Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

make effective the provisions of the treaty, and in the result con-
firmation took place by a treaty held at Fort Stanwix on 22nd June,
1790, between Governor Clinton and others, commissioners on behalf
of the people of the state, and the sachems, chiefs and warriors of
the Cayugas.

This latter treaty is material only as evidencing upon the con-
siderations therein stated, to which later reference will be made,
the sanction by the nation of the dispositions and engagements
which had been incompetently made by the treaty of the preceding
year.

The claim, however, is principally concerned with the treaty of
1795, in which the two previous treaties are confirmed and consoli-
dated, and whereby a further cession is made and additional obliga-
tions are contracted.

It is pertinent to observe that a considerable movement
the Cayugas to Canada took place immediately after the treaty
of 1790, and that for the purposes of the treaty of 1795
the representatives of the nation from Canada attended at

When? Cayuga Ferry, where the treaty was made, upon the invitation of

the authorities of the state of New York,

The treaty of 1795 is described as made on 27th July at Cayuga Ferry by Philip Schuyler and others, agents, authorized for that purpose by and on behalf of the people of the state of New York, with the tribe or nation of Indians called the Cayugas. The two earlier treaties are therein recited, and the Cayuga Nation thereby sells to the people of the state of New York all and singular the lands reserved to the use of the said nation, except two small areas, of two miles square and one mile square and the square mile which had been reserved for Fish Carrier.

The treaty proceeds to state as follows:

"Secondly, it is covenanted and agreed by and on the part of the State of New York that for the lands now sold as specified in the preceding first article the State of New York shall pay and do now pay to the said Cayuga Nation in presence of the witnesses who have Subscribed their names hereunto the sum of eighteen hundred dollars on the first day of June next ensuing the date hereof and annually forever thereafter on the first day of June in each year the sum of eighteen hundred dollars.

"Thirdly, that as well as the said eighteen hundred dollars to be paid as mentioned in the Second Article (as the five hundred dollars to which the Cayuga Nation are annually entitled by virtue of the treaty and articles of agreement first above mentioned shall in future be annually paid on the first day of June in each year for

[ocr errors]

св

ever hereafter at Canandaghyue in the County of Ontario to the
Agent for Indian Affairs under the United States for the time being
residing within this State, and in case no such agent shall be
appointed on the part of the United States then by such person as
the Governor of the State of New York shall thereunto appoint to
be by the said agent or person so to be appointed paid to the said
Cayuga Nation taking their receipt therefor on the back of the
counterpart of this instrument in the possession of the said Indians
in the words following, to wit: 'We the Cayuga Nation do acknow-
ledge to have received, from the people of the State of New York
the sum of two thousand and three hundred dollars in full for the
several annuities within mentioned, as witness our hands at Cana-
daghyue this
179, which money shall be
paid in the presence of at least one of the magistrates of the County
of Ontario and in the presence of at least two more reputable
inhabitants_of_the_said_county and which magistrates and other
persons in whose presence the same shall be paid shall subscribe
their names as witnesses to the said receipt and the agent or other
person so to be appointed shall also take a duplicate receipt for the
said money witnessed by the said witnesses and which duplicate
shall as soon as conveniently may be acknowledged and recorded in
the records of the said County of Ontario and the original duplicate
transmitted to the governor of this state for the time being."

day of

The said counterpart of the treaty, which, it will be observed, is made evidence of title, was delivered by the commissioners to Fish Carrier, who had attended with his brother chiefs from Canada for the purpose of the negotiation.

Fish Carrier with his people then returned to Canada where he delivered the counterpart to Kajinondawehhon, the head sachem How and principal ruler of the nation; and he and his successors in sachemship have ever since retained and now produce the said counterpart of the treaty.

Chosen?

[blocks in formation]

From the time of the treaty of 1795 sachems and chiefs of the Cayuga Nation attended annually and received from the proper authorities of the state of New York the stipulated annuities. They continued to do so until shortly before the War of 1812 when the payments ceased owing to the approach of hostilities and the causes and events which led to the war. The Cayugas, who were living under British protection, and who had been for nearly a century and a half allies of Great Britain, were justly regarded as British partizans, and in the issue they naturally supported the royal cause. Payments were accordingly suspended and they have ever since been withheld.

The_Tribunal is invited to declare that the obligation of the Astu.Ş.

treaty of 1795 remains and should be satisfied.

The War of 1812 terminated with the Peace of Ghent in 1814.
By Article 9 of the Treaty of Ghent, "The United States of
America engage to put an end, immediately after the ratification
of the present treaty, to hostilities with all tribes or nations of
Indians with whom they may be at war at the time of such ratifica-

[ocr errors]

vide tion; and forthwith to restore to such tribes or nations respectively Rit e, all the possessions, rights and privileges which they may have hefortenjoyed or been entitled to in one thousand eight hundred and Tiffa eleven, previous, to such hostilities: Provided always that such lock Che tribes or nations shall agree to desist from all hostilities against the ton. United States of America, their citizens and subjects, upon the ratification of the present treaty being notified to such tribes or

Conne

pations, and shall so desist accordingly." and a vepron chlig at in
Thereafter the agents of the Cayuga Nation from time to time
made various journeys to the state of New York in the fruitless
er.deavour to obtain payment of the annuities which had previous
to the war been customarily paid. Representations, which will 1849
hereinafter be more particularly detailed, were vainly made to the
governor of the state, to the legislature, and to various local author-18994
ities; and more recently the attention of the government of the
United States was directed to the case diplomatically.

