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IVIaps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre film6s d des taux de reduction diffdrents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul clich6, il est fiimd d partir de Tangle sup6rieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images ndcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mdthode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 ABC A CI ADDRESS ON THE PRESENT CONDITION AND PROSPECTS OF THE I ABORIGINAL INHABITANTS OF NORTH AMERICA, WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO THE SENECA NATION. DELIVERED AT BUFFALO, NEW YORK. BY M, B. PIERCE, A CHIEF OF THE SENECA NATION, AND A MEMBER OF DARTMOUTH COLLEGE. PHILADELPHIA: J. Richards, Printer, No. 130 North Third Street. 1839. PREFACE. The following Address, recently delivered, has been published under the hope that the subject of the wrongs done to the Indian tribes of our country by designing men, may claim more of the public attention. Surround- ed as the Seneca Indians are with the conveniences of civilized life, they now are beginning to appreciate the eflbrts heretofore made by benevolent individuals and as- sociations for their benefit. In order to enable these In- dians to retain their lands, and encourage them to with- stand the combined efforts of unprincipled men, who are endeavouring to wrest by fraud their property from them, it is hoped the citizens of our common country will join in petitioning the Senate not to ratify the Treaty which the agents of both the Land Company and others, have been endeavouring to make with a part of the Chiefs, during the past year, should they succeed in obtaining it. In proof of the kind of fraud resorted to, the reader is referred to the case of Jolm Snow's Contract.* In order to obtain his signature and influence, not only is a large sum of money to be paid liim, but it is also guaranteed that he shall continue to possess his land, and shall not be compelled to remove. Thus, those who are openly and honestly contending for their rights, and entreating for the unmolested possession of their homes, are by the treachery of others, to be forced to relinquish them, whilst those who have thus betrayed them, are to remain in the enjoyment of their lands, and in addition, to receive a large sum of money as the price of their treachery; and this bribe ifj offered ostensibly for the Indian's good, by those professing to be christians. "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them." Philadelphia, Isi mo. 1839. * See Appendix — page 19. 9} ADDRESS. *t The condition and circumstances of the race of people of whom I am by blood owe, and in the well being of whom I am, by the ties of kindred and the common feel- ings of humanity, deeply interested, sufficiently apolo- gize, and tell the reason for my seeking this occasion of appearing before this audience, in this city. Not only the eyes and attention of yow, our neighbors— but also of the councils of this great nation, are turned upon us. We are expected to do, or to refuse to do, what the councils of this nation, and many private men, are now asking of us — what many favour and advocate — yet also what many discountenance and condemn. My relation to ray kindred people being as you are aware it is, I have thought it not improper — rather that it was highly jorojoer—- that 1 should appear before you in my own person and character, in behalf of my people and myself, to present some facts, and views, and rea- sons, which must necessarily have a material bearing upon our decisions and doings at the present juncture of our affairs. Hitherto our cause has been advocated almost exclu- sively, though ably and humanely, by the friends of hu- man right and human weal, belonging by nature to a different, and by circumstances and education^ to a superior race of men. The ability and humanity of its advocates, however, does not do away the expediency. nor even the necessity ^ of those of us who can, standing forth with our own pen and voices, in behalf of that same right and that same weal as connected with our- selves, which have been and now are, by a powerful and perhaps /afa/ agency, almost fatally jeopardized. It has been said and reiterated so frequently as to have obtained the familiarity of household words, that it is the doom of the Indian to disappear — to vanish like the morning dew, before the advance of civilization : and melancholy is it to us — those doomed ones — that the history of this country, in respect to us and its civiliza- tion, has furnished so much ground for the saying, and for giving credence to it. But whence and why are we thus doomed ? Why must we be crushed hy the arm of civilization, or the requiom of our race be chaunted by the waves of the Pacific, which is destined to engulph us ? It has been so long and so often said as to have gained general credence, that our natural constitution is such as to render us incapable of apprehending, and incom- petent to practice, upon those principles from which