This conference with Governor Simcoe resulted in nothing more than a promise that the speech of Thayendanegea should be forwarded to Lord Dorchester. Governor Simcoe left the province soon afterward, and a change was made in the administration of the Indian department, by the appointment of Captain Claus to the Indian agency at Niagara. It appears that before his departure, the Governor had confirmed such sales as had been previously made by the Indians; but difficulties arose on making the surveys, which once more placed everything afloat. The consequence was, that another hearing took place before Mr. Claus at Niagara, in October, 1796, at which, in another written speech, the Chief gave a historical argument of his case. From portions of this speech, it appears that Upper Canada had already become infested with unprincipled land-jobbers, who were the especial dislike of the Chief. "I cannot help remarking," said he, "that it appears to me that certain characters here, who stood behind the counter during the last war, and whom we knew nothing about, are now dictating to your great men concerning our lands. I should wish to know what property these officious persons left behind them in their own country, or whether, through their loyalty, they ever lost any! I doubt it much. But 'tis well known that scarcely a man amongst us but what sacrificed more or less property by leaving our homes. I again repeat, that if these officious persons have made the smallest sacrifice of property then I think they may in some measure be allowed to interfere, although it may be well known that personal interest prompts them to it, not the public good."
This speech, the Chief declared, should be his final effort to obtain justice from the "great men below"—the provincial government meaning. If not successful there, he declared his purpose of proceeding to England, and bringing his case in person before the King. But this resolution was contingent, and was not kept. On the departure of Governor Simcoe, the Executive government of the colony devolved upon the Hon. Peter Russell, President of the Executive Council of the province. For the more convenient administration of the Indian affairs of the province, Mr. Russell was clothed with all the powers upon that subject previously exercised by the General-in-chief at Quebec, acting under the advice of the Superintendent-General of Indian Affairs, Sir John Johnson. Captain Brant lost no time in bringing the subject of his land title before Mr. Russell, and he speedily succeeded in part. The sales already made were confirmed, and the old Chief wrote to his friend and correspondent, Thomas Morris, Esq., then a resident of Canandaigua, that their difficulties respecting lands were nearly removed, and he had reason to believe that henceforth their affairs would go on to their satisfaction. [FN] The basis of the arrangement sanctioned by the acting Governor, was, that the lands then sold, or intended to be sold, by the Indians, should be surrendered to the government, which, upon the good faith of the agreement, was to issue grants to the persons nominated as purchasers by the agent transacting the land business of the nation. Captain Brant was acting in that capacity. The lands were of course to be mortgaged as security for the payment of the principal and interest of the purchase money. It was, moreover, the duty of the Agent to appoint three trustees, to receive the payments in trust for the Indians, and to foreclose the mortgages in cases of default—the lands to revert to the Indians. Captain Brant fulfilled his part of the agreement to the letter; but the government failed altogether to comply with its own corresponding duty. Some of the purchasers had paid their interest for several years, but could not obtain their titles; others died, and the heirs were in the like predicament, and the whole business became involved more than ever in difficulty. Added to all which, as the Indians themselves improved in their agricultural labors, the system of possessing all things in common operated unequally, and interposed great embarrassments to individual industry. But so long as the government refused to the Indians the privilege of disposing of the fee of the soil, the nation could not convey any portion of its own domain to its own people. [FN-2]
[FN-1] Letter to Thomas Morris, Esq, July 30, 1797. [Mr. Morris has furnished the author with a package of letters from Capt. Brant, written between the years 1796 and 1801, which, though chiefly upon private business, have nevertheless been found of use in the present work.]
[FN-2] Memorial of John Norton to the Marquis of Caurden.
There were other difficulties in the business, which it would be tedious to enumerate, the result of all which was, that the arrangement was in fact a nullity. Not only so, but the Mohawks felt themselves to be an independent nation, and they, or perhaps more correctly speaking, their proud and indomitable Chief, could ill brook submission to such a species of guardianship. The "satisfaction" arising from the arrangement under the auspices of President Russell, was consequently of but short continuance, and the Captain was compelled to fight his land battles over again. Many were the councils and conferences which succeeded, in all of which Brant was the principal speaker and defender of the rights of his people to the fee of their lands. The design of the British government was to hold the Indians in a state of pupilage, according to the practice of the United States; and consequently to allow them merely the occupancy of lands of which the government claimed the title. But neither the Mohawks nor their indefatigable leader would listen to any such doctrine; always, on all occasions asserting their own complete and entire independence as a nation. They were an independent nation in the Valley of the Mohawk, argued the Chief in one of his speeches, [FN] and were the undisputed owners of the soil of their country. Their right in this respect had never been questioned. On the breaking out of the war, they had relinquished their country—their all—because of their friendship and loyalty to the King. "In the year 1776," said the old Chief in the speech now referred to, "Lord Dorchester, then Sir Guy Carleton, at a very numerous council, gave us every encouragement, and requested us to assist in defending their country, and to take an active part in defending his Majesty's possessions; stating, that when the happy day of peace should arrive, and should we not prove successful in the contest, that he would put us on the same footing in which we stood previous to our joining him. This flattering promise was pleasing to us, and gave us spirit to embark heartily in his Majesty's cause. We took it for granted that the word of so great a man, or any promises of a public nature, would ever be held sacred." Again, in another part of the speech, the Captain remarked:—"We were promised our lands for our services, and those lands we were to hold on the same footing with those we fled from at the commencement of the American war, when we joined, fought, and bled in your cause. Now is published a proclamation, forbidding us leasing those very lands that were positively given us in lieu of those of which we a were the sovereigns of the soil. This, brothers, is surely a contradiction that the least discerning person amongst you must perceive, and which we think wonderful. Of those lands we have forsaken, we sold, we leased, and we gave away, when and as often as we saw fit, without hindrance on the part of your government; for your government well knew we were the lawful sovereigns of the soil, and they had no right to interfere with us as independent nations." In support of this assertion, the Chief proceeded to enumerate various sales and gifts of their lands; among which he mentioned the large and celebrated tract to Sir William Johnson, commonly called the Royal Grant, and for signing the conveyance of which the Captain asserted that he received a present of £fifty.
[FN] Speech delivered at a meeting of the Chiefs and warriors at Niagara before Colonel Scheaffe, Colonel Claus, and others, in August, 1803, on the occasion of a government proclamation forbidding the sale or leasing of any of their lands by the Indians.
The history of the whole controversy was very clearly stated in the speech just cited, and the argument throughout exceedingly well put. The Captain, in some of his speeches, dwelt with emphasis upon another feature of his case, affording a farther example of the magnanimity of the Mohawks in their dealings with the government, and the want of that attribute as evidenced in the manner of their requital. The Indians never asked of the crown any compensation for the vast tracts of their hunting-grounds relinquished by adhering to the cause of the crown. In a letter written to Sir John Johnson at this stage of the controversy, the veteran Chief cut with a two-edged blade:—"You know we demand nothing new. We have made no demand for compensation for our hunting-grounds, which were very extensive, nor for our wood-lands adjoining our improvements. All we ask is a confirmation of our just right to this very land, which we receive in lieu of those for which we received no compensation. I presume few loyalists have omitted charging, and receiving pay for their woodlands, as we did; many of whom received lands who had never possessed one foot before." [FN]