Documents Relating to the 1863-64 Pembina Treaties
(1) TREATY WITH THE CHIPPEWA—RED LAKE AND PEMBINA BANDS OF 1863. Signed Oct. 2, 1863. (13 Stats., 667) Ratified Mar. 1, 1864. Proclaimed May 5, 1864.
Published in Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties, vol. 2, Treaties, Charles J. Kappler, comp. and ed., Washington : Government Printing Office, 1904, pp. 853-55.
Articles of a treaty made and concluded at the Old Crossing of Red Lake River, in the State of Minnesota, on the second day of October, in the year eighteen hundred and sixty-three, between the United States of America, by their commissioners, Alexander Ramsey and Ashley C. Morrill, agent for the Chippewa Indians, and the Red Lake and Pembina bands of Chippewas; by their chiefs, head-men, and warriors.
The peace and friendship now existing between the United States and the Red Lake and Pembina bands of Chippewa Indians shall be perpetual.
The said Red Lake and Pembina bands of Chippewa Indians do hereby cede, sell, and convey to the United States all their right, title, and interest in and to all the lands now owned and claimed by them in the State of Minnesota and in the Territory of Dakota within the following described boundaries, to wit: Beginning at the point where the international boundary between the United States and the British possessions intersects the shore of the Lake of the Woods; thence in a direct line southwesterly to the head of Thief River; thence down the main channel of said Thief River to its mouth on the Red Lake River; thence in a southeasterly direction, in a direct line toward the head of Wild Rice River, to the point where such line would intersect the northwestern boundary of a tract ceded to the United States by a treaty concluded at Washington on the 22d day of February, in the year eighteen hundred and fifty-five, with the Mississippi, Pillager, and Lake Winnebigoshish bands of Chippewa Indians; thence along the said boundary-line of the said cession to the mouth of Wild Rice River; thence up the main channel of the Red River to the mouth of the Shayenne; thence up the main channel of the Shayenne River to Poplar Grove; thence in a direct line to the Place of Stumps, otherwise called Lake Chicot; thence in a direct line to the head of the main branch of Salt River; thence in a direct line due north to the point where such line would intersect the international boundary aforesaid; thence eastwardly along said boundary to the place of beginning.
In consideration of the foregoing cession, the United States agree to pay to the said Red Lake and Pembina bands of Chippewa Indians the following sums, to wit: Twenty thousand dollars per annum for twenty years; the said sum to be distributed among the
Page 854
Chippewa Indians of the said bands in equal amounts per capita, and for this purpose an accurate enumeration and enrollment of the members of the respective bands and families shall be made by the officers of the United States: Provided, That so much of this sum as the President of the United States shall direct, not exceeding five thousand dollars per year, may be reserved from the above sum, and applied to agriculture, education, the purchase of goods, powder, lead, &c., for their use, and to such other beneficial purposes, calculated to promote the prosperity and happiness of the said Chippewa Indians, as he may prescribe.
And in further consideration of the foregoing cession, and of their promise to abstain from such acts in future, the United States agree that the said Red Lake and Pembina bands of Chippewa Indians shall not be held liable to punishment for past offences. And in order to make compensation to the injured parties for the depredations committed by the said Indians on the goods of certain British and American traders at the mouth of Red Lake River, and for exactions forcibly levied by them on the proprietors of the steamboat plying on the Red River, and to enable them to pay their just debts, the United States agree to appropriate the sum of one hundred thousand dollars, it being understood and agreed that the claims of individuals for damages or debt under this article shall be ascertained and audited, in consultation with the chiefs of said bands, by a commissioner or commissioners appointed by the President of the United States; furthermore, the sum of two thousand dollars shall be expended for powder, lead, twine, or such other beneficial purposes as the chiefs may request, to be equitably distributed among the said bands at the first payment: Provided, That no part of the sum of one hundred thousand dollars shall be appropriated or paid to make compensation for damages or for the payment of any debts owing from said Indians until the said commissioner or commissioners shall report each case, with the proofs thereof, to the Secretary of the Interior, to be submitted to Congress, with his opinion thereon, for its action; and that, after such damages and debts shall have been paid, the residue of said sum shall be added to the annuity funds of said Indians, to be divided equally upon said annuities.