re- sult the characteristic qualities of christian civilization ; and so by a necessary consequence, under the sanction of acknowledged principles of moral law, we must yield ourselves sacrifices, doomed by the constitution which the Almighty has made for us, to that other race of hu- man beings, whom the same Almighty has endowed with a more noble and more worthy constitution. These are the premises ; these the arguments ; these the conclusions ; and if they are true, and just, and /c- gitimate, ir the language of the poet, we must say, •'God of the just — thou gavest the bitter cup, We bow to thy behest, and drink it up," 4'H 4,'i But are they true^ and justj and legitimate ? Do we, as a people, lack the capacity of apprehending and ap- preciating any of the principles which form the basis of christian civilization? Do we lack the competency of practicing upon those principles in any or all their va- rieties of application ? A general reference to facts as they are recorded in the history of the former days of our existence, and as they now are transpiring before the eyes of the whole enlightened world, give an answer which should ever stifle the question, and redeem us from the stigma. Before citing particular exemplifiations of the truth of this, I will allude to one question which is triumphantly asked by those who adojjt the doctrine of the untameable nature of the Indian, viz. " Why have not the Indians be- come civilized and christianized as a consequence of their intercourse with the whites — and of the exertions of the whites to bring about so desirable a result?" Who that believes the susceptibilities and passions of human nature to be in the main uniform throughout the rational species, needs an answer to this question from me ? Recur to the page which records the dealings, both in manner and substance, of the early white settlers and of their successors, down even to the present day, with the unlettered and unwary red man, and then recur to the susceptibilities of your own bosom, and the question is answered. Say, ye on whom the sun light of civilization a:id Christianity has constantly shone — into whose lap For- tune has poured her brimful horn, so that you are enjoy- ing the highest and best spiritual and temporal blessings of this world, — say, if some beings from fairy land, or some distant planet, should come to you in such a man- ner as to cause you to deem them children of greater 1* 6 light and superior wisdom to yourselves, and you should open to them the hospitality of your dwellings and the fruits of your labor^ and they should, by dint of their superior wisdom., dazzle and amaze you, so as for what to them were toys and rattles^ they should gain freer admission and fuller welcome, till finally they should claim the right to your possessions, and of hunting you, like wild beasts, from your long and hitherto undisputed domain, how ready would you be to be taught of them? How cordially would you open your minds to the con- viction that they meant not to deceive yon further and still more fatally in their proffers of pretended kindness. How much of the kindliness of friendship for them, and of esteem for their manners and customs would you feel? Would not ' the milk of human kindness' in your breasts be turned to the gall of hatred towards them ? And have not we^ the original and undisputed possessors of this country, been treated ivorse than you would be, should my supposed case be transformed to reality? But I will leave the consideration of this point for thtr present, by saying, what I believe every person who hears me will assent to, that the manner in which the whites have habitually dealt with the Indians, make them wonder that their hatred has not burned with tenfold fury against them, rather than that they have not laid aside their own peculiar notions and habits, and adopted those of their civilized neighbors. Having said thus much as to the question, *' Why have not the Indians been civilized and christianized by the intercourse and efforts of the whites?" I would now call your attention to a brief exempli ftcation of the point I was remarking upon before alluding to the above-men- tioned question, viz. ** That the Indian is capable of ap- prehending and appreciating, and is competent to prac- ^ V \ tice on those principles which form the basis of christian civilization." I do not know that it has ever been questioned, and especially by those who have had the best opportunities to learn by experience and observation, that the Indian possesses as perfect a physical constitution as the whites, or any other race of men, especially in the matter of hardy body, swift foot, sharp and true eye, accompanied by a hand that scarcely ever drew the bow-string amiss, or raised the tomahawk in vain. 1 believe also, that it is not denied that he is suscepti- ble of hatred, and equally of friendship,— that he even can love and pity, and feel gratitude, — that he is prone to the adoration of the Great Spirit, — that he possesses an imagination, by which he pictures