USA > Pennsylvania > Colonial records of Pennsylvania, Vol. VIII > Part 64
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Peter Dawson, of Virginia, taken in 1755, near the Ohio.
Richard Underwood, taken about Winchester; belongs to Vir- ginia.
James Cristis, Upon examination, appears to belong to the Mo- hawk River, and therefore is not sent.
At a Council held at Philadelphia, on Wednesday the 29th July, 1761.
PRESENT :
The Honourable JAMES HAMILTON, Esquire, Lieutenant Governor, &ca.
Richard Peters,
Thomas Cadwallader,
Benjamin Chew, Esqrs.
The Governor informed the Council that he had some time ago received three Belts from a very large number of Indians of the six nations and their Dependants, who were, at the time they dispatched their Messenger, got as far as Wyomink, on their way to Easton to hold a Treaty with them, & that they desired he would meet them there, and send them Waggons, provisions, & Paint; & that he was further informed they were by this time come to Easton. The
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Governor further told the Council that as he had not invited these Indians, and had no Business with them that he knew of, except to receive Prisoners; some he understood had not many with them ; they must have been invited by some officious people of this City, and therefore, he thought it necessary that the Council should attend at Easton, & invited them to accompany him, and proposed to sett out on Saturday, the Commissioners having agreed to bear all Ex- pences and to attend the Treaty in Person.
At a Council held at Philadelphia on Saturday the 15th August, 1761.
PRESENT :
The Honourable JAMES HAMILTON, Esq". Lieutenant Gov"", &ca
Joseph Turner,
Richard Peters, Esq".
Benjamin Chew,
Thomas Cadwallader, S.
The Minutes of the several Indian Conferences held at Easton, were read, settled, and approved, and are as follows:
Minutes of Conferences, &cª.
At a Conference with the Indians at Easton, on Monday the 3rd Augt, 1761.
PRESENT :
The Honourable JAMES HAMILTON, Esqr., Lieutenant Gov- ernor.
Richard Peters and Benjamin Chew, Esq's., of the Council of ye Province.
Joseph Fox, Esquire, one of the provincial Commissioners, & several other Gentlemen from Philadelphia and other parts of the Province.
The Deputies of the
Onondagoes,
Nanticokes,
Cayugas,
Delawares,
Oneidas,
Tutiloes,
Mohickons,
Conoys,
Men, Women, and Children, about four hundred in number, which increased afterwards to near Five hundred.
Seneca George, Speaker.
Samuel Weiser,
James Sherlock, & Interpreters.
Joseph Pepy,
The Governor opened the Conference with the usual Ceremonies of giving them a String to bid them heartily welcome, & another
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to wipe the sweat from their Bodies, to take the Thorns and Briars out of their Legs and Feet, to clear their Throats, and open their Hearts, after which he acquainted them that he was, or would at any time be ready, upon their giving him notice, to attend to any thing they had to say to him.
Then Seneca George stood up and spoke as follows, viz" :
" Brother Onas :
" I am very glad to meet you here at this time, & to find that the Sky is clear, and that the road is open, and safe to travel in ; I speak this in behalf of Seven Nations, and all their Cousins, Cap- tains and Warriors ; & thank the Almighty that he has once more brought us all together, to shake hands."
A String.
" Brother Onas :
"We Suppose that during the late Troubles, you may have lost many of your people, either by sickness or War, since we were last together ; by this String, therefore, we wipe away the Tears from your Eyes, clear your Throats, wash away the Blood from your Bodies, sweep the Council Chamber, & throw the dirt out of Doors, that you may see and speak to us clearly at the present Confe- rence."
A String.
" Brother Onas :
" We, the Seven Nations, and all our Cousins, are sorry, from the Bottom of our Hearts, for the Death of your Men, Women, & Children, & by this Belt we collect all their Bones together, bury them in one Grave, and cover them up."
A Black Belt of 8 Rows, streaked with White.
" Brother Onas :
" We, the seven Nations, and our Cousins are at a great loss, and sit in darkness, as well as you, by the death of Conrad Weiser, as since his Death we cannot so well understand one another ; By this Belt we cover his Body with Bark."
A White Belt with 7 Rows with 4 Black Streaks.
" Brother Onas :
" By the last Belt, I mentioned to you that we both sat in Dark- ness, now by this Belt I remove the Clouds from before the sun, that we may see it rise & sett, and that our hearts may be eased from sorrow, on account of what I mentioned before."
A White Belt of 5 Rows, with 3 Black Barrs.
