domestic
concerns; and their war excursions had a demoralizing effect, by
exposing them again to the use of intoxicating liquors, which gained an
ascendency over some.
Towards the close of this season, at the time Buffalo was attacked and
burned by the British, the Indians became exceedingly agitated. Those
of Cattaraugus, lying more contiguous to the scene of action, moved a
great part of their property to the south side of the river, in order
to flee in case of an attack. The consternation that prevailed among
the inhabitants generally, in that country, had a tendency to increase
their fears; and probably a consciousness of their having taken up arms
against their brethren in Canada, naturally created apprehensions,
that, if their enemies proved victorious they would have to suffer a
retaliation.
The alarm, however, subsided, as there was no attack made on them, and
they were permitted to remain quiet the succeeding winter, and attend
somewhat to their necessary concerns.
In the fall of 1814, the settlements were visited again by four of the
committee. They arrived at Cattaraugus the thirteenth of the Ninth
month, and had a council on the fifteenth with the Indians. Many of
them were then absent, being engaged in the war, and more were about
going. But when they heard of Friends’ arrival, they concluded to stay
at home.
They stated the many difficulties which they laboured under, on account
of the war, and the great obstruction it was to their improvement. They
said the officers often called on them to go to war, and if they staid
at home, they were not satisfied--and they did not know whether they
were safe or not.
“Brothers, said they, the war has continued for three summers past. We
have still had time to provide a little for our families; but this year
we scarcely get home, before another express comes for us. We have been
in hopes these troubles would subside; but from the present commotions,
and noise of the great guns on the lines, we have entertained doubts
how or when it will end.”
At the conclusion of the council, they remarked the great satisfaction
they felt, that the Friends who lived beside them had remained so
steady with them through their difficulties, that although the great
guns had roared so loud as to shake the ground whereon they stood, yet
they remained quiet; which convinced them that they must be under the
protection of the Great Spirit.
Notwithstanding the various interruptions the Indians had met with
on account of the war, they had made very considerable advances in
agricultural improvements, at this settlement. The author, being one of
the deputation who now visited them, had an opportunity of observing
the great contrast in their situation, since Friends came to settle
among them. They had enclosed with good fences, and cultivated several
hundred acres of good land, within three or four years past; a great
proportion of which was planted with corn and potatoes, or sowed with
oats, &c. and generally looked well. Many families had raised wheat,
and were preparing to sow more in the fall. Several had raised flax,
and about twenty-five of their women had learned to spin. Their women,
also, appeared more neat and cleanly, in their dress and houses. But
three or four families remained in their old village, having found
it much to their advantage to settle more detached from each other.
They were now scattered along, on the rich bottoms, for several miles.
Considerable improvement had also taken place in the mode of building.
Many had good houses, and some had barns, and scarcely any of the old
cabins were seen standing. The Indians had procured a number of wagons
and carts, with other farming utensils, as well as several yoke of
oxen. Their stock of cattle, in general, was much increased; and the
Indians said, in council, there were but one or two families but had
cows or horses.