fields of the bless- ed in a purer and more glorious world than this, — that he possesses the faculty of memory and judgment, and such a combination of faculties as enable him to invent and imitate, — that he is susceptible of ambition, emula- tion, pride, vanity, — that he is sensitive to honor and disgrace, and necessarily has the elements of a moral sense or conscience. All these are granted as entering into his native spiritual constitution. For instances of those natural endowments, which, by cultivation, give to the children of civilization their great names and far-reaching fame, call to mind Philip of Mount Hope, whose consummate talents and skill made him the white man's terror, by his display of those talents and skill for the white man's destruction. Call to mind Tecumseh, by an undeserved association with whose name, one of the great men of your nation has obtained more of greatness than he ever merited, either for his deeds or his character. Call to mind Red Jacket, formerly your neighbor, with some of you a 8 I I friend and a familiar, of the same tribe with whom I have the honor to be a humble member: to have been a friend and familiar with whom none of you feel it a disgrace. Call to mind Osceola, the victim of the white man's treachery and cruelty, whom neither his enemy's cunning or arm could conquer on the battle field, and who at last was consumed "in durance vile," by the corroding of his own spirit. " In durance vile," I say — (blot the fact from the records of thai damning base- nenSy — of that violation of all law, of all humanity, — which that page of your nation's history which contains i. i account of it, must ever be ; — blot out the fact, I say, before you rise up to call an Indian treacherous or cruel.) Call to mind these and a thousand others, whom I have not time to mention, and my point is gained. Here, then, the fundamental elements of the best es- tate of human nature are admitted as existing in the natural constitution of the Indian. The question now comes, are these elements susceptible of cultivation and improvement, so as to entitle their possessors to the rank which civilization and Christianity bestow ? For an instance of active pity, — of dtep, rational, active pity, and the attendant intellectual qualities, I ask you to call to mind the story-surpassing romance of Pocahontas — she who threw herself between a supposed inimical stranger, and the deadly club which had been raised by the stern edict of her stern father, — she begged for the victim's life, — she obtained his deliverance from the jaws of death by appealing to the affections which existed in the bosom of her father, savage as he was, and which affections overcame the fell intent which had caused him to pronounce the white man's do 3m. From this time she received the instruction, imbibed the prin- ciples and sentiments, adopted the manners and customs ) 9 of the whites ; in her bosom burned purely and ration- ally the flame of love, in accordance with the prompt- ings of which, she offered herself at the hymenial altar, to take the nuptial ties with a son of Christian England. The offspring of this marriage have been, wUh priihy claimed as sons and citizens of the noble and venerable State of Virginia. Ye who love prayer, hover in your imagination around the cot of Bn)wn, and listen to tlie strong suppli- , cations as they arise from the fervent heart of Catharine, and then tell me whether " The poor Indian wliosc untutor'd mind Sees God in clouds and hears him in the wind," is not capable, by cultivation, of rationally cojnprehending the true God, whose pavillion, though it be the clouds, still giveth grace even to the humble. But perhaps I am indulging too much in minuteness. Let me then refer to one more instance which covers the whole ground and sets the point under consideration beyond dispute. The ill-starred Cherokees stand forth in colors of living light, redeeming the Indian character from the foul aspersions that it is not susceptible of civ- ilization and christianization. In most of the arts which characterise civilized life, this nation in the aggregate, have made rapid and long advances. The arts of peace in all their varieties, on which depend the comforts and enjoyments of the enlightened, have been practised and the results enjoyed by them. The light of revelation has beamed in upon their souls, and caused them to ex- change the blind worship of the Great Spirit, for the rational worship and service of the God of the Bible. — Schools have been established. An alphabet of the lan- guage invented by one of their own men; instruction 10 Ml I I iL sought and imparted ; and letters cultivated in their own as well as the English language. Hence many individuals have advanced even to the refinements of civilized life, both in respect to their phy- sical and intellectual condition. A John Ross stands be- fore the American people in a character both of intellect and heart which many of the white men in high places may envy, yet nevrr be able to attain. A scholar, a