After the delivery of the Belt he added (having forgot it before) " We pray the great God above, who can enlighten our Hearts, that we may live in Love and Peace until Death.
" Brother Onas :
" Having taken notice of the Death of Conrad Weiser, and the Darkness it has occasioned amongst us, I now, by this Belt, (taking
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hold of the Belt in the Middle) raise up another Interpreter, by whose assistance we may understand one another clearly.
" Brother Onas :
("Speaking with the other part of the Belt) You know that in former times, when great men grew old and died, we used to put others in their Places. Now, as Conrad Weiser (who was a great Man, and one-half a Seven Nation Indian, & one-half an English- man), is dead, we recommend it to the Governor to appoint his Son (pointing to Samuel Weiser, then present) to succeed him as an In- terpreter, and to take care of the Seven Nations & their Cousins. We take hold of this Belt, & clasp our hands together in Friendship & desire you will not neglect our request."
A Black and White Belt of 8 Rows.
" Brother Onas :
"Jenochiaada, the Chief of the Onondagoes, send this String by Ashenoch to his Brother, the Governor, saying:
" Brother :
" When I receive a Letter from you I cannot understand it, which I think very hard; and we ought to have somebody living among us, who can understand and interpret your Messages & the Letters you send to us; wherefore I take my Child, James Sherlock, by the hand and present him to you, that with your leave he may live amongst us, and serve us as an Interpreter on all Occasions."
Three Strings.
"Brother Onas :
" Having, by the last String, recommended James Sherlock to you, as an Interpreter, we have no more to say to you at present, but to inform you that we have sufficiently rested ourselves, after the fatigue of our Journey, eased our hearts of all Sorrow, and are ready to hear any thing you have to say to us."
Three Strings.
The Governor then informed them that he thanked them for what they had said, & would return them an answer at another time, and in a more convenient place, of which he would give them timely Notice.
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At a Conference with the Indians on Wednesday, the 5th August, 1761.
PRESENT :
The Honourable JAMES HAMILTON, Esquire, Lieutenant Governor.
Richard Peters, Benjamin Chew, Esq's., of the Council of the Province, &ca., &ca., &ca., as before.
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Samuel Weiser, Isaac Stille, David Seisberger, Interpreters.
Tokahaio, the Cayuga Chief, stood up and spoke :
" Brother Onas :
" By this Belt, three Years ago, at a Treaty held here at Easton, the Governor invited us to come down in great numbers. As we were not all then present, & now that we do all appear, we return you the Belt that had been given us at the making the peace, and are glad to see you here Face to Face."
A very large White Belt of 18 Rows.
" Brother Onas :
" You told us by this Belt, three Years ago, that you removed this, which is but a little Fire, to Philadelphia, where our Ances- tors formerly kindled their great fire, & made all their Alliancies & Treaties.
" Brother Onas :
" By this other Belt, you, at the same time, cleared the road to the great Council Fire at philadelphia, & remove all obstructions. out of it, that it might be open for us to pass in safety."
Two Belts joined together.
" Brother Onas :
" By this Belt, you at the same time, told us that you cleared our Ears, that all the Nations might hear what you had to say to us."
A White Belt of 7 Rows, striped.
" Brother Onas :
" At the same time you told us that our Eyes were bad, & that by this String you cleared them, that we might be able to see a great ways, and every thing that passed."
Six White Strings.
" Brother Onas :
" You also gave us this String, and told us we seemed a little Shy, but desired we would lay aside all such thoughts, for you had no ill intentions against us."
Three White Strings.
" Brother Onas :
" This string was sent to us, the Six Nations, by seven Nations of Indians over the Lakes, who have formerly been in the French Interest, but have lately entered into an Alliance with us, desiring that they might lay hold with us, of one end of the Chain of Friend- ship that subsists between us and the English, and we desire the Governor that they may be accepted as Friends."
The names of the seven Nations above mentioned, are as follows, viz":
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Warontas, Schesova, Cochnawagechorna, Neoquechta.
Scheiquoucehrona, Connechsatagechrona, Chesochechrona. Ten White Strings.
" Brother Onas:
" When we came as far as Fort Allen, you sent us this string by Mr. Horsefield, inviting us to come down to Easton, & now that we are come, we return it to you again."
Four White Strings.
"Brother Onas :
" By this string you told us on Monday last, that you were very glad to see us all well here; we are likewise glad to see you, and re- turn it you again."
Three White Strings.