His Majesty's government, on behalf of the Cayuga nation and its posterity, is now charged with the duty to require of the government of the United States, in the judgment of the Tribunal, the fulfilment of the covenant, so long unjustly deferred, to restore to the nation the rights under the treaty of 1795 of which it was in full legal enjoyment previously to the beginning of the war.

Having thus introduced briefly the character and grounds of the present claim it becomes necessary to consider more carefully the particulars connected with the claim and the evidence and documents upon which it rests.

THE MAKING OF THE TREATIES OF 1789-1795.

When the thirteen colonies revolted and submitted their newly declared status of independence to the issue of war, four of the six pations of Indians, namely: the Mohawks, the Senecas, the Onondagas and the Cavugas. remained true to their alliance and fought

1900

by the Peace of Paris in 1783. The Indians nevertheless remained unpacified and nothing was stipulated in their behalf by the Treaty. It became necessary, therefore, for the United States to negotiate directly with the Indians who still remained in arms. Pages 949, 575-578.

Accordingly commissioners of the United States, at Fort Stanwix in the state of New York, on 2nd October, 1784, held a treaty with the Six Nations, made peace with them, defined the bounds of their respective territories, and guaranteed the nations in the possession thereof. This treaty was affirmed by the United States at Fort Harmer on 9th January, 1789. The lands of the Six Nations were once more guaranteed to them at Canandaigua in 1794. Pages 736, 738.

At the close of the war the Indians who had been hostile to the United States were massed in the western part of the state of New York and along the border of Canada, whither they had withdrawn Jr been driven during the war. Only a small remnant of the Cayugas-probably the aged and helpless and those unqualified for war-were upon their ancestral lands. The combatants, comprising the great majority of the nation, because of the hostility of the state remained under the shadow of the forts along the border, some of which, notwithstanding the terms of peace, remained in British possession until 1796. Pages 369, 569, 968.

As early as 1784 the relations of the state of New York with the Indians began to be further embarrassed by the pressure of white settlement upon the Indian lands; and the state therefore determined to purchase from the several nations of Indians entitled to lands within its borders, such portions thereof as the Indians could be induced to sell. Pages 568-600.

The result was a series of treaties with the respective nations of the Iroquois confederacy including the three treaties with the Cayuga Nation of 1789, 1790 and 1795.

On 25th March, 1783, the legislature of the state of New York directed the state Council of Appointments to appoint Commissioners of Indian Affairs with powers subject to legislative control. Page 568.

The commissioners, the principal one of whom was Mr. Clinton, ¡he governor of the state, were appointed on 6th April, 1784. Page 568.

On 12th April, 1784, Governor Clinton sent messages to the Mohawks, Onondagas, Cayugas and Senecas for the purpose of renewing friendly relations. The Indians, being aware that the

federal government had appointed commissioners to negotiate with them, answered that they would prefer to transact peace with the United States. Page 568. There seems to have been some apprehension for a time of conflict of authority in respect of the status which was to be accorded to the Indians. If they were to be treated as nations, and not as dependents of the state wherein they resided, the United States should negotiate peace. If, on the other hand, the Indians were to be considered as dependents of the state, subject to its laws and protection, the state should pacify them. In the result the general government recognized the national qualities of the Six Nations, and by the Treaty of Fort Stanwix on 2nd October, 1784, already referred to, made peace with them directly, and guaranteed their lands. Pages 573-575, 581, 591, 596, 602, 575 note.

The commissioners of the state of New York also met the Six Nations at Fort Stanwix in 1784 and opened up with them more or less informal negotiations for the acquisition of their lands. These Legotiations continued without result as to the Cayugas until 1789. Pages 591-603.

When the state of New York, early in 1784, sent Peter Ryckman as its messenger to call in the Mohawks, Onondagas, Cayugas and Senecas to a conference respecting peace, he was, it will be observed from the letter of instructions given him by Governor Clinton, sent to Niagara, which was the headquarters of the British in that region, the fort there not having been delivered to the United States until 1796. Page 569.

It has been stated that a treaty was concluded between the Six Nations and the United States at Fort Harmer on 9th January, 1789. For the purposes of this treaty the sachems and principal chiefs attended at Fort Harmer, among them those of the Cayugas. While these proceedings were in progress, or while the representative Cayugas were absent in connection therewith, Governor Clinton and his brother commissioners of New York negotiated a treaty at Albany with certain Cayugas, men and women, from the reservation. This is the treaty of 1789 already mentioned. Pages 606, 615, 636.

When the authorities of the Cayuga Nation were informed of these proceedings Fish Carrier, who had been absent with the other Cayuga chiefs at Fort Harmer, denounced the treaty of 1789 as made with "boys and old women," not competent to bind the nation, and a written protest on behalf of the nation was sent to Governor Clinton. The Cayugas had previously, upon certain mis

« AnteriorContinuar »