THE OHIO VALLEY-GREAT LAKES ETHNOHISTORY
ARCHIVES: THE MIAMI COLLECTION
It is noted that the following work from the Miami Archives should be read and
considered within the historical context in which it was composed and printed.
The opinions expressed and the language used do not reflect the opinions or
standards of the Glenn A. Black Laboratory of Archaeology, but are, rather,
indicative of thought in that historical moment during which the document was
published.
The North-Western Territory
In: Burnet, Jacob, Notes on the
Early
Settlement of the North-Western
Territory, (Cincinnati, 1847),
pp. 225, 245.
discover any baseness or treachery, it would excite his just anger against us.
Brother! Listen to me. We are all of one mind, who are here assembled. This is a business not to be trifled with- it is a matter of the utmost concern to us. We happily so far agree in handling our ancestors' records, who always worked for peace.
Brother! You have proposed to us to build our good work on the treaty of Muskingum. That treaty, I have always considered as formed upon the fairest principles. You took pity on us Indians- you did not do as our fathers, the British, agreed you should. You might by that agreement, have taken all our lands; but you pitied us, and let us hold part. I always looked upon that treaty to be binding upon the United States, and us Indians.
Brother! Listen to us Indians- I told you just now, that we were upon business of the greatest moment. In now conclude the great good work we have been employed in; and with this, I cover the whole earth, that it may appear white, and shine all over the world. I hope the Great Spirit will have pity on us, and make this work lasting. [Four large mixed belts presented.]
Brother! I am going to relate to you the treaty made at Muskingum, in a few words. I have not forgotten that treaty; neither have you. At that time we settled a peace, between the Delawares, Six Nations, Ottawas, Chippeways, Pottawattamies, and us Wyandots. It is very true there were not so many different nations then assembled as are now present. We now establish a general, permanent, and lasting peace, forever.
Brothers! We are all sensible that when you struck the boundary, at that time, it run from Tuscarawas to a little below Loramies, where the fort stood, which was destroyed in 1752. I understand the line has since been moved, a little towards us. Be strong, brothers, and fulfil your engagements.
store, and struck Fort Recovery, and ran thence to the Ohio river, opposite the mouth of Kentucky river.
Elder brother! You have told us to speak our minds freely, and we now do it. This line takes in the greater and the best parts of your brothers' hunting ground; therefore, your younger brothers are of opinion, you take too much of their lands away, and confine the hunting grounds of our young men within limits too contracted. Your brothers, the Miamies, the proprietors of those lands, and all your younger brethren present, wish you to run the line, as you mentioned, to Fort Recovery, and to continue it along the road from thence to Fort Hamilton, on the Great Miami river. This is what your brothers request you to do; and you may rest assured of the free navigation of that river, from thence to its mouth, forever.
Brother! Here is the road we wish to be the boundary between us. What lies to the east, we wish to be yours; that to the west, we would desire to be ours. [Presenting a road belt.]
Elder brother! In speaking of the reservations, you say, they are designed for the same purpose as those, for which our fathers, the French and English, occupied them. Your younger brothers now wish to make some observations on them.
Elder brother! Listen to me, with attention. You told us, you discovered, on the Great Miami, traces of an old fort. I was not a French fort, brother; it was a fort built by me. You perceived another at Loramies'; 'tis true a Frenchman once lived there, for a year or two. The Miami villages were occupied as you remarked; but it was unknown to your younger brothers, until you told them, that we had sold land there to the French or English. I was much surprised to hear you say, it was my forefathers had set the example to the other Indians, in selling their lands. I will inform you in what manner the French and English occupied those places.
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