To encourage and aid the chiefs of said bands in preserving order and inducing, by their example and advice, the members of their respective bands to adopt the habits and pursuits of civilized life, there shall be paid to each of the said chiefs annually, out of the annuities of the said bands, a sum not exceeding one hundred and fifty dollars, to be determined by their agents according to their respective merits. And for the better promotion of the above objects, a further sum of five hundred dollars shall be paid at the first payment to each of the said chiefs to enable him to build for himself a house. Also, the sum of five thousand dollars shall be appropriated by the United States for cutting out a road from Leach Lake to Red Lake.
The President shall appoint a board of visitors, to consist of not less than two nor more than three persons, to be selected from such Christian denominations as he may designate, whose duty it shall be to attend at all annuity payments of the said Chippewa Indians, to inspect their field and other improvements, and to report annually thereon on or before the first day of November, and also as to the qualifications and moral deportment of all persons residing upon the reservation under the authority of law; and they shall receive for their services five dollars a day for the time actually employed, and ten cents per mile for travelling expenses: Provided, That no one shall be paid in any one year for more than twenty days' service or for more than three hundred miles' travel.
The laws of the United States now in force, or that may hereafter be enacted, prohibiting the introduction and sale of spirituous
Page 855
liquors in the Indian country, shall be in full force and effect throughout the country hereby ceded, until otherwise directed by Congress or the President of the United States.
In further consideration of the foregoing cession, it is hereby agreed that the United States shall grant to each male adult half-breed or mixed-blood who is related by blood to the said Chippewas of the said Red Lake or Pembina bands who has adopted the habits and customs of civilized life, and who is a citizen of the United States, a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres of land, to be selected at his option, within the limits of the tract of country hereby ceded to the United States, on any land not previously occupied by actual settlers or covered by prior grants, the boundaries thereof to be adjusted in conformity with the lines of the official surveys when the same shall be made, and with the laws and regulations of the United States affecting the location and entry of the same: Provided, That no scrip shall be issued under the provisions of this article, and no assignments shall be made of any right, title, or interest at law or in equity until a patent shall issue, and no patent shall be issued until due proof of five years' actual residence and cultivation, as required by the act entitled “An act to secure homesteads on the public domain.”
Upon the urgent request of the Indians, parties to this treaty, there shall be set apart from the tract hereby ceded a reservation of (640) six hundred and forty acres near the mouth of Thief River for the chief “Moose Dung,” and a like reservation of (640) six hundred and forty acres for the chief “Red Bear,” on the north side of Pembina River.
In witness whereof, the said Alexander Ramsey and Ashley C. Morrill, commissioners on the part of the United States, and the chiefs, headmen, and warriors of the Red Lake and Pembina bands of Chippewa Indians, have hereunto set their hands, at the Old Crossing of Red Lake River, in the State of Minnesota, this second day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
Alex. Ramsey,
Ashley C. Morrill,
Commissioners.
Mons-o-mo, his x mark, Moose Dung, Chief of Red Lake.
Kaw-wash-ke-ne-kay, his x mark, Crooked Arm, Chief of Red Lake.
Ase-e-ne-wub, his x mark, Little Rock, Chief of Red Lak(e).
Mis-co-muk-quoh, his x mark, Red Bear, Chief of Pembina.
Ase-anse, his x mark, Little Shell, Chief of Pembina.
Mis-co-co-noy-a, his x mark, Red Rob, Warrior of Red Lake.
Ka-che-un-ish-e-naw-bay, his x mark, The Big Indian, Warrior of Red Lake.
Neo-ki-zhick, his x mark, Four Skies, Warrior of Red Lake.
