Speech of Wa-o-wa-wa-na-onk, an Indian Chief [Peter
Wilson]
S
P E E C H
Of Wa-o-wa-wa-na-onk, an educated
Indian Chief, addressed to the Com-
mittee of Baltimore Yearly Meeting of Friends
on Indian Concerns, 10 mo. 29,
1848.
My Friends:
It is by the kind
I feel thankful that I am permitted
to be with you at this time, and to have had an opportunity of hearing the
minutes and proceedings of this Committee for the past year read, by which I am
enabled to become more fully acquainted with your devoted and untiring labors for
the welfare of the Seneca nation.
In making the few remarks I am now
about to offer for your consideration, I will ask leave briefly to refer to the
history of the relations between my nation and the Society of Friends,[1]
since the commencement of your care towards us.
In the first instance the attention
of the Society was drawn to the case of the New York Indians, by our celebrated
chief Red Jackett,[2]
who was at that time the principal sachem of the tribe, had great influence,
and had always manifested a deep interest the for the welfare and prosperity of
his nation. Finding his life drawing to
a close, and contemplating the many perils to which his people were about to be
exposed, and when, to borrow his own words, "his voice and counsel would
no longer be heard:" this great man, under the conviction that all things
were passing away, and sensible that he
too would soon become numbered with the things that were, feeling (as I before
stated) a deep interest for the welfare of his tribe, looked around to see if
there were none that could be found who would extend a paternal care over his
poor oppressed people. His experience of
the past, and his knowledge of the character of the Society of Friends, led him
to make an appeal to this Society. At
first, he received no encouragement, as you then had the charge of another
tribe,[3]
but unwilling to leave his nation without guardians who would protect their
interests, he continued to press his suit, until he received an assurance from
the Society that they would comply with his request. It was then that the aged chief felt
satisfied that his people would be cared for, and that he might peacefully
leave this world and go to the Spirit land, whither his fathers had preceded
him. Thus was the pillow upon the death-bed
of this great man softened, and with resignation and joy he departed from this
world, and was gathered to his fathers.
When you came to our relief you
found us comparatively in a barbarous state, with little or no light of
civilization, and living in a wilderness country. You there commenced your operations by
diffusing light and knowledge among our people, and by furnishing us with the
means of improvement in agriculture as well as in literature; thus, the
foundation of our civilization was commenced, and from that time we have been
advancing in improvement. That our
people have not improved more rapidly, has not been on
account of their disinclination to adopt the habits of civilization, but it is
principally owing to the influences brought to bear upon us by our heartless
enemies, the land speculators. They commenced their operations years before
they were enabled to consummate the fraudulent treaty of 1838. Their motives are obvious: for they naturally reasoned why should the
people improve and cultivate their lands while they found themselves
continually threatened to be driven from them, back into the wilderness by
their enemies, and those in service of their oppressors; yet, in spite of all
opposition, under your indefatigable exertions, the nation still steadily
continued, their progress in improvements.
There may be some disposed to say
that our advancement was too tardy. I
would challenge the history of any nation to produce a parallel of so rapid
improvement among any people from so degraded a condition, and under such
unfavorable circumstances.
The treaty of 1838 brought with it
the great events that succeeded in our political history; by the arts of our
enemies they had succeeded in depriving us of the means to oppose their wicked
schemes, while, by their wealth, they had secured the services of those whom we
once considered as our disinterested friends:
thus, while virtually stripping us of everything we possessed, they had
rendered us powerless, and unable to offer any resistance to them. Without friends in our immediate vicinity to
intercede for us, or to sympathize in our afflictions----there were those at a
distance who professed to be our friends, to whom we applied, and who, after a
few struggles, reported to our delegates that our "lands and houses were
inevitably lost: that they had done all
in their power to obtain the consent of the President of the United States to
recommend a reconsideration of the treaty of 1838," and added, "we
regret to say that the President is determined to carry out the treaty, and we
would therefore advise you to make the best bargain you can, and remove to the west."[4]
At this announcement despair and
gloom spread over the whole nation; the stoutest hearts among our men were
bowed down, under a hopeless dejection, and our women every where were seen in
tears! We felt that all was lost, and
that our children were now doomed to destruction. In this most deplorable condition, without
friends to advise, or hope to support and console us, an appeal was made to
your Committee,[5] and
through you to the society you represented; we implored that you would extend
pity and sympathy towards us, and aid us in an attempt to wrest from the hands
of our enemies our birthright, which they had feloniously taken from us and our
children.
