We . . . Do hereby Ratify Confirm Submit and Grant and by these Presents do (for our Selves our heirs and Successors and in behalf of the whole nations of Sinnekes Cayouges & onnondages) Ratify Confirme Submit and Grant unto Our Most Sovereign Lord George by the grace of God King of Great Brittain France and Ireland Defender of the Faith & his heirs and Successors for Ever. all the Said Land and Beaver hunting to be Protected & Defended by his Said Majesty his heirs & Successors to and for the use of us our heirs & Successors and the said Three nations. And we Do allso of our own Accord free and Voluntary will Give Render Submit and Grant and by these presents do for our Selves our heirs & Successors Give Render Submit and Grant unto Our Said Sovereign Lord King George his heirs and Successors for Ever all that Land Lying and being Sixty miles distance taken Directly from the water into the Country Beginning from a Creek Call'd Canahogue on the Lake Osweego, all along the said lake and all along the narrow passage from the said Lake to the Falls of Oniagara Called Cahaquaraghe and all along the River of Oniagara and all along the Lake Cadarackquis to the Creek Called Sodoms belonging to the Senekes and from Sodoms to the hill Called Tegerhunkserode Belonging to the Cayouges, and from Tegerhunckseroda to the Creek Called Cayhunghage Belonging to the Onnondages all the Said Land being of the Breadth of Sixty English miles as aforesaid all the way from the aforesaid Lakes or Rivers Directly into the Country and thereby Including all the Castles of the aforesaid Three nations with all the Rivers Creeks and Lakes within the Said Limits to be protected & Defended by his said Majesty his heirs and Sucessors for Ever To and for Our USE our heirs & Sucessors and the Said Three Nations In Testimony whereof We have hereunto sett our Marks and Affixed our Seales in the city of Albany this fourteenth Day of September in The thirteenth year of his Majesty's Reign Annoq Domini 1726. Although these concessions were made by the Indians solely for the purpose of placing themselves under the sovereignty and protection of the English government, attempts were afterward made to construe them as an absolute transfer of the Indian title, and grants were made by the authorities for tracts in said territory. This claim, however, was abandoned, although it does not appear that the individual grants were surrendered, notwithstanding this course was urged by Sir William Johnson. This, as might have been foreseen, resulted in serious trouble. It appears by a report of the Lords of Trade, read before the Council at the Court of St. James, November 23, 1761, and approved, the King being present, that the government had at last been aroused to the necessity of paying regard to the Indians' rights, as shown by the following quotation therefrom:1 That it is as unnecessary as it would be tedious to enter into a Detail of all the Causes of Complaint which, our Indian Allies had against us at the commencement of the troubles in America, and which not only induced them thô reluctantly to take up the Hatchet against us and desolate the Settlement on the Frontiers but encouraged our enemies to pursue those Measures which have involved us in a dangerous and critical war, it will be sufficient for the present purpose to observe that the primary cause of that discontent which produced these fatal Effects was the Cruelty and Injustice with which they had been treated with respect to their hunting grounds, in open violation of those solemn compacts by which they had yielded to us the Dominion, but not the property of those Lands. It was happy for us that we were early awakened to a proper sense of the Injustice and bad Policy of such a Conduct towards the Indians, and no sooner were those measures pursued which Indicated a Disposition to do them all possible justice upon this head of Complaint than those hostilities which had produced such horrid scenes of devastation ceased, and the Six Nations and their Dependents became at once from the most inveterate Enemies our fast and faithfull Friends. That their steady and intrepid Conduct upon the Expedition under General Amherst for the Reduction of Canada is a striking example of this truth, and they now, trusting to our good Faith, impatiently wait for that event which by putting an End to the War shall not only ascertain the British Empire in America but enable Your Majesty to renew those Compacts by which their property in their Lands shall be ascertained and such a system of Reformation introduced with respect to our Interests and Commerce with them as shall at the same time that it redresses their Complaints and establishes their Rights give equal Security and Stability to the rights and Interests of all Your Majesty's American Subjects. That under these Circumstances and in this scituation the granting Lands hitherto unsettled and establishing Colonies upon the Frontiers before the claims of the Indians are ascertained appears to be a measure of the most dangerous tendency, and is more particularly so in the present case, 1Colonial documents, number five, Vol. VII, p. 473. [Appearing in original text.] as these settlements now proposed to be