THE CANANDAIGUA TREATY

When people think of November 11th, some will rightly think of the holiday of Veteran's Day. How many will think of the year 1794 and the Haudenosaunee or the City of Canandaigua, New York. What part did this charming bucolic community, located in New York's Finger Lakes region, play in early American history?

The Haudenosaunee, better known by their French moniker of Iroquois, made up the Confederacy of the Six Nations of Indians: the Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, Mohawk and Tuscarora. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries these Indian nations occupied most of what is modern upstate New York and their power and influence extended north into Canada, west into the Ohio and Mississippi country and south into the Carolinas. However, after the American Revolution and certainly by 1794 their population, power and lands had been dramatically reduced within New York State.

Most of the Iroquois had sided with the British during the Revolution and when the Treaty of Paris was signed, no provision was made for the native American populations. Their lands were lost in land grabs by American settlers and land speculators. This reduced their living spaces to less than a dozen small settlements. Some even chose to emigrate to lower Canada and dwell among their former British allies.

Finally in 1794, things began to look a little brighter for some of the Iroquois. This was partly due to sympathetic whites such as the Quakers who thought the Indians were being treated too harshly by the white settlers and the New York State government. The other reason was a practical military consideration on behalf of the fledgling United States government.

The Northwest Territories (i.e. Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois) were a source of problems and frustrations for President Washington, who was trying to bolster a solid boundary for the country in that area. Although the British capitulated, they were slow to leave some of their border posts in the Northwest. At the same time, Tecumseh, a strong Shawnee leader, was encouraging his brethren to fight all whites, British or Americans.

The first two armies sent by President Washington to quell these native uprisings were composed of untrained regulars and militia and these troops were also poorly commanded. Both armies met with defeat at the hands of the experienced Indians. In August of 1794, General "Mad" Anthony Wayne finally subdued the rebellious Indians at the Battle of Fallen Timbers, near present-day Toledo, Ohio. Despite the loss, Tecumseh remained free and unscathed and Washington knew that Tecumseh would not give up easily. The President wanted to keep the peace and to prevent the western tribes from uniting with the eastern tribes to perpetuate and spread the violence.

As the Northwest Indian Wars were being played out, President Washington decided to treat with the Haudenosaunee and assigned Colonel Thomas Pickering to represent him at the negotiations. Pickering was accompanied by General Israel Putnam and William Savery, who represented the Quakers. It was General Putnam's idea to choose Canandaigua which sat in the heart of the Seneca Nation. About 1600 Iroquois attended the negotiations which began in September of 1794.

The overall theme of the conference was summed up by Red Jacket, a Seneca sachem, and that was to refurbish the rusted "Chain of Friendship" that existed between the Haudenosaunee and the United States government. Both sides wanted to right some wrongs of the latest Fort Stanwix Treaty. Permission for the federal government to build some roads through Seneca lands at Niagara was also on the agenda.

During the negotiations on October 27th it was learned that General Anthony Wayne had defeated the western Indians. This news caused the Six Nations to be most attentive and to continue negotiations in order to seek out the best possible terms to benefit their people.

The Canandaigua Treaty, also known as the Pickering Treaty, was signed on November 11, 1794. The treaty was ratified on January 21, 1795. The commemoration of this treaty occurs every year on November 11th in Canandaigua by the Haudenosaunee, the federal government and others.

The treaty is a real document that is worthy of its annual commemoration. It is as important today as it was 217 years ago. In the recent past it has been used to force the federal government to clean up a toxic waste site on tribal lands. It has also been cited on numerous occasions in state and federal courts to help decide jurisdictional disputes arising from state and local governments

Over the years both sides would agree that the treaty may have been bent, but it has never been broken. Article 1 of the treaty sums it up best, "Peace and friendship are hereby firmly established, and shall be perpetual, between the United States and the Six Nations."

© Copyright @ Gerald Desko 2012. All Rights Reserved.