Nebene-quin-gwa-hawegaw, his x mark, Summer Wolverine, Warrior of Pembina.
Joseph Gornon, his x mark, Warrior of Pembina.
Joseph Montreuil, his x mark, Warrior of Pembina.
Teb-ish-ke-ke-shig, his x mark, Warrior of Pembina.
May-shue-e-yaush, his x mark, Dropping Wind, Head Warrior of Red Lake.
Min-du-wah-wing, his x mark, Berry Hunter, Warrior of Red Lake.
Naw-gaun-e-gwan-abe, his x mark, Leading Feather, Chief of Red Lake.
Signed in presence of—
Paul H. Beaulieu, special interpreter.
Peter Roy,
T. A. Warren, United States interpreter.
J. A. Wheelock, secretary.
Reuben Ottman, secretary.
George A. Camp, major Eighth Regiment Minnesota Volunteers.
William T. Rockwood, Captain Company K, Eighth Regiment Minnesota Volunteers.
P. B. Davy, Captain Company L, First Regiment Minnesota Mounted Rangers.
G. M. Dwelle, Second Lieutenant Third Minnesota Battery.
F. Rieger, Surgeon Eighth Regiment Minnesota Volunteers.
L. S. Kidder, First Lieutenant Company L, First Minnesota Mounted Rangers.
Sam. B. Abbe.
C. A. Kuffer.
Pierre x Bottineau.
Copied from the Oklahoma State University Library's website,
http://digital.library.okstate.edu/kappler/ (accessed Oct 2006)
(2) TREATY WITH THE CHIPPEWA—RED LAKE AND PEMBINA BANDS, 1864. (13 Stats., 689) Ratified April 21, 1864. Proclaimed April 25, 1864.
Published in Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties, vol. 2, Treaties, Charles J. Kappler, comp. and ed., Washington : Government Printing Office, 1904, pp. 861-62.
Page 861
Articles supplementary to the treaty made and concluded at the Old Crossing of Red Lake River, in the State of Minnesota, on the second day of October, in the year eighteen hundred and sixty-three, between the United States of America, by their commissioners, Clark W. Thompson and Ashley C. Morrill, and the Red Lake and Pembina bands of Chippewa Indians, by their chiefs, head-men, and warriors, concluded at the city of Washington, District of Columbia, on the twelfth day of April, in the year eighteen hundred and sixty-four, between the United States, by the said commissioners, of the one part, and the said bands of the Chippewa Indians, by their chiefs, head-men, and warriors, of the other part.
The said Red Lake and Pembina bands of Chippewa Indians do hereby agree and assent to the provisions of the said treaty, concluded at the Old Crossing of Red Lake River, as amended by the Senate of the United States by resolution bearing date the first of March, in the year eighteen hundred and sixty-four.
In consideration of the cession made by said treaty, concluded at the Old Crossing of Red Lake River, and in lieu of the annuity payment provided for by the third article of said last-mentioned treaty, the United States will pay annually, during the pleasure of the President of the United States, to the Red Lake band of Chippewas the sum of ten thousand dollars, and to the Pembina band of Chippewas the sum of five thousand dollars, which said sums shall be distributed to the members of said bands, respectively, in equal amounts per capita, for which purpose an accurate enumeration and enrollment of the members of the respective bands shall be made by the officers of the United States.
The United States will also expend annually, for the period of fifteen years, for the Red Lake band of Chippewas, for the purpose of supplying them with gilling-twine, cotton mater, calico, linsey, blankets, sheeting, flannels, provisions, farming-tools, and for such other useful articles, and for such other useful purposes as may be deemed for their best interests, the sum of eight thousand dollars: and will expend in like manner, and for a like period, and for like purposes, for the Pembina band of Chippewas, the sum of four thousand dollars.
The United States also agree to furnish said bands of Indians, for the period of fifteen years, one blacksmith, one physician, one miller, and one farmer; and will also furnish them annually, during the same period, with fifteen hundred dollars' worth of iron, steel, and other articles for blacksmithing purposes, and one thousand dollars for carpentering, and other purposes.
