Part 8

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.

The committee also visited the settlement at Alleghany, and held a general council with the Indians at Cold Spring, where they were encouraged to perseverance in the path they had for many years been pointing out to the Indians, and in which good way they had made considerable progress. But it was observed, that they were deficient in several respects, and had not made so much improvement as was desirable for the opportunity they had had. In their replies, they acknowledged the very great benefit they had received in time past, from the advice and instruction of Friends, but said they had made less improvement since the war commenced; that they were frequently called upon by the officers to go to war, and this kept them uneasy, so that they could not attend to their business. Some of their people had, also, during the war, got into habits of intemperance--and this tended to retard their advancement in the modes of civilized life.

The old chief, Cornplanter, not having attended this council, several of the company paid him a visit at his own house, about eleven miles distant from Tunesassa. About five or six families remained with the old chief, at his settlement, mostly his connexions. The old town of Jenuchshadaga, where all the first councils between Friends and the Indians were held, was entirely deserted, and so overgrown with young timber, as almost to conceal the place where it stood. This strange mutation of things at this place, was principally owing to the land being Cornplanter’s private property, and to the disposition of the other Indians to move higher up the river, and settle on land belonging to the nation, where they would have a greater security for the improvements they should make.

Cornplanter expressed his great satisfaction at once more seeing his friends in his own house, and that he was still preserved alive to talk with them. He acknowledged the advice of Friends had always been good, and that in consequence of many of the Indians adhering to it, their situation had been much improved, but that in consequence of the miseries of war, some of his people had again become intemperate.

The too common practice of men and their wives parting, having been animadverted upon at the late council, the old chief observed, that he also reprobated it, as being attended with many evil effects; and that he had often seen children, who had been thus neglected, when young, in consequence of their parents’ separation, reflect on their parents, when they got old, and charge them with neglect of duty; it being generally the practice where separations take place, for the mother to take charge of the children, and provide for them as well as she can.

“The liquor, said he, has been introduced among us by white people; but this evil practice has grown up among ourselves. Our young people are too fond of diversions, and not serious enough, in forming connexions. I have often advised them to more sobriety and regular conduct, and spent much of my time in serving the nation.”

The Indians, generally, on the Alleghany river, continued to increase their stock of cattle, horses, and swine, quite equal to their means of supporting them through the winter; although in other respects, since the commencement of the war, they had made but little progress in agriculture. Many of the women, however, had given considerable attention to spinning--especially in the winter season. They appeared more cleanly in their persons and houses than they formerly did; and their manners, and general deportment, appeared to be rising from that degraded state in which they had formerly lived, and becoming more assimilated to the modes and practices of white people.

The spring of 1815, was ushered in with the welcome and consoling news of peace, to the poor Indians; an accommodation having taken place between the United States and Great Britain in the preceding winter. Not only could the Seneca nation participate in the blessings of peace, by having their prospects to pursue their agricultural labours again brightened, but many of the surrounding tribes, who had been more extensively engaged in the late contest, could now lay down the hatchet, which had often been stained with the blood of their enemies.

But although peace had now taken place, and hostilities ceased between the contending parties, it was doubtful whether the Seneca nation would be conciliated, and immediately restored to that mutual friendship, which previous to the war had subsisted between them and their confederate tribes in Canada, who had, under the banner of Great Britain, taken up arms against the United States. It was, therefore, believed expedient by the committee at this critical juncture to send them a suitable address on the occasion, from which the following is extracted.

“Brothers, since it has pleased the Great Spirit to restore to our country the blessing of peace, we have felt our minds concerned to address you, in order to encourage you to pursue the path we have long been pointing out to you; and likewise to call your attention to the great advantages resulting from living in peace with all men.

“Brothers, we are sensible that there are two spirits at work in the minds of men. The one produces in us a disposition of love and good will towards all men, and is a comforter for all good actions. The other excites evil thoughts and desires, and influences to bad actions, such as lying, swearing, drunkenness, pride, envy, hatred, gaming, and many other evils, which, if given way to, often create war between nations. So we believe it is in our power to resist the evil spirit, and conquer all the evil propensities of our nature, by obeying the Good Spirit, and by daily watching, and prayer to him. If we so conduct, he will deliver us from evil.

“Brothers, our fathers, and we their children, who profess the same principles by which they were guided, have always believed that wars and fightings are displeasing to the Great Spirit, who is all love, and who made of one blood all nations of men, that they should live in peace and love with each other. For this cause, he hath placed his law in our hearts, and in the hearts of all men, teaching, not only to love one another, but also to forgive injuries, and even to love and do good to our enemies.

