I am directed to assure you that there is no difficulty on the part of His Majesty's Government to admit that the Grant of the Grand River which was after the Peace of 1783 made to the five Nations. and their posterity for ever is a grant as full and as binding upon the Government as any other made in Canada to individual Settlers. The five Nations therefore have under that grant the liberty which all joint Settlers possess of distributing and dividing their Lands among the several Members of their Community according to their own views of utility and convenience so far as they do not violate the conditions of the original grant. Any interference therefore on the part of His Majesty's Government to allot to particular individuals the Lands already granted generally to the Nations appears to Lord Bathurst to be unnecessary since the Nations have the power if they judge it expedient to make such an allotment themselves. If however you who are the authorized representative of those Nations in this Country deem it more advisable for their interests that the Government should so interfere, directions will accordingly be given to the Provincial Government permanently to allot to each individual of the five Nations such portion of Land as he may already have cultivated and such further proportion of uncultivated Land as may not exceed twice the quantity of that in cultivation; leaving the remainder of the Grant of 1783 upon the footing on which it stands at present viz for the general use of the five Nations and their posterity for ever and to be distributed either among their descendants or among any other members of those Nations who may hereafter join them at the Grand River. With respect to any further remuneration to which you may consider the aged and Warriors entitled Lord Bathurst will be ready as far as lies in his power to pay every attention to the suggestions. which you may have to make on their behalf. Directions will also be given to the Governor of Upper Canada to consider the losses. sustained in the late War by the Moravians and Muncey Delawares equally with those of His Majesty's Subjects in Upper Canada who have suffered by the War, and to make them such compensation as they may upon enquiry appear to merit. Lord Bathurst however cannot hold out to them any expectation of their receiving from this Government the payment of the Money due to them by the United States on account of Lands formerly sold by them to the United States, that being a transaction with which His Majesty's Government have no concern. His Majesty's Government see every reason to approve the plan which you have recommended for the Settlement on Lake Huron of the Wyandots Delawares and other Indian Nations now living in the vicinity of Canada, and as soon as the numbers who are likely to avail themselves of this Settlement shall be ascertained a proportionate allotment of Land in that quarter shall be made under the same terms and conditions as that now possessed by the five Nations on the Grand River. The Government of Upper Canada will be directed to confine their issue of Stores and Presents to the Indian Nations to two deliveries in the course of the Year; one in April, and the other in September, unless any extraordinary circumstances should render a deviation from this rule absolutely necessary. The Peace which has been concluded between His Majesty and the United States having terminated all hostilities between them, it is not in Lord Bathurst's power to sanction or approve any measure of hostility which you or your brother Warriors may have in contemplation. And so far from granting you the means to equip a body of Warriors for the purpose of acting together with other Indian Nations hostilily against the United States His Majesty's Government think themselves bound to declare that in the event of any such disposition being evinced by the Indian Nations living within the limits of Canada, those Nations will be considered as forfeiting the protection of His Majesty, and as no longer entitled to the benefits which they derive from it. It will also be the duty of His Majesty's Government to prevent such an aggression against a friendly power by withholding the supplies annually allotted to them so long as there is any reason to apprehend that they may be applied to a purpose so foreign to that for which they are now granted. I have the Honor to be Sir, Your most obedient Humble Servant HENRY GOULBURN. Captain Norton, &c. &c. &c. a SIR: EXHIBIT 326. John Norton to Henry Goulburn.1 LONDON, January 6, 1816. I had the honor of receiving your communication of the 2nd inst. importing that you had laid before Lord Bathurst the several letters addressed to you on the subject of the present situation of the Five Nations accompanied by His Lordship's answer to the same. The favorable and explicit manner in which His Lordship has been pleased to answer the several subjects laid before him call forth my warmest acknowledgements. As it relates to the grant of the Grand River I have only to observe, that a special confirmation from His Royal Highness the Prince Regent to the same effect would be peculiarly gratifying to our tribes, and perhaps more effectually prevent any further uneasiness on that subject. The friendly disposition testified by His Lordship towards the Chiefs and Warriors of the Five Nations, who have aided in the defence of the Province, is completely satisfactory therefore, unless that His Lordship should require some information as it regards the application, I have only to express my most sincere thanks. That which is expressed relative to the losses sustained by the Moravians and Munseys at the time of Gen. Proctor's retreat is quite equal to our desires, I have only to remark on the part concerning the Cayugas and Onondagas, that they alledge, that they were constrained to relinquish their land, it having fallen within the United States by the treaty of peace in 1783, and the money which the said States agreed to pay to them in consideration of the same, I know to have been withheld since 1809, and have heard that it is given to those of the said tribes, who remain on their side of the boundary line, to the detriment of the faithful warriors, that risked with me. The tract of land proposed as an eligible situation for a settlement to the Wyandots, Delawares and other tribes in the vicinity. 1Canadian Archives, Q. 140, p. 345. of Canada is at present possessed by a branch* of the Chippawas, who, since the establishment of the colony of Upper Canada, have been considered as the natural proprietors of all that country between the three Lakes; And from that nation the Government has purchased the Grand River and every other part of the province that has been granted to settlers; the native right to this part and a much greater extent is not yet extinguished, and this people are willing to admit their brethren of the other nations as joint proprietors. About one hundred men from this band of Chippawas joined the last War, and about as many of the Munseys and Moravians who live in the vicinity: there may be more than double that number of the former who remained at home-those I wish to concentrate there amount to upwards of fifteen hundred men or from six to eight thousand souls; but, as I am only desirous to effect this object the better to ensure their preservation and happiness, as also to assure myself of a powerful body of warriors to assist me in repelling any future attacks of the enemy, unless His Majesty's Government should be very clear in laying a foundation for the establishment I could not venture to engage in the undertaking; but must leave these people to seek their own preservation in such a manner as their judgment may direct them. As I had not the least intention to aid the Western tribes in agression against, the U. States, and feel only desirous to assist in defending the boundary line as it stood in 1811, and which at the treaty of peace the Americans have bound themselves to observe, I am sorry to see that this desire is entirely discountenanced. I hope, however, that He who has so often enabled the smaller to overcome the greater number may favor the just claims of our Western Brethren against the intrusion of their enemies. I have the Honor to be Sir Your Most Obedt. hum. Servt. Henry Goulburn Esq., &c. &c. &c. JOHN NORTON. *They are sometimes called Missisagas. [Appearing in original text.] |