patriot, an honest and honourable man ; standing up be- fore the " powers that be," in the eyes of heaven and men, now demanding, now supplicating of those pow- ers a regard for the rights of humanity, of justice, of law, — is still a scholar, a patriot, an honest and honor- able man, though an Indian blood coursing in his veins, and an Indian color giving hue to his complexion, dooms him and his children a:>d kin to be hunted at the point of the bayonet by those powers, from their homes and possessions and country, to the " terra incognita" be- yond the Mississippi. I now leave this point, on which, perhaps I need not have spoken thus briefly, from the fact that it is granted by all of you as soon as announced; and proceed to make a few remarks confined more exclusively to my ov^n kindred tribe, a part of whom live near this city. Taking it as clearly true that the Indians are suscep- tible of cultivation and improvement, even to the degree of physical, intellectual and moral refinement, which confers the title of civilized and christianized, — I now proceed to consider whether their condition and feelings are such as to render feasible the undertaking to bring them up to that degree^ — whether in fact they do not themselves desire to come up to it. When I say Mey, I mean those who constitute the body and stamina of the people. As to this point, I take it upon myself to nr own 11 say that such an undertaking is feasible, and doubly so from the fact that the object of the undertaking is earn- estly desired by themselves. I know of no way to set this matter in a clearer light than by presenting you with some facts as to the spirit and the advance of improvements amongst them. And this I crave the liberty of doing by a brief detail of items, prefacing the detail by the remark of a highly respecta- ble individual, formerly of Holland, Erie co., but for some eighteen years a resident of Illinois, After an ab- sence of about fifteen years, he returned two or three years ago, and spent the summer in this region, and several days of the time on the Reservation. He fre- quently remarked that the Indians, during his absence, had improved far more rapidly than their neighbors in the country around them. In business there is much greater diligence and indus- try ; their teams, in respect to oxen, horses, wagons, sleighs, &c., are greater in number and better in quality than formerly : and in these respects there is a constant improvement. The men labor more, comparatively, and the women less, except in their appropriate sphere, than formerly. With regard to buildings, they are much more con- veniently planned, and of the best materials, both dwell- ing houses and barns, and new ones constantly going up. Those who have not lands of their own under cul- tivation, are much more willing to hire out their services to others, either by the year or by shares. This shows that the idea, '* to work is thought to be dishonorable," has been done away. There are amongst us, good mowers, and cradlers, and reapers. Blacksmiths, car- penters, shoemakers, and other mechanics, find work enough from their own brethren. There are several 12 Mj wagons in the nation, which are worth more than one hundred dollars in cash ; tools of the best quality and of various kinds; manure and other things are sometimes applied, but five years ago almost or quite universally wasted. With regard to mode of living, tables, chairs, and bed- steads and cooking ap pa^itus have generally been pur- chased of the whites or manufactured in imitation of them; and they are used to a greater or less extent in almost every family. The habit of taking regular meals is gaining ground, and the provision luxurious. In the care of the sick, they are more attentive and judicious, and rely less on notions and quackery; they employ skilful physicians, and use the medicine with less preju- dice, and a great deal mvore confidence. Other evidences of improvement we have in the in- crease of industry, and a consequent advance in dress, furniture, jand all the comforts and conveniences of civil- ized life. The fields of the Indians have never been kept in so good order, and managed with so much in- dustry, as for the few years past. At public meetings and other large assemblies, the Indians appear comfort- ably and decently, and some of them richly clad. The population is increasing gradually, except when visited with epidemics. The increase of general information is visible: there are many of them, who keep themselves well informed of v/hat is going on in the country ; sev- eral newspapers have been taken from the cities of Washington, D. C, Philadelphia, New York, and other cities in the Union, and two or three copies of the Genessee Farmer. Som^- young men have a choice selection of books and libraries. All these improvements are advancing at a rapid rate, except when they are dis- tracted with cares and anxieties. 