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.
_C A N A S S A T E G O spoke as follows:_
_Brother, the Governor of_ Maryland,
When you invited us to kindle a Council Fire with you, _Conedogwainet_
was the Place agreed upon; but afterwards you, by Brother _Onas_, upon
second Thoughts, considering that it would be difficult to get
Provisions and other Accommodations where there were but few Houses or
Inhabitants, desired we would meet our Brethren at _Lancaster_, and at
his Instances we very readily agreed to meet you here, and are glad of
the Change; for we have found Plenty of every thing; and as Yesterday
you bid us welcome, and told us you were glad to see us, we likewise
assure you we are as glad to see you; and, in Token of our Satisfaction,
we present you with this String of Wampum.
_Which was received with the usual Ceremony._
_Brother, the Governor of_ Maryland,
You tell us, that when about Seven Years ago you heard, by our Brother
_Onas_, of our Claim to some Lands in your Province, you took no Notice
of it, believing, as you say, that when we should come to reconsider
that Matter, we should find that we had no Right to make any Complaint
of the Governor of _Maryland_, and would drop our Demand. And that when
about two Years ago we mentioned it again to our Brother _Onas_, you say
we did it in such Terms as looked like a Design to terrify you; and you
tell us further, that we must be beside ourselves, in using such a rash
Expression as to tell you, We know how to do ourselves Justice if you
still refuse. It is true we did say so, but without any ill Design; for
we must inform you, that when we first desired our Brother _Onas_ to use
his Influence with you to procure us Satisfaction for our Lands, We, at
the same time, desired him, in case you should disregard our Demand, to
write to the Great King beyond the Seas, who would own us for his
Children as well as you, to compel you to do us Justice: And, two years
ago, when we found that you had paid no Regard to our just Demand, nor
that Brother _Onas_ had convey'd our Complaint to the Great King over
the Seas, we were resolved to use such Expressions as would make the
greatest Impressions on your Minds, and we find it had its Effect; for
you tell us, "That your wise Men held a Council together, and agreed to
invite us, and to enquire of our Right to any of your Lands, and if it
should be found that we had a Right, we were to have a Compensation made
for them: And likewise you tell us, that our Brother, the Governor of
_Maryland_, by the advice of these wise Men, has sent you to brighten
the Chain, and to assure us of his Willingness to remove whatever
impedes a good Understanding between us." This shews that your wise Men
understood our Expressions in their true Sense. We had no Design to
terrify you, but to put you on doing us the Justice you had so long
delayed. Your wise Men have done well; and as there is no Obstacle to a
good Understanding between us, except this Affair of our Land, we, on
our Parts, do give you the strongest Assurances of our good Disposition
towards you, and that we are as desirous as you to brighten the Chain,
and to put away all Hindrances to a perfect good Understanding; and, in
Token of our Sincerity, we give you this Belt of Wampum.
_Which was received, and the Interpreter ordered to give the_
Yo-hah.
_Brother, the Governor of_ Maryland,
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 Ship, 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 Ship to the Bushes on the Shore;
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 Friendship 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 passed between us, he found that the Rope which tied the Ship 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 Ship 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 Assistances 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 Assistance 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 assure 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_.]
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