The United States also agree to furnish for said Indians at some suitable point, to be determined by the Secretary of the Interior, a saw-mill with a run of millstones attached.
It is further agreed, by and between the parties hereto, that article four of the said treaty, concluded at the Old Crossing of Red Lake River, and the amendment to said article, shall be modified as follows: that is to say, twenty-five thousand dollars of the amount thereby stipulated shall be paid to the chiefs of said bands, through their agent, upon the ratification of these articles, or so soon thereafter as practicable, to enable them to purchase provisions and clothing, presents to be distributed to their people upon their return to their homes; of which amount five thousand dollars shall be expended for the benefit of their chief, May-dwa-gwa-no-nind; and that from the remaining seventy-five thousand dollars the claims of injured parties for depredations committed by said Indians on the goods of certain
British and American traders at the mouth of Red Lake River, and for exactions forcibly levied by them on the proprietors of the steam-boat plying on the Red River, shall have priority of payment, and be paid in full, and the remainder thereof shall be paid pro rata upon the debts of said tribe incurred since the first day of January, in the year eighteen hundred and fifty-nine, to be ascertained by their agent in connection with the chiefs, in lieu of the commissioner or commissioners provided for in the fourth article of said treaty concluded at the Old Crossing of Red Lake River.
It is further agreed by the parties hereto, that, in lieu of the lands provided for the mixed-bloods by article eight of said treaty, concluded at the Old Crossing of Red Lake River, scrip shall be issued to such of said mixed-bloods as shall so elect, which shall entitle the holder to a like amount of land, and may be located upon any of the lands ceded by said treaty, but not elsewhere, and shall be accepted by said mixed-bloods in lieu of all future claims for annuities.
In testimony whereof, the said commissioners, on behalf of the United States, and the said chiefs, headmen, and warriors, on behalf of the Red Lake and Pembina bands of Chippewa Indians, have hereunto affixed their hands and seals this twelfth day of April, in the year eighteen hundred and sixty-four.
Clark W. Thompson, [SEAL.]
Ashley C. Morrill, [SEAL.]
Commissioners.
Principal Red Lake chief, May-dwa-gua-no-nind (He that is spoken to), his x mark, [SEAL.]
Red Lake chief, Mons-o-mo (Moose-dung), his x mark, [SEAL.]
Red Lake chief, Ase-e-ne-wub (Little Rock), his x mark, [SEAL.]
Principal Pembina chief, Mis-co-muk-quah (Red Bear), his x mark, [SEAL.]
Red Lake headman, Naw-gon-e-gwo-nabe (Leading Feather), his x mark, [SEAL.]
Red Lake war[r]ior, Que-we-zance (The Boy), his x mark, [SEAL.]
Red Lake headman, May-zha-ke-osh (Dropping Wind), his x mark, [SEAL.]
Red Lake headman, Bwa-ness (Little Shoe), his x mark, [SEAL.]
Red Lake headman, Wa-bon-e-qua-osh (White Hair), his x mark, [SEAL.]
Pembina headman, Te-bish-co-ge-shick (Equal Sky), his x mark, [SEAL.]
Red Lake warrior, Te-besh-co-be-ness (Straight Bird), his x mark, [SEAL.]
Red Lake warrior, Osh-shay-o-sick (no interpretation), his x mark, [SEAL.]
Red Lake warrior, Sa-sa-goh-cum-ick-ish-cum (He that makes the ground tremble), his x mark, [SEAL.]
Red Lake warrior, Kay-tush-ke-wub-e-tung (no interpretation), his x mark, [SEAL.]
P embina warrior, I-inge-e-gaun-abe, (Wants Feathers), his x mark, [SEAL.]
Red Lake warrior, Que-we-zance-ish (Bad Boy), his x mark, [SEAL.]
Signed in presence of—
P. H. Beaulieu, special interpreter.
J. G. Morrison, special interpreter.
Peter Roy, special interpreter.