" Brother Onas :
" By this String you wiped the sweat from our Bodies, took the Thorns from our Legs and Feet, cleared our Throats, and opened our Hearts ; we thank you, and return it you again."
Four Strings, chequered.
" Brother Onas :
"These three Belts were brought to us, the Onondagoes, by the Oneidas, but they brought no Speeches with them; we, therefore, return them to you again, for as they are your own Belts, you may know their meaning ; we do not."
One Belt of Eleven, one of eight, & one of 7 Rows, black & White.
Being asked if they were brought altogether, or at different times, they answered, that they were all brought by one Messenger, about a Year ago, which Messenger was an Oneida, but that they do not know his name. Being asked how the Oneida came by them, and what he said, they answered, that he said no more, but that they were about the Governor's Business.
Papounan, by one of his Indians called Toughachena, living at Wighalousin, then spoke to the Governor as follows :
" Agreeable to your request when I was at Philadelphia last Summer, I carried your Message to Achoan, the Chief of the Min- isinks, respecting his sending the English prisoners, and I now de- liver you Achon's Answer:
" Brother Onas :
"You desired me last Year that I should clear myself, as your Brothers that live at Wighalousin did, by which you would have a proof of my Friendship. After I received your Message, I took it away to my Uncles, the Senecas, and delivered to them what you had said to me, upon which they advised me to deliver up all the Captives. Now, Brother, I would have you not be impatient, and I will come as soon as possible. I will hunt up all the Captives
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that are amongst us, & will not leave one, but will bring them all ; but I have not yet found them all. I expect to come when the Corn is ripe; but if I should fail then, I will certainly come by the Spring."
Three White strings.
At a Conference with the Indians the same day in the Afternoon. Present as before.
Teedyuscung, the Chief of the Delawares, stood up and spoke : "Brother, and all the rest of my Brethren and Uncles, attend :
" I intend to take no other method than what I have already agreed with the Governor. Brother, now I take the soft Feather to clear your ears, which our Grandfathers used for the same pur- pose, that you may hear distinctly what I may say."
Four chequered Strings.
"Brother :
." I desire you wou'd now hear me. I beg you would frame that good heart God has given you in a right way, that you may sensi- bly feel and have a right understanding of what I am going to say 'to you."
Four chequer'd Strings.
"' Brother :
" I am come here to this place, where we met about three Years ago. I then told you I would take that medicine which our maker has ordered for us, to apply to any wounds we may have. I like- wise told you that I do not apply it any where but where the wound is. I have now come to see whether the wound is healed or no."
A Belt of 8 rows.
" Brother :
." You then told me, when you looked on the Road our Grandfa- thers laid out, that you observed many Bushes and much Grass grow there, so that you could not see me. You then took me by the hand.
"Brother :
" All my Young men, as far as the Tweteeway Nations, have let me know that they intend firmly to join in & stand to whatever you and I have agreed on; and all those Young men I have with me, Mohickons, Opies, and Delawares, say they will not take no- tice of what few drops of Blood have stained our road, but will ilook steady to our agreement."
A Black Belt of 7 Rows & 5 chequered strings.
"' Brother :
" Observe what I am going to say, and I will let you know we have cleared ourselves as far as Makehalousing, Papounan's House ; I will assure you, that I want to make a peace between us as lasting
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as the world. I call the Almighty to witness that I have no Cap- tives in my possession as far as Makahelousink."
Seven chequered Strings.
" Brother :
" I have one thing more to say ; I would not have you look to me any more for any thing, for I believe nothing will ever make us differ again, except it is your fault, for I am sure nothing on my. part shall cause it; therefore, if any thing should fall out, examine your own Hearts, for it must spring from you, because all our Young men have put it into the Care of their chiefs to manage affairs."
Three chequered Strings.
" Brother :
" Our Grandfathers used to hold great Treaties of Peace and good Friendship, now we that succeed them will do the same ; they used to agree that we should have one Ear and one Eye, now, you sit at Philadelphia, and I am alway in the Country, and whatever one hears or sees, the other should hear it & see it also, because we are Brothers."
Thirteen chequered strings.
" Brother :
" As I told you just now, that we have one Ear, I desire you would hear me; my Uncles, the Seven Nations, that sit here now, desire me to leave Wyomink, for Fear; I answered, I will not leave it so suddenly ; but if I should see any Danger, I will endeavour to jump out of the way of that Danger."
A Black and White Belt of Six Rows.
" Brother :
" My Uncles have now put some Tobacco in my pouch ; they tell me I must steadily look towards the Mountains, and if you see English Brethren coming over the Mountain, you must light your pipe, and come to us (the Mingoes), & we will receive you."
