You have said in your Speech, "That the game is going away from among you, and that you thought it the design of the Great Spirit that you till the ground;—but before you speak upon this subject, you want to know whether the United States means to leave you any land to till?"
You now know that the lands secured to you by the Treaty of Fort Stanwix, excepting such parts as you may since have fairly sold, are yours, and that only your own acts can convey them away. Speak, therefore, your wishes on the subject of tilling the ground. The United States will be happy to afford you every assistance in the only business which will add to your numbers and happiness.
The murders which have been committed upon some of your people by the bad white men, I sincerely lament and reprobate, and I earnestly hope that the real murderers will be secured, and punished as they deserve. This business has been sufficiently explained to you here, by the Governor of Pennsylvania, and by Colonel Pickering, on behalf of the United States, at Tioga.
The Senekas may be assured, that the rewards offered for apprehending the murderers will be continued until they are secured for trial, and that when they shall be apprehended, that they will be tried and punished as if they had killed white men.
Having answered the most material parts of your Speech, I shall inform you, that some bad Indians, and the outcast of several tribes who reside at the Miamee Village, have long continued their murders and depredations upon the frontiers lying along the Ohio. That they have not only refused to listen to my voice inviting them to peace, but that upon receiving it they renewed their incursions and murders with greater violence than ever. I have, therefore, been obliged to strike those bad people, in order to make them sensible of their madness. I sincerely hope they will hearken to reason, and not require to be further chastised. The United States desire to be the friends of the Indians, upon terms of justice and humanity.—But they will not suffer the depredations of the bad Indians to go unpunished.
My desire is that you would caution all the Senekas and Six Nations, to prevent their rash young men from joining the Miamee Indians.—For the United States cannot distinguish the tribes to which bad Indians belong, and every tribe must take care of their own people.
The merits of The Cornplanter, and his friendship for the United States, are well known to me, and shall not be forgotten, and as a mark of the esteem of the United States, I have directed the Secretary of War to make him a present of two hundred and fifty dollars, either in money or goods, as The Cornplanter shall Like best—and he may depend upon the future continued kindness of the United States;—and I have also directed the Secretary of War to make suitable presents to the other Chiefs present in Philadelphia;—and also, that some further tokens of friendship to be forwarded to the other Chiefs, now in their nation.
Remember my words, Senekas—continue to be strong in your friendship for the United States, as the only rational ground of your future happiness, and you may rely upon their kindness and protection.
An agent shall soon be appointed to reside in some place convenient to the Senekas and Six Nations. He will represent the United States. Apply to him on all occasions.