T. A. Warren, United States interpreter.
Chas. E. Gardell.
Charles Botteneau.
Old Crossing treaty with the Red Lake
and Pembina Bands of Chippewa
Transcripts
38th
Congress,
1st
Session -
CONFIDENTIAL - Executive P.
Message of the
President of the United States, transmitting a treaty between the United
States and the chiefs, headmen, and warriors of Red Lake and Pembina
Bands of Chippewa Indians, concluded on the 2nd of October, 1863.
January 8, 1864, from the Department of the Interior: "Sir: I
have the honor to transmit herewith a treaty made at the Old Crossing of
the Red Lake River, in the State of Minnesota, on the 2d day of October,
1863, between Alexander Ramsey and Ashley C. Morrill, commissioners on
the part of the United States, and the chiefs, headmen, and warriors of
the Red Lake and Pembina Bands of Chippewa Indians . . ."
Narrative description of
treaty-making by Alexander Ramsey to Hon. William P. Dole, Commisisoner
of Indian Affairs
"St. Paul, Minnesota, October
1863. Having, in compliance with your instructions, succeeded in
effecting a treaty with the Red Lake and Pembina bands of Chippewa
Indians for the extinction of their title to the large and important
district of country known as the Red River Valley, I have the honor to
make the following report of the circumstances connected therewith:
"My departure from St. Paul was postponed, by various causes
..." (p. 6)
"This place, which, by the route travelled, is about four hundred
miles from Saint Paul, was selected as the most convenient rendezvous
for the contracting parties, as it was nearly equidistance between the
Red Lake and Pembina Indians, and some time before I left St. Paul
messengers had been despatched to notify the chiefs and principal men of
those Indians to meet the commissioners at this point. Accordingly, the
Red Lake Indians were already encamped on the ground, this unexpected
punctuality ..." (p. 7)
"Accordingly, on Wednesday, the third day after my arrival, we
held our first general council, a report of which, as of all subsequent
proceedings, carefully prepared by the secretary of the commission will
be found in the annexed journal. I addressed them at length upon the
object of our visit, endeavoring especially to impress upon them the
fact that their Great Father desired to make a treaty with them - not in
order to obtain possession of their lands, but chiefly with a view to
their benefit ... " (p. 8)
"[... I deemed it advisable, under the discretionary powers
conferred upon me by your letter of instructions, to direct the
negotiations with] a view to an absolute purchase of their lands - at
least of such of their lands as could, for many years, fall within the
possible exigencies of trade, emigration, or settlement.
"The failure of previous negotiations for this object warned
me that its accomplishment was a task of considerable difficulty and
delicacy, owing to the preposterous ..." (p. 9)
"[... Red Lake. With the exception of a narrow border of fertile
'hardwood' lands around the shores of that lake,] where these bands now
have their homes and raise small crops of corn and potatoes, the tract
reserved for their future occupancy, while abounding in game, fish,
fields of wild rice, and other resources adapted to the primitive wants
of the Indian, is, from the nature of the surface, which may be
generally described as a series of impassible swales, entirely valueless
..." (p. 10)
"[An important object of the treaty was the improvement of the
Indians. One-quarter of the amount of annuities is to be reserved as a
fund for this purpose,] to be converted into such articles, or to be
applied to such beneficial objects, as the President may direct; this
general phraeology, which admits of such adaptation to special
circumstances as may be required from time to time, being regarded as
more expedient ..." (p. 11)
"[A line of transcontinental telegraph is about to be
constructed, under the auspices of the great corporation, from Pembina
to the Pacific coast, which will, undoubtedly, be cto connect on the
Asiatic coast with the great lines of telegraph which Russia is
establishing from St. Petersburgh to the mouth of the Amoor.
"The line of the St. Paul and Pacific railroad, now in the
course of construction, runs for two hundred miles northwesterly across
the ceded tract, as located by Congress, by which it was endowed with a
valuable land grant, with a view to its ultimate extension of to the
Pacific coast. Ant it is not the least of the advantages of the treaty
that it will now make these lands available for construction ..."