A White Belt of Six Rows, striped.
" Brother :
" It is about three Years ago, that I desired my Uncles would give. me a Deed for the Lands at Wyomink, but as they have not done it, I believe I shall get up and leave it ; for you know, according to. your Custom, you hold all Lands by Deeds, and if our Uncles had given us a Deed, our Children would enjoy them afterwards ; If they had given me a Deed, my Children and Grand Children would live there as long as the world lasts; but as that is not done, I believe I shall leave it."
A Belt of Twelve Rows.
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At a Conference with the Indians at Easton on Friday the Seventh of August, 1761.
PRESENT :
The Honourable James Hamilton, Esq"., Lieutenant Governor of the province of Pennsylvania.
Richard Peters & Benjamin Chew, Esqrs., of the Council of the Province.
Joseph Fox, Esq", one of the provincial Commissioners, and several other Gentlemen from Philadelphia & other parts of the province.
The Deputies of the
Onondagoes,
Mohickons,
Cayugas,
Delawares,
Oneidas,
Tuteloes,
Nanticokes,
Conoys.
Men, Women & Children, about Four hundred in number.
The Governor, addressing himself to the Indians present, spoke as follows, vizt.,:
" Brethren of the Six Nations & all the other Indian Nations now present :
" Hearken to me while I return an answer to your Speeches of Monday and Wednesday last.
" Brethren :
"It gives me pleasure to hear that you have found the Sky clear & the Road to this Council Fire open and safe, and I join with you in returning thanks to the Almighty, that he has once more brought us all together to speak to one another, as Brethren and Friends, Face to Face."
A string.
" Brethren :
" We thank you for remembering those whom we have lost dur- ing the late Troubles, either by sickness "or War, & for wiping away the Tears from our Eyes, clearing our Throats, washing away the Blood from our Bodies, & sweeping clean the Chamber Coun- cil. In return we most heartily condole with you, the Seven Na- tions, and all your Cousins & Warriors, for the death of all our Indian Brethren who have died or been killed, since we last met in Council, and with this String we wipe away the Tears from your Eyes, clear your Throats, wash away the Blood from your Bodies, sweep the Council Chamber, & throw the dirt out of Doors, that there may be nothing to Interrupt our present friendly Conference. A String.
" Brethren :
" With this Belt we collect together the Bones of all your Men, Women, and Children, and most affectionately bury them in one Grave, that they may rest in peace forever."
A Belt.
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"Brethren :
" We are very sensible, with you, that both of us have sus- tained a very heavy loss by the death of our old and good friend, Conrad Weiser, who was an able, experienced, & faithful Interpre- ter, & one of the Council of the Seven Nations ; and that since his Death, we, as well as you, have sat in Darkness, and are at a great loss for want of well understanding what we say to one an- other. We mourn, with you, for his death, & heartily join in covering his Body with Bark."
A Belt.
"Brethren :
" By this Belt we dispel the dark Clouds which, you have justly observed, the death of our good Friend has occasioned, and make the sky perfectly clear again, that we may behold the light all the Day long. We ease your Hearts from the Grief you were under, on this Mounful account, & we pray God that we may forever live together in peace & Love."
A Belt.
" Brethren :
" Having thus paid our regards to our deceased Friend, we can- not but observe with you that there is a necessity of appointing some other person to succeed him, by whose assistance we may be enabled to find the true sense and meaning of what there may be occasion to say to one another, either in Council, or by Letters, or Messages. " Brethren :
" In conformity to the ancient Custom of taking from among the Relations of any great Man who dies, some fit person to supply his place (as Mr. Weiser was by adoption one of the Six Nations, though by birth one of us), we think you did well to cast your Eyes upon one of his Children ; and, inasmuch as Samuel Weiser is the only one amongst them who has any knowledge of the Indian Language, & has lived among you, we shall be glad to make Tryal of him for the present, and if we find him capable of serving in the Office of Interpreter, & in the management of Indian Affairs (in both which Capacities his Father so well acquitted himself), we shall appoint him to that Service. We look upon this choice of yours as a mark of your grateful Affection for Conrad Weiser, who was always your sincere Friend, and we join this Belt to your's in token of our Con- currence as far as to Make tryal of him."
Their Belt and another.
" Brethren :
" I have now answered every thing that you of the seven united Nations said to me at our last Meeting. I now address myself to Jenochryada, the Onondagoe Chief, to answer the Message he sent to me by Ashenoch.