“Brothers, where people live in this disposition, and trust in the Great Spirit for protection, it has a powerful effect in producing the same disposition in the minds of those who wish to do them an injury; and instead of hatred, it will produce in their minds love and good will. For you must be sensible, brothers, that when a man is angry with another, and uses many threatening expressions, if the other returns mild answers, and endeavours to pacify him by acts of kindness and good will, it is more likely to restore the angry man to a sober and right state of mind, than if he were to quarrel and fight with him--and this would be overcoming evil with good, which is always pleasing to the Great Spirit.

“Brothers, we are sensible that the late war must have brought you into great difficulty and distress--and we are thankful for the return of peace. We hope the Great Spirit will preserve you from again feeling the miseries of war. We also wish you to be reanimated, to pursue your farming, and the improvement of your land, under the instruction of our friends who reside among you, as this is the only sure method we can recommend to you to obtain a comfortable living for yourselves and families; and the most likely means, as you are industrious and become sensible of the value of your property, of securing you in the permanent possession of your land.

“Brothers, our desires continue as strong at the present day, as ever they were, to promote your happiness in this life, and in that which is to come. But this happy state we know can only be attained, by having our minds drawn to the Great Spirit, by imploring his protection, and by beseeching him that he would preserve us in love towards all mankind. If we are sincere in our desires for his assistance, and attentive to the voice of his spirit in our hearts, we shall have reason to hope for his blessing upon our labours, which is our desire for ourselves, for our Indian brethren, and for all men.”

The Indians were also strongly reminded in this address, of the dangerous tendency of introducing strong liquor again into their villages, as the late war had exposed them to the use of it more than they had been for many years previous--and if they now become so unwise as to fall again in love with it, it would prove their ruin.

This communication had a stimulating effect upon the Indians at both the settlements. Those of Alleghany sent a written address to the committee, signed by six of their chiefs, in which they expressed in a high degree, their sense of gratitude for the continued care of the society of Friends over them, and the great advantages they had received from their instruction. They also renewed their request that they might be furnished with a schoolmaster, as but little attention had been given to their improvement in school learning for some time past, owing to the general disinclination of the Indians to have their children thus instructed.

At the request of the Indians, also, in the summer of 1816, four lads, two from Buffalo, and two from Alleghany, were brought into Chester county, within forty miles of Philadelphia, and placed with suitable persons under the care of the committee, to be instructed in school learning, and some of the mechanic arts.

In the Eighth month this year, a Friend who had formerly devoted many years to the instruction of the natives, proceeded again with his wife to the Alleghany settlement, accompanied by a young man in the capacity of a schoolmaster; and the family who had resided there for some years past returned from thence. The school was again opened at Cold Spring town, in the Tenth month, where about twenty different scholars attended, in an irregular manner, owing, in part, to the scarcity of provisions. This scarcity of food was occasioned by unusually early frost, which destroyed more than half their corn, and likewise many other vegetables. This calamity was felt through all that part of the country bordering on the lakes.

Although the Indians had had the fairest prospect of a plentiful supply, yet, from the foregoing circumstance, many of them were compelled to resort to their former source of dependence, and with their families, retire to the woods and hunting encampments, where they remained a great part of the winter.

The Indians at Cattaraugus were conspicuous sufferers by this calamity; many of them having their crops of corn entirely cut off, while they had as yet scarcely recruited from their sufferings during the late war. Friends duly considered their distressed situation, and granted five hundred dollars to be applied in supplying them with provisions, and three hundred more to be administered to the necessities of those on the Alleghany reservation. These donations were gratefully received by the Indians, and were peculiarly useful in enabling them, the following spring, more generally to attend to their agricultural pursuits, without being compelled from necessity to retire to their hunting grounds. It was said five hundred and twelve individuals at Alleghany, and three hundred and ninety at Cattaraugus, partook of this timely donation of Friends.

In the spring of 1817, the fears of the committee were strongly excited for the safety of the Indians, from the various concurring accounts, that plans were again devising to induce a removal of many of them in the state of New York, from their present seat, to one very remote among the western tribes. A measure of this kind would not only tend to unsettle the Indians in their agricultural pursuits, but if carried into effect, would entirely frustrate the plan of their civilization, and render of little avail the labours of Friends for twenty years past, and the expenditure of more than forty thousand dollars in promoting their advancement toward a civilized state.

The committee, therefore, being fully impressed with the great loss the Indians would inevitably sustain by a removal to a distant clime, communicated their views by a written address; and with a view of setting them in a more permanent possession of the soil, recommended a division of their land into lots, suitable to accommodate each family, to be held under such regulations, that it might descend from parent to children, and other near connexions; and under such restrictions as would debar individuals from selling, leasing, or transferring it, in any way, to white people.