13 In view of these facts, I deem it unnecessary to say- any thing further, as to the question, whether or not the undertaking is feasible to bring the Senecas up to the standard which shall entitle them to be called civilized ■ and christianized. The only question which I shall now consider, in- cluded in the subject I am treating, is, liow can this un- dertaking be carried into operation most advantageously for securing its ultimate object? Can it be by remaining where we now are located, or by selling our lands and removing to the afore-mentioned ** terra incognita ?" The right and possession of our lands is undisputed — so with us it is a question appeal- ing directly to our interest; and how stands the matter in relation to that ? Our lands are as fertile and as well situated for agricultural pursuits as any we shall get by a removal. The graves of our fathers and mothers and kin are here, and about them still cling our affections and memories. Here is the theatre on which our tribe has thus far acted its part in the drama of its existence, and about it are wreathed the associations which ever bind the human affections to the soil, whereon one's na- tion, and kindred, and self, have arisen and acted. We are here situated in the midst of facilities for physical, intellectual and moral improvement; we are in the midst of the enlightened ; we see their ways and their works, and can thus profit by their example. We can avail our- selves of their implements, and wares and merchandise, and once having learned the convenience of using them, we shall be led to deem them indispensable. We here are more in the way of instruction from teachers, having greater facilities for getting up and sustaining schools ; and as we, in the progress of our improvement, may come to feel the want and the usefulness of books and 2 i 1 ' 1 1 I 'i 14 prints, so we shall be able readily and cheaply to get whatever we may choose. In this view of facts, surely there is no inducement for removing. But let us look at the other side of the question. In the first place the white man wants our land ; in the next place it is said that the offer for it is liberal ; in the next place that we shall be better ofT to remove from the vi- cinity of the whites, and settle in the neighbourhood of our fellow red men, where the woods flock with game, and the streams abound with fishes. These are the rea- sons offered and urged in favour of our removal. Let us consider each of these reasons a little in de- tail. The fact that the whites want our land imposes no obligation on us to sell it; nor does it hold forth an inducement to do so, unless it leads them to offer a price equal to its value. We neither know nor feel any debt of gratitude which we owe to them, in consequence of their " loving kindness or tender mercies" towards us, that should cause us to make a sacrifice of our property or our interest, to their wonted avarice, and which, like the mother of the horse leach, cries, Give, give, and is never sated. And is the offer liberal ? Of that who but ourselves are to be the final judges? If we do not deem one or two dollars an acre liberal for the land, which will to the white man's pocket bring fifteen to fifty, I don't know that we can be held heinously criminal for our opinion. It is well known that those v/ho are anxious to purchase our Reservations, calculate safely on fifteen dollars the acre for the poorest, and by gradation up to fifty and more, for the other qualities. By what mode of calculation or rules of judgment, is one or two dollars a liberal offer to us, when many times that sum would be only fair to the avarice of the land speculator ? Since mma ffiitgitlTiiaiiiiiii-iiiiiaini 15 ^ to g-et surely pn. In he next le next the vi- lood of game, he rea- in de- nposes rth an I price y debt nee of ds us, )perty I, like md is selves ne or ill to don't ' our nous fteen ip to lode liars >uld ince in us is vested a perfect title to the land, I know not why we may not, when we wish, dispose of it at such prices as we may see fit to agree upon. " But the land company have the right of purchase," it is said — granted ; but they have not the right, nor, we trust in God, the power to force us to accept of their offers. And when that company finds that a whistle or a rattle, or one dollar or two, per acre, will not induce us to part with our lands, is it not in the nature of things that they should offer better and more attractive terms ? If they could not make forty-nine dollars on an acre of land, I know no reason why they would fail of trying to make forty-five, or thirty, or ten. So I see no obstacle to our selling when and at such reasonable prices as we may wish, in the fact that the land company have the right of purchase : nor do I see any thing extortionate in us, in an unwillingness to part with our soil on the terms offered, — nor even in the desire^ if our lands are sold, of putting into our own pockets a due portion of their value. But the point of chief importance is, shall we be bet- ter ofl? If our object was to return to the manners and pursuits of life which characterised our ancestors, and we could be put in a sa/e, unmolested and durable pos- session of a wilderness of game, whose streams abound in fish, we might be better off; but though that were our object, I deny that we could possess such a territory this side of the shores of the Pacific, with safety ^ free of molestation^ and in perpetuity. *' Westward the Star of Empire takes its way," and whenever that Empire is held by the white man, nothing is safe or unmolested or enduring against his avidity for gain. Population is with rapid strides going beyond the Mississippi, and even casting its eye with longing ' !i 16 HH gaze for the woody peaks of the Rocky Mountains — ^nay even for the surf-beaten shore of the Western Ocean.