(p. 12)
"[My impression is, that their dissatisfaction is in some degree
the mere effect of wounded pride, arising from their not having been
consulted in framing the provisions of the treaty. This feeling might
be readily removed by some slight concessions, in addition to that above
indicated, and for this object I would recommend that two or three of
the more influential chiefs be invited to Washington. The intimation
that I would urge these points in their favor was received by them with
great satisfaction, but no circumstance of my interview with the Indians
had a happier effect in assuaging their discontent than the address made
by Hole-in-the-Day, of Gull Lake, to the chiefs, which was marked by a
breadth and elevation of views which are rare among his race. He
advised them to submit cheerfully to the provisions of the treaty, since
their Great Father willed it. The chiefs who signed the treaty ..."
(p. 13)
Journal of the proceedings connected with the negotiation of a treaty
with the Red Lake and Pembina bands of Chippewas, concluded at the Old
Crossing of Red Lake River, on the Second of October, 1863, by Alexander
Ramsey and A. C. Morrill
"September 4 -
Commissioner Ramsay [sic] and
the gentlemen accompanying him arrived at St. Cloud last evening
en route for the proposed treaty
rendezvous ...
"September 5 - The
party left St. Cloud this morning, and met General Sibley's expedition
camped at Richmond, twenty-five miles from St. Cloud. The afternoon was
spent in arranging with General Sibley for an escort and transportation
for the expedition, and the general's hospitalities were accepted for
the night.
"September 6 - Reached
Sauk Centre yesterday, and to-day was occupied in the organization and
outfit of a cavalry detachment under Lieutenant -----, which was to form
a part of our escort.
"September 8 - We
reached Alexandria, where a company of mounted infantry was added to our
escort, of which Captain Rockwood took command. ..." (p. 13)
"[September 11 - Reached
Fort Abercrombie to-day, where, although it lay out of a direct route,
it was necessary to go in order to obtain a lot of flour and other]
articles which were designed for the contemplated treaty with the Red
Lake and Pembina Indians last year, but which were arrested on their way
to the treaty ground by the Sioux outbreak and stored at this point. We
were also to obtain here a portion of our escort, of which Major George
H. Camp now took command. Our escort and train had now grown to
imposing proportions, the former consisting of 180 mounted men, and the
latter of 58 army (six-mule) wagons, 13 ox wagons, and half a dozen
other vehicles." (p. 14)
"September 23 - At 2
o'clock p.m. the Indians assembled in council in front of the
commissioner's headquarters to the number of perhaps a hundred,
comprising the chiefs and principal men representing all the bands. The
chiefs were named as follows ..." (p. 15)
[Governor Ramsey's speech, interpreted by Mr. Paul Beaulieu:
(Ramsey began with an oration about the 'wickedness and
perfidy of the Sioux,' referring to the U.S.-Dakota war in August -
September 1862, about 300 miles southeast of Pembina. 1,250 Dakota
people were imprisoned, many more were exiled to 'Dakota Territory' and
Canada, and three hundred and three were sentenced to death by hanging.
U.S. President Abraham Lincoln ordered the execution of thirty-nine of
those condemned to death, thirty-eight of whom were hung at a mass
gallows in Mankato, Minnesota, on December 26, 1862. They were buried
in a mass grave, but then their bodies were taken from the grave by area
doctors, including Dr. Mayo of the Mayo Clinic, for medical research.
Little Crow, among the leaders of the Dakota rebellion, fled to Canada,
but returned to Minnesota in June, and on July 3,1862 was shot while
picking berries with his son near Hutchinson. The farmer who killed him
received $500 'bounty' for Little Crow's scalp. The 177 Dakota
prisoners who survived until March 22, 1866 were released by U.S.