You, who had made a solemn promise
to the dying chief, when he was about to leave us, that you would be the
guardians of his people, immediately began to redeem your pledge, by devoting
all your means and talents to the cause of the oppressed Senecas, and after
years of unremitting toil and labor, in which you spared neither time nor
expense; your indefatigable labors were at last crowned with success; a portion
of our lands, which had been taken from us, were receded, and our homes
restored to us, and the nation saved from destruction![6] All of these results were new precedents in
our history, for hitherto, when lands had once been taken from any Indian
tribe, it was irrevocably lost, and the people were driven from their home into
the wilderness---never before was an acre of land ever restored to an Indian!!
There were a portion of our people
who had become deluded by the promises made through some corrupt agents of the
Government, and during their delerium were persuaded
to emigrate to the west;[7]
these, within a year from the time of their removal, suffered greatly by the
loss of health and the death of many of their companions: at length the cry of distress came from the
survivors of the emigrant party on the western prairies; you heard the result
of their injudicious and fatal experiment---their painful history---that they
were fast drooping into their last resting place, leaving widows and destitute
orphans, who were rapidly following their companions.
When the wretched survivors implored
your aid, although they had emigrated contrary to your advice and counsel, your
hearts were moved to sympathy on their behalf, and you again imparted charity
for their relief, by which a portion was snatched from untimely graves: thus you have faithfully redeemed your pledge
to our departed sachem, and disinterestedly extended a paternal care over our
people. In addition to all this, you
have protected our rights, and secured to us many valuable legislative
enactments, calculated to promote our interest and improvement. You have, at great expense, collected and
published authenticated proofs of the injustice and wrongs inflicted upon
us. By these publications[8]
you have shewn that the treaty of 1838, by which we
were to be deprived of the lands descended to us from our forefathers, was
fraudulently obtained---these books were extensively read, and especially in
the western parts of the State of New York.
The consequence was, at general feeling of pity was felt for us. The Legislature of that State, upon becoming
informed through these publications, of our real condition and circumstances,
lost no time in affording us all the protection in its power, and moreover
extended to us the full benefits of its general school system, and made liberal
appropriations for the erection of school houses and maintaining schools upon
our Reservations.
I am now returning from a mission on
which I have been sent to the Government of the United States, and am gratified
to be able to inform you, that on this occasion I have received satisfactory
evidence of the continued friendly feelings of the Indian bureau towards my
people. The Government have manifested a kind disposition to comply with our request,[9]
and I have every reason to believe they will do so. It will be unnecessary for me to relate to
you the incidents that occurred during my interview with the officers of the
department, as these have been fully explained to you by the Clerk of your
Committee, who was present on that occasion.[10]
It is with deep concern I am obliged
to acknowledge that the Senecas under the care of this Committee, are now, and
have from some months past, been, in a state of great excitement and dissention
in regard to their political concerns.
The Indians at Cattaraugus and Alleghany
are no longer the ignorant listless people they formerly were, but they have
become a reflecting and intelligent community, capable of enquiring into their
situation, and of perceiving the grievances and oppression they have suffered
from the bad administration of their affairs by the chiefs, who hold their
power without responsibility or limitation, and have frequently betrayed their
trust, even so far as to squander the public funds without regard to the
general good, and through corrupt influences have sold and alienated the land
of the nation by fraudulent treaties, by which the people who had built houses
and cleared land to live on, have had their homes taken from them without their
consent. And this injustice would again
have been inflicted upon them, under the fraudulent treaty of 1838, had the
nation not been saved by the interposition of the Society of Friends. The people, goaded by these abuses, have at
length aroused from their lethargy, and are determined to divest the chiefs of
their power, which they have so much abused, and to establish a just and
equitable government, by annually electing their own rulers, and holding them
to a strict responsibility. It is this
state of things that has produced the present excitement in the Seneca nation. The chiefs, like all other arbitrary men in
authority, are not disposed to relinquish their power without a struggle, and
the people are determined they shall be reduced to a level with the other
citizens.[11]
We hope you will perceive in this
movement that the Senecas have indeed profited by the care and instruction you
have given them. In a word, we hope you
will see that they have become sufficiently intelligent to understand their
rights, and that they have the firmness to maintain them. For this they should not be censured. They are only following the example of the
American people, who did the same thing when they were under the oppression of
British tyranny. Your fathers declared
that they would be free, and solemnly pledged their lives, their fortunes, and
sacred honor, to sustain their firm resolves.
