[A belt of white wampum was here presented, made in a circular form, representing their place of meeting, as in the centre, and crossed by four stripes of black wampum, representing all their confederates, East, West, North, and South.]
"Brothers: The ancient confederacy which subsisted between us and the Five Nations, [FN] was, that if any of the Five Nations were in distress, we would take them to us; we now see that you are in distress; that you are surrounded by water, and have not any land to stand upon; that a large white beast stands with open mouth on the other side, ready to destroy you. We have dry land for you to stand on; and we now take you by the hand, and invite you to come, and bring your beds, and sit down with us."
[Belt of seven rows of black and white wampum.]
[FN] In answer to a question by the Seven Nations of Canada, how long this confederacy had existed between the Shawanese, &c. the reply was, "three lives."
The warriors here joined with the Chiefs, and repeated the ancient agreement, recommended a union of all the different nations, and asked them to follow what was recommended by the chiefs. Puck-on-che-luh, head warrior of the Delawares, [FN] then spoke:—
[FN] After the defeat of St. Clair, on which occasion the Delawares fought bravely, the Mohawks, who had formerly declared the Delawares to be women, or, in other words, degraded them from the rank of warriors, reversed the sentence of disgrace, and wiped out the stigma, by formally declaring the Delawares no longer women, but MEN.
"Brothers: I call you my uncles, and all the other Indians my grand-children. Them I have already united and bound together, and I now bind you all together with this string."
[A large bunch of black wampum.]