President Andrew Johnson, and 'relocated' to the Santee Reservation in
Nebraska. The U.S. treatment of the Dakota people, and the ongoing
atrocities of the U.S. Civil War - a number of regional Métis fought in
the Union Army - set the backdrop for the treaty negotiations in
October, 1863.)
" ... of treaties, and because, whatever other difficulties
have arisen, no white man's blood has been shed by a Chippewa. ... You
know that, within the last fifteen years, all the country south of you
has been peopled by whites. ..." (p. 16)
"... very liberal price, say twenty thousand dollars; or, if you
want to sell your lands and retain a reservation for yourselves, say
so. That is all we have to say at present." (p. 17)
"[This incident, illustrating the state of feeling between
Hole-in-]the-Day
and the Red Lake chiefs, though irrelevant to the proceedings of the
treaty, is deemed worth recording in view of the suggestions contained
in the instructions of the department to Mr. Ramsey, that it might be
expedient or feasible to set apart a reservation for
Hole-in-the-Day and his band in
the Red Lake Country ..." (p. 18)
"[Red Bear:] I do not see any obstacle on my back track toward my
village. I look upon myself in the same light as you do upon yourself.
You are here upon a visit to lands that do not belong to you. It is
just the same with me. I am on a visit on lands that do not belong to
me. I did not bring my land to lay it before you ..." (p. 19)
"[Mr. Ramsey, to the interpreter:] ... I thought it would be
worth to us. I stated to them very plainly, that if the offers were not
agreeable to them they should make another proposition. The Great
Father had several times offered to purchase the land, not because he
wanted it for settlement -- at least during the lifetime of the youngest
of them, but because he wanted a free passage over it ..." (p. 20)
"[Little Rock's response. ... It seems now that the white man is
passing backward and forward, and wresting these prairies from our
hands, and taking this food from my mouth.]
"My friend, when we take anything which has been left upon the
ground, even though it be of small value, we feel bad. We are afraid to
look the owner in the face until we restore it. ..." (p. 21)
"Saturday, September 26.
- One object of these notes of the treaty proceedings is to preserve the
highly characteristic and original specimens of Indian rhetoric and
diplomacy, which were brought out in the course of the negotiations.
These illustrations of Indian oratory have at least one merit, which
does not always belong to the current and popular specimens of
aboriginal eloquence -- they are genuine. We were fortunate in our
interpreter, Mr. Paul Beaulieu, whose thorough acquaintance with the
Chippewa language, and ready command of English, enabled him to give as
close and faithful a rendering of the Indian] forms of expression, and
the current of his ideas, as is possible in so different an idiom.
There are two reasons which give a special interest to the speeches made
in behalf of the Red Lake Indians ..." (p. 22)
[Editor's
note: many
Ahnishinahbæótjibway believed
that the translations were grieviously inaccurate. For example,
Ah-show-aush
testified to the inaccurate and misleading
translations of the same U.S. interpreter, Paul H. Beaulieu, in a U.S.
Court of Claims case;
Wub-e-ke-niew
also addresses the issue.]
"[Little Rock's oration: ... In looking] back on my trail that I
have made in following them from the other side of the ocean, I find the
tracks of that foot-print everywhere, and the ravages it has made,
(meaning the white race and its aggressions on Indian territory.) I
will follow him ..." (p. 23)
"[Little Rock's oration: ...(He means, in this obscure manner
...] for crime which obtain among the whites, probably inspired by a
sense of deserving some punishment for past offenses, and by a
recollection of the trial and execution of the Sioux.) My friend, my
young men are not all of the same disposition, nor are your young men of
the same disposition. We cannot always control them. My friend, I was
not higher than that (lowering his hand to the height of a small boy)
when I last said 'father' to the one I used to call my father. When I
was young and nothing but a child, I was crazy and foolish as a child.
When my father cut a switch and broke it over me ..." (p. 24)
[Editor's
note: given the extremely strong feelings in objection to
physical punishment among
Ahnishinahbæótjibway, and
consistent cultural context of
nonviolence,
this is almost certainly
not
what Little Rock actually said.]