This age is a progressive age! The old established monarchies of the eastern
world are daily tumbling into ruins,[12]
and the people, long subjected to despotism, are metamorphosed into republicans
and citizens; kings and emperors are deserting the palaces of their fathers,
and these are converted into public halls, where the principles of liberty and
freedom may be discussed; or into asylums for charitable purposes.
Is there here one whose bosom does
not heave, or whose heart does not beat in unison and sympathy for the
oppressed that are thus struggling to become emancipated? Is there one here whose philanthropic and
patriotic spirit is not aroused, when the thrilling tidings come over the great
salt waters, that millions of human beings are becoming free: that the spirit of freedom has crossed from
America over the great ocean into the old world, and there planted the standard
of liberty? I am aware my friends you do
not approve of war, but I know that you are advocates of liberty. Shall the Indian then be censured because he
too has become infected with the epidemic that pervades the political
atmosphere in this free America? No, I
trust not! The political agitation among
our people is but the onward and upward progress in the scale of civilization,
and it is hoped that ere long the people will arrive to the elevated position
of your people, where the friends of the Indians have long desired to welcome
them.
The reports you have received from
your friends who have visited the Reservation will have made you acquainted
with the vast improvement that, by your assistance, has taken place in the
comforts of our families. We have been
raised from the state of wretchedness and despair in which you found us after
the treaty of 1838, into a condition of comparative security and comfort. Feeling ourselves secure in the possession of
our homes, our people have gone to work, have opened farms, built comfortable
houses, and surrounded themselves with all the conveniences necessary for our
families, while many of our children are receiving school education. The female manual labor school which you have
established among us, is producing most important benefits, by affording the
requisite instruction to enable our young women to become good housekeepers,
and our Reservation now produces an ample supply of the requisite food for our
population, and even a considerable surplus, for which we find a market among
the neighboring white population. Under
these circumstances may I not venture to hope the Society of Friends will find
encouragement to continue their labors and care towards us. With you to advise and support us we will be
strong, and have nothing to fear; without you we shall be weak and helpless,
our old enemies---the land speculators, are hovering about us, ready to pounce
upon us at any moment when they see an opening to rob and destroy us. If you desert us they will have new
confidence, and redouble their exertions to circumvent and plunder us.
Permit me therefore to conclude by
expressing my earnest hope that this Committee, and the Society they represent,
will continue their labors and care towards us until we shall become able to
walk alone, and when we shall have arrived at a maturity that will enable us to
sustain ourselves, and come to enjoy all the relations and privileges of
American citizens.
To the Committee of Friends on
Indian Concerns,
Esteemed
Friends,---I have just this moment finished
writing out my "talk" at
Your Friend,
PETER
WILSON.
[1]
Quakers
[2] Seneca Chief (1756-1830)
[3]
Friends (Quakers) witnessed
treaty sessions between the U. S. and the Six Nations for the first time in
1794. Prior to that time they worked with tribes in
Ohio and with the Delawares. Through
the early 1800's
they worked with numerous tribes throughout the northeast. Friends
Committee on National Legislation,
Issues: Native American. http://.fcnl.org/issues/item.
[4]
Reference is to Government
Indian Agents.
[5]
Indian
Affairs Committee -
[6]
The Seneca reacquired two
reservations: Cattaraugus Reservation
(21,680 acres) and Allegany
Reservation (30,469 acres), plus monetary
compensation for the Buffalo Creek (49,920 acres)
and Tonnawanda (21,680 acres) reservations. Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties. Vol. 2, Treaties.
Government Printing
Office, 1904.
[7]
Wilson is referring to Native
Americans affected under the Indian Removal Act of 1830, which
was a government
policy to displace Indians from their tribal lands to West of the
U. S. Department of State, Indian Treaties
and the Removal Act of 1830.
After
signing the 1838 Treaty selling the remaining four reservations, provisions
were made for
the Seneca to remove
to
except two, returned.
[8]
Publicity
campaigns and government petitions. Chronology of
Major Events in the History of Friends
and Native
Americans. http://fcnl.org.
[9] Seneca
Nation became a democracy and adopted a Constitution in 1848. Seneca Nation
http://www.sni.org/gov.
[10]
A possible reference
to John Jackson (1809-1855) who served as Clerk for the Committee
beginning
about 1844. John Jackson Papers, 1827-1849, Swarthmore Library.
[11]
Referring
to the Seneca democracy. Constitution adopted in 1848.
[12] Referring to
wide-spread revolutionary activity in
[13] Town in