— And in process of time, will not our territory there be as subject to the wants of the whites, as that which we now occupy is ? Shall we not then be as strongly so- licited, and by the same arguments, to remove still far- ther west? But there is one condition of a removal which must certainly render it hazardous in the extreme to us. The proximity of our then situation to that of other and more warlike tribes, will expose us to con- stant harassing by them ; and not only this, but the character of those worse than Indians, those white bor- derers who infest, yes infest the western border of the white population, will annoy us more fatally than even the Indians themselves. Surrounded thus by the natives of the soil, and hunted by such a class of whites, who neither " fear God nor regard man,'* how shall we be better off there than where we now are ? Having said thus much as to our condition after a removal, under the supposition that we wish to return to and continue in the habits of life which prevailed when the country was first taken possession of by the Euro- peans, I proceed now to say, that we do not wish so to do, and to repeat, that so far from it, we desire to re- nounce those habits of mind and body, and adopt in their stead those habits and feelings — those modes of living, and acting and thinking, which result from the cultivation and enlightening of the moral arul intellectual faculties of man. And on this point, I need not insult your common sense by endeavouring to show that it is stupid folly to suppose that a removal from our present location to the western wilds would improve our condi- tion. What! leave a fertile and somewhat improved soil — a home in the midst of civilization and Christianity, 17 s — nay cean.— lere be lich we g\y 80- till far- emoval xtreme that of con- ut the fc bor- of the 1 even latives , who [we be ifter a urn to when Euro- sh so to re- pt in es of I the ctual asult It IS «ent »ndi- >ved where the very breezes are redolent of improvement and exaltation, — where, by induction as it were, we must be pervaded by the spirit of enterprise,— where books, and preaching, and conversation, and business and conduct, whose influence we need, are all around us, so that we have but to stretch forth our hands, and open our ears, and turn our eyes, to experience in full their improving and enlightening effects, — leave these ! and for what ? and echo answers for what ? But me- thinks I hear the echo followed by the anxious guileful whisper of some government land company agent — for one or two dollars the acre, and a western wilderness beyond the white man's reach, where an Eden lies in all its freshness of beauty for you to possess and enjoy. But ours, I reply, is sufficiently an Eden now, if but the emissaries of the arch fiend, not so much in the form of a serpent as of man, can be kept from its borders. But I will relieve your patience by closing my re- marks; it were perhaps needless, perhaps useless, for me to appear before you with these remarks, feebly and hastily prepared as they were ; but as I intimated on the outset, the crisis which has now arrived in the affairs of our people furnish the apology and reason for my so do- ing. And now I ask, what feature of our condition is there which should induce us to leave our present loca- tion and seek another in the western wilds ? Does jus- tice, does humanity, does religion, in their relations to us demand it? Does the interest and well being of the whites require it? The plainest dictates of common sense and common honesty, answer No I I ask then, in behalf of the New York Indians and myself, that our white brethren will not urge us t^ do that which justice or humanity not only do not require, but condemn. I ask then to let us live on, where our fathers have lived; a* Il' I:: 18 !« ."!l,??