made, especially those upon the Mohawk River are in that part of the Country of the Possession of which the Indians are the most jealous having at different times expressed in the strongest terms their Resolution to oppose all settlements thereon as a manifest violation of their Rights. This condition of affairs was no doubt due largely to the lack of any settled and well-defined policy on the part of the government in its dealings with the Indians in regard to their lands. This subject, as hitherto stated, seems to have been relegated, at least to a large extent, to the colonists or grantees of the royal charters; and although complaints from the Indians, or from others in their behalf, were frequently made directly to governmental authorities, it does not appear that the latter were aroused thereby to the necessity of adopting some policy on this subject. It was not until the war with France and the expedition against Canada that the government felt compelled to deal directly with this subject. We find the Lords of Trade, in 1756, inquiring through Mr. Pownalls of Governor Hardy what should be the proper and general system for the management of Indian affairs. The reply of this official was to the effect that, with respect to the Six Nations, the governor of the province should have the chief direction of their affairs and that no steps should be taken with them without consulting him, as he had always directed the transactions with them; but he suggested that "some proper person under this direction should have the management and conduct of Indian affairs." He recommended for this purpose Sir William Johnson, who had previously been commissioned for the same purpose by General Braddock. This suggestion was adopted, though Sir William Johnson refused to accept a new commission, preferring to act under that received from General Braddock, which was broader in its scope, and referred to tribes other than the Six Nations. This was permitted. On December 2, 1761, the Lords of Trade submitted to the King a draft of instructions to the governors of the colonies, which were approved by him. As these indicate a reform in the system which had prevailed, they are given here: Draft of an Instruction for the Governors of Nova Scotia, New Hampshire, New York, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia forbidding them to Grant Lands or make Settlements which may interfere with the Indians bordering on those Colonies. Whereas the peace and security of Our Colonies and Plantations upon the Continent of North America does greatly depend upon the Amity and Alliance of the several Nations or Tribes of Indians bordering upon the said colonies and upon a just and faithfull Observance of those Treaties and Compacts which have been heretofore solemnly entered into with the said Indians by Our Royall Predecessors Kings & Queens of this Realm. And whereas notwithstanding the repeated Instructions which have been from time to time given by Our Royal Grandfather to the Governors of Our several Colonies upon this head the said Indians have made and do still continue to make great complaints that Settlements have been made and possession taken of Lands, the property of which they have by Treaties reserved to themselves by persons claiming the said lands under pretence of deeds of Sale and Conveyance illegally frandulently and surreptitiously obtained of the said Indians; And Whereas it has likewise been represented unto Us that some of Our Governors or other Chief Officers of Our said Colonies regardless of the Duty they owe to Us and of the Welfare and Security of our Colonies have countenanced such unjust claims and pretensions by passing Grants of the Lands so pretended to have been purchased of the Indians We therefor taking this matter into Our Royal Consideration, as also the fatal Effects which would attend a discontent amongst the Indians in the present situation of affairs, and being determined upon all occasions to support and protect the said Indians in their just Rights and Possessions and to keep inviolable the Treaties and Compacts which have been entered into with them, Do hereby strictly enjoyn & command that neither yourself nor any Lieutenant Governor, President of the Council or Commander in Chief Colony of Our said of province do upon any pretence whatever upon pain of Our highest Displeasure and of being forthwith removed from your or his office, pass any Grant or Grants to any persons whatever of any lands within or adjacent to the Territories possessed or occupied by the said Indians or the Property Possession of which has at any time been reserved to be claimed by them. And it is Our further Will and Pleasure that you do publish a proclamation in Our Name strictly enjoyning and requiring Colony all persons whatever who may either wilfully or inadvertently It was not surprising that the condition complained of should have resulted from a wavering and undefined policy and doubleheaded system. First, a total ignoring of the Indians' rights, turning over the problem to the colonies; then appointing an agent of Indian affairs on behalf of the government, yet subject in most 'New York Colonial Documents, Vol. VII, pp. 478-479. [Appearing in original |