This measure being of an important character in the disposition of Indian affairs, it was believed expedient, by the committee, to present a memorial to the President of the United States, in their behalf, by which he was fully made acquainted with the plan proposed to the Indians for a division of their land; and being visited, also, by a deputation from the committee, and furnished with various documents, it opened the way for a free communication of sentiment on the subject, and the president gave assurance of attentively perusing and duly considering the documents and memorial.

In the Ninth month this year, the settlements of Tunesassa and Cattaraugus were again visited by four of the committee, who spent several weeks among the Indians, in attending to the various services of their appointment. They inspected, particularly, the state of improvement at both the settlements, and also had divers interviews with the Indians in council, at both places.

With respect to the improvements at Cattaraugus, the author being one of the deputation now visiting them, had a fair opportunity of judging of the advances they had made in three years past. Their settlements at this place were now extended about ten miles in length--and they had fenced in many fields and laid out their farms much more detached from each other--and were gradually advancing in agriculture. It was supposed they had more than two hundred acres of corn growing, (and it generally looked well,) besides one hundred acres more under cultivation; spring wheat, oats, potatoes, and a great variety of garden vegetables. Their stock of cattle and horses was much increased, and divers of them had enclosed lots of grass on which they gathered hay for winter. Many of the women had made considerable progress in spinning, so as, in the course of the last year, to make about one hundred and seventy yards of cloth.

The Alleghany settlement was said to consist of about seventy families, all of whom, except four, had horned cattle, amounting in the whole to upwards of four hundred.

They had more horses than was any advantage to them. Their corn, oats, and buckwheat, were in a prosperous condition, and promised to afford them a plentiful supply. And it was pleasing to find, that they had generally refrained from the use of spirituous liquors. The women, also, continued their attention to spinning and manufacturing their clothing.

The school taught by the Friend at this place was also in a more prosperous condition than had hitherto been evidenced among those Indians. Nearly twenty lads attended, divers of whom could write and read the English language, and had otherwise made satisfactory progress in learning. The cleanliness of their persons, their order in the school, and general deportment, appeared to be encouraging.

A prominent object in this visit was, to encourage the Indians to make the experiment of dividing their land into lots, and holding it as private property, under certain restrictions. This was suggested to them, in separate councils with the different tribes, as the most eligible plan by which they could continue to possess the good land which they and their fathers had so long enjoyed, and which of late years they had improved so much, that “this land, with its valuable improvements, might pass to their children, and be inherited by them as long as the Alleghany and Cattaraugus rivers should continue to run, and the grass and corn to grow.”

The Indians in their several settlements, took this matter under serious consideration; and, in consequence of an arrangement made for the purpose, Friends met the principal chiefs, and many others of the Seneca nation, in a general council at Cattaraugus, among whom was the noted chief, Red Jacket, and several others from Buffalo. In this general council, the subject of dividing their land into lots, was again proposed to the Indians, as the most eligible means of accelerating their civilization, and securing them more permanently in the possession of the remnant of the land they yet occupied; and that these lots should be of adequate dimensions to accommodate each family with a farm, and be held under such restrictions, that they could not be alienated, or leased to any other than their own people, but in such manner as to secure to the individuals respectively, the land, with the improvements thereon, which should be appropriated to each. It was believed the adoption of this measure would prove an additional stimulus to their industry and care, in the prospect it presented, of the benefits which might result from their agricultural labours descending to, and being enjoyed by, their children, and posterity more remote. This important subject occupied the deliberate attention of the Indians for several days. The result was, a resolution that an experiment should be made on the Alleghany reservation by the Indians residing thereon, many of whom had for a considerable time been desirous of possessing their property more distinct from each other than had heretofore been the case.

On the morning Friends were about to proceed on their way homewards, a number of the chiefs called to see them, and expressed their great satisfaction with the conclusions that had resulted at the late council. One of them named Blue-eyes, said, “Brothers, we want you to continue your endeavours to strengthen us, that we may not become a lost people, but that by persevering in the right path, we may experience preservation. We believe it is owing to the favourable disposition of the United States, that the Six Nations yet exist. And we are of the opinion, from the representations that have been made, that we owe much to you--and we trust to an overruling providence, who has thus favoured us, that we may yet experience preservation.”

Notwithstanding the repeated refusals of the Indians to dispose of any more of their land, renewed applications were made by those holding the pre-emption right in the beginning of the year 1818; and at a general council, held at Buffalo, about this time, they again determined not to sell; and with a view of making the President of the United States more particularly acquainted with their situation, and with the difficulties to which they were subjected, by these repeated applications for land, they sent forward a talk for that purpose, signed by twenty-one chiefs of the Seneca, Cayuga, and Onondago tribes, which was published in the Niagara Patriot, and from which, for its simple, natural, impassioned, and pathetic eloquence, we shall present to the reader a few extracts.

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