/ "" *'■'"""''««» which our location afford, u.; that thus we. who have been converted heatC may be made meet for that inheritance which the j^I"; hath promised to give his Son, our Saviour; so thauhe irLToftr tr''''''^'''^ **'~^ """ ^o""' '"« high fn affords heathen, »e Father that the ^som hke the high APPENDIX. It has been repeatedly said, that " if the Indians had been left to the exercise of their own judgment, they would have consented to have sold their lands in this state; but the interested white man opposed to their re- moval, have influenced them to reject the ' liberal offer* of the government." This allegation is without foundation ; the Indians know their interest very well; they ask no questions whether it is best for them to sell out and remove ; they know that the moment they leave these premises, then will troubles commence; poverty, oppression, destruc- tion, and perhaps war and bloodshed will fall upon them in the western wilderness. The policy of the general government is well under- stood by them; and the country assigned them west, has been explored again and again, so that they do not lack knowledge in these respects. With all the light and information on the subject which is necessary to form a correct judgment upon it, they have a hundred times repeated in open council and in the presence of the United States commissioner, that they cannot and will not sell out their lands and remove beyond the Mis- sissippi river. These are the honest judgments of the Indians, and this answer will the commissioner receive from the honest chiefs. But while persuasion and lawful inducements have been held out to them, and they fail to produce the de- ii I' 20 sired effect, the •' Ogden Company," through their agents, lose no time in buying over the chief to aid in procuring the treaty. Rewards have been made to pro- mote it, and to induce our nation to consent to it. In the statements which follow, I shall confine myself prin- cipally to facts, that the public may be able to judge for themselves as to the correctness of the above remark. First, the contract of John Snow, a chief; it was made a year ago, and may be known by the date. This is one of the many contracts entered into by the parties ; we have them in our hands. ARTICLE OF AGREEMENT Made and concluded this 20th day of July, 1837, be- tween Heman B. Potter, of the city of Buffalo, of the first part, and John Snow, a Seneca Chief of the Buf- falo Creek Reservation, in the county of Erie, of the second part. Whereas, in conformity with the declared policy of the government of the United States, the proprietors of the pre-emptive title of and in the four several tracts of land, reserved by the Seneca tribe of Indian?, within the said State of New York, are desirous to induce the above-mentioned tribe of Indians to accept for their future and permanent residence, a tract of country in the territory west of the river Mississippi, appropriated for Indians inhabiting the Atlantic and other neighboring states ; and are also desirous, by fair purchase, to ex- tinguish the right of the said Indians in and to the lands in this state, so reserved by them. And whereas, in furtherance of these objects, and in order to a future treaty by which to effect the same, the said proprietors have authorised negotiations to be open* their aid in \to pro- it. In [^ prin- fge for Irk. made [his is Arties ; 21 ed with the cliiefs and other leading men of the said tribe of Indians, and certain offers to be made to them in money as a permanent fund for the nation, and a compensation for their improvements; and have also deemed it advisable and necessary to employ the aid, co- operation and services of certain individuals who are able to influence the said Indians to accept of the offers so to be made to them. And whereas the said Heman B. Potter, the party ol the first part, is empowered to act on behalf of the said proprietors, and to contract with any individuals whose co-operation and agency may be necessary and eflicient in accomplishing the above-mentioned object; and the said John Snow, the party of the second part, has agreed to contribute his influence and services in the premises; and in case of the extinguishment of the same Indian title to the said reserved lands as aforesaid, to sell to the said proprietors all and singular his im- provements of, in and to the same. Now therefore, it is mutually agreed by and between the parties hereto, as follows : First, The party of the second part undertakes and agrees to use his best exertions and endeavours to dis- pose and induce the said Indians to adopt and pursue the advice and recommendations of the government of the United States, in respect to ^heir removal and future location, and on such said terms as the party of the first part, and his associates, in the name of the said proprie- tors, shall propose to sell and release, by treaty, their said reserved lands ; and on all occasions to co-operate with and aid the said party of the first part, and his as- sociates, as he may be from time to time advised, in talks and negotiations with the chiefs and other influential mr;n of the said tribe ; and in the active application of his hi ii ■i 22 ""^and „,e,aid propr S/,^;^ '•"-"» 'i-e said Second. Thn ««« i *''^'^^^" lands. -W. and hereby 'Ztl^Z 1 '"" .7°"" P"' "-" f »d singular, i,i, b„i,j. ;"' '° ''." «a,d proprietors, all '»"* »o .0 be released f.re,t '"'7™'"^'"' <>" .he compennation therefor in the 7' ' "^'"'' '" "eeept '."""'i; said building, and ilr"" ''""'"'"''" »>«"- fme not to be leased, or n a'Tv r"™""" '" "'" "'«»'' "aid party of the second plrt ^ "" '"^P"'^'' "^ by ;n^ f i=-r;:rs:ri:td^f r -°p-'- [""y bestowed in the premises Tl r"^" «"""' ftith- J«ase of all and singular^ ^ . h 1 r' "" '"'' ""^ ^e- aents upon any of ,he 2,? r ''''"^' ""'' ""P'ove- or otherwise dlposing '^/hf 7^^'"' -""out leasing '"Pulated, the said He„,a„ R p "'' "' ''"«'" abovf ha. of his associates a^ee" L ?""' "" "'» ?»