" Brother Jenochryada":
" You tell me that James Sherlock has for some time past lived with you ; I am glad to hear he has behaved to you in such a man-
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ner as to obtain your good opinion of him, and I hope he will con- tinue to prove himself worthy of your Confidence ; I have no ob- jection to his living among you, or to your employing him in any Business you may have to transact with us, which you think him capable of executing, but as he is a young man and quite a stranger to me, I cannot consent to employ him as an Interpreter for this Gov- ernment until I have as full an experience of his abilities & good disposition as you have had. In the mean time, if I should have any occasion of sending Messages or Letters to your Nation, I shall commit the care of them to Messengers of my own, and desire you will observe the same method, as the likeliest means to our right understanding of one another, and preventing Mistakes which might otherwise happen."
A String.
" Brethren of the Seven United Nations :
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" You told me that three Years ago, at a Treaty held here, I in- vited you, by this Belt, to come down in great numbers, as you were not then all present; and that, as you all were now here, you returned me this Belt, and were glad to see us here Face to Face. " Brethren :
" My Councellors well remember, that this Belt was given you by the late Governor of this province, at the last Treaty, but you seem to have mistaken the end and purpose for which it was given; I must, therefore, inform you that it was given to you as a peace Belt, by which we then renewed our old Treaties, brightened the Chain of Friendship, Confirmed our former Union, and put fresh Earth to the Roots of the Tree of peace, that it might bear up against every Storm, & live and flourish to the end of Time, whilst the Sun should shine, and the Rivers run ; and we then further desired you would publish this good News among your own and all other Indian Nations, who were your Friends & Allies, and engage them to Join with you in a firm peace with our great King and all his people. All this appears by the Minutes of that Treaty, taken down in writing at that time ; You ought, therefore, to preserve this Belt as a Bond or earnest of the Engagements we then made to one another, and keep it safe in your Bosoms, and I now return it you for that purpose."
The Peace Belt returned.
" Brethren :
" You informed us that this String was sent from Seven Nations of Indians over the Lakes, who have formerly been in the French Interest, but have lately entered into your Alliance, desiring they might lay hold with you of one end of the Chain of Friendship, that subsists between you and the English.
" Brethren :
" It gives me great pleasure to hear that you have strengthened your Interest by entering into an Alliance with these Seven Na-
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tions of Indians, who have been formerly in the Interest of the French. You and I are one Flesh and Blood, and I shall love and esteem all Indians whatsoever, who are in your Friendship I will take this String and send it to the King's Commander-in-Chief, and Sir William Johnson, & let them know the desire those Indians have of entering into Friendship and Alliance with the English, & I make no doubt but they will receive them with open Arms. To confirm my words, I give you this String."
A String.
" Brethren :
"I am very much surprized to hear from you, that these three Belts were brought to the Onondagoe Council, by an Oneida Indian, about a Year ago, without any Messages or Speeches to attend them. I can assure you, I did not send these Belts to the Onon- dagoe Council, & therefore I am at a loss to known the meaning of them, or from whom they came. I have frequently sent Messages into the Indian Country, to put them in mind of their promise to return to us our Flesh and Blood, who are prisoners among them, & to press them to fulfil that promise; and it is possible, that the Belt sent with the Messengers for that purpose, may have been for- warded to the Six Nation Council by mistake; I therefore now re- turn you the Belts, that you may make further Enquiry of the Oneidas about them."
The Belts returned.
"Brethren :
"You acquainted me by these three Belts, first, that you were coming to see me, and were got as far as Wyomink; by the second you desired me to meet you at Easton ; by the third you desire me to stop Strong Drink, & send you Waggons, Provisions, & Paint. As I have complied with these several requests, I now return you the Belts."
The three Belts returned.
"The several other Belts and Strings which you received from us at the last Treaty, and were returned by you to me the day be- fore Yesterday, I have accepted, & put into the Council Bag. " Brethren :
" Whatever may be the occasion of your coming down at this time, I can truly say I am glad to see my old Friends and Brethren once more, and take them by the hand, and will make you as wel- come and easy, while you stay.among us, as I possibly can. I have only further to say to you at present, that as we are now Face to Face, we should open our Hearts to one another, and let nothing remain upon our minds. If you, on your part, have any thing to offer or communicate to me that relates to the private Interest or concerns of this Province, or that can tend to promote & confirm our Friendship, & prevent all future causes of Jealousies and Dis- content, I shall be glad to hear it."
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