«. and 'o the said John Snow The II T' °' "'"''^ '" ^e paid, ^'thin three months afe no^ie"/ T, """"^"l """ars 'lie Senate of the United sL! ^ "'^ ratification, by '!- -1 tribe and t?wrr:^°f'r'''.r^''«'-n 1e. or their trustees, by Xh .1 '""' P^«-«»'Ptive 'he said Indians shall be effect >. ."^'" ^"'' '"'« of S^-hed in and to the said r~^ 't"^" =""• «''»- ever, to the followi„„ qualS "f' ' """-ject, how- *at in case the said treaty hi " '"'' ""*«'anding,_ '0 -dividual Indians f 'the ' CPv" '" "'^ P^^""-' "en's.then and i„ that case tT. 1"'^' ""'' '™P™ve. 23 iterviews, tile said aliment of >art hath fJtors, all I on the accept er men- le mean d of by >eration S faith- and re- iprove- leasing above % and paid, hilars, n, by ween ptive le of xtin- low- ?»— nent 3ve- ond the um by j and under the provisions of such treaty, for his said buildings and improvements, and the balance of the said two thousand dollars which shall remain, after deduct- ing therefrom such compensation as aforesaid, and that only to be paid by the said party of the first part, as above specified, within the time above-mentioned, or as soon tiiereafter as the said balance can be ascertained ; and in case said party of the second part shall be entitled by and under tlie provision of said treaty, to the sum of two thousand dollars and upwards, he shall receive the same as may be therein provided, and the said party of the first part shall be discharged from paying any part of the said two thousand dollars. And the said John Snow shall also be entitled, at a nominal rent, to a lease from the owners of the pre-emp- tive title, or their trustees, of and for the lot of land ac- tually improved and occupied by him, called the Whip- ple Farm, near the old council-house, on the Buffalo Reservation, for and during his own natural life, deter- minable when and as soon as he shall cease to live on and occupy the same ; said lease to be executed by the lessors as soon after said treaty as said lands shall have been surveyed and allotted, said lease having reference to said survey. This agreement on the part of said party of the first part, being expressly dependant upon a treaty to be made and ratified upon terms, conditions, and stipula- tions to be proposed and ofi'ered by said party of the first part and his associates. H. B. POTTER, [l. s.] his JOHN X SNOW, [l. s.] mark. WITNESS— his GEORGE >^JIMESON. mark. TRUE COPY. m.:i 24 In addition to the above stipulation, money and brandy have been used for the same purpose ; and finally, in- timidation and discouragement are not wanting, — for instance, they will tell us, *' Here my friend, you have got to go, there is no earthly doubt — the policy of the government is fixed, and your best course is to get as much money as you can from the pre-emption company, make you a contract," &c. The object of the present council is to give an opportunity for the chiefs to assent to the amendments of the last winter's treaty, or to re- fuse them. The resolution of the Senate, is in the fol- lowing words, to wit,— Provided always^ and be it further resolved^ That this treaty shall have no force or effect whatever, as it relates to any of the said tribes, nations or bands of New York Indians, nor shall it be understood that the Senate have assented to any of the contracts connected with it, until the same, with the amendments herein proposed, is submitted and fully and fairly explained, by a com- missioner of the United States, to each of said tribes or bands, separately assembled in council, and they have given their free and voluntary assent thereto; and if one or more of said tribes or bands when consulted as afore- said, shall freely assent to said treaty as amended, and to their contract connected therewith, it shall be binding and obligatory upon those so assenting, although other, or others, of said bands or tribes may not give their con- sent, and thereby cease to be parties thereto : Provided further^ That if any portion or part of said Indians do not emigrate, the President shall retain a proper portion of said sum of four hundred thousand dollars, and shall deduct from the quantity of land allowed west of the Mississippi, such number of acres as will leave to each emigrant three hundred and twenty acres only. o <> e '*; .^\j ": ,- ^y and brandy nd finally, in- wanting, — for nd, you have policy of the B is to get as ion company, f the present iefs to assent aty, or to re- is in the fol- ^olved. That atever, as it mds of New t the Senate 5ted with it, » proposed, by a com- id tribes or they have and if one d as afore- Bnded, and be binding iJgh other, their con- Provided ndians do er portion and shall 'St of the e to each