"[Mr. Ramsey to the Interpreter. ... Tell] them that the silver
voice which Little Rock heard
was the sound of the twenty thousand dollars I offered them for the road
and rivers. That is undoubtedly the sound which took him on the trail.
Tell him that we know very well that the Great Spirit originally placed
them here, and our ancestors on the other side of the ocean. But the
Master of Life ..." (p 25)
"[Little Rock's reply. ... If you had wanted a right of way over
the roads and rivers you would have consulted us first before you took
it. We know you hate crime, you hate lying, you hate] theft, all
wrong-doing. That is just the way, wit us. We hate these things. My
friend, it is a candid fact, there is not an instance of that kind which
can be brought against me ..." (p. 26)
"[They were counted in their lodges, when they were assembled by
their chiefs for the purpose, with the following result:] (p. 27)
|
By whom numbered |
Name of Chief |
Men |
Women |
Children |
Lodges |
Total |
|
Mr. Thompson |
Little Chief |
100 |
119 |
214 |
... |
442 half-breeds |
|
Do |
do |
7 |
10 |
10 |
... |
27 Indians |
|
Mr. Ottman |
Red Bear |
98 |
91 |
136 |
40 |
325 Indians |
|
Do |
do |
59 |
62 |
100 |
... |
221 half-breeds |
|
Capt. Rockwood |
Moose Dung |
62 |
65 |
83 |
27 |
210 Indians |
|
Capt. Davy |
Little Rock |
92 |
|
|
|
92
Indians |
|
Do |
May-dwa-gon-on-ind |
|
|
|
|
193 Indians |
|
Do |
do |
|
|
|
|
24
half-breeds |
|
Do |
Broken Arm |
|
|
|
11 |
84
half-breeds |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1,618 |
What
began as a right-of-way negotiation was taken to Washington D.C., where
it was re-written as a boilerplate land cession treaty with which the
U.S. unilaterally took about eleven million acres. The people who
actually agreed to the land cessions and payment to the fur traders in
the treaty were not Ahnishinahbæótjibway, and were
not indigenous to this Continent. Two of the people who allegedly
agreed with X-marks as "Pembina Warriors" actually used their French
names--Joseph Gornon and Joseph Montreuil. Another, who the U.S.
Government appointed as a Red Lake Indian Chief, was a Frenchman named
Racine who used the name Kah-nun-dah-wah-wenzo as a professional
treaty-signer, and who also helped "sell" land at the treaties of Sandy
Lake, Gull Lake, and Boise Fort. All of those who assented to this
fraudulent treaty were European subject people who had no claim to
Ahnishinahbæótjibway land. Some of the Chippewa Indian
Chiefs who helped legitimize the theft of Ahnishinahbæótjibway
land were Scouts in the U.S. Army [i]
(including Chief White Cloud and Chief Red Bear); some had
been Civil War draftees.
In the winter of 1863-4, May-dwa-gan-on-ind, the "Red Lake Chief [sic] who had refused to sign the treaty ... walked a hundred and fifty miles [to White Earth] to lay his troubles before Bishop Whipple." [ii] Whipple recorded in his diary that he left for Washington to inform the U.S. government that the Red Lake Indians [sic] did not know the character of the treaty they had made and that it was "from beginning to end a fraud..." [iii]
The
U.S. Senate took the 1863 Treaty and amended it in New York so that more
land could be alienated with the use of Halfbreed Scrip. One of the
so-called Red Lake Indian Chiefs who was taken East to agree to the
April 12, 1864 Amendments died of the persuasion he was given there.
Rotgut whiskey was used by the U.S. Government as standard procedure to
procure "agreement" to Indian treaties. As the widow of another victim
of deadly Eastern treaty persuasion said over the body of her husband,
"I told you not to touch that thing [whiskey] which has killed so many
of our people. Had you paid attention to my warning you would not be
where now you are."
[i].
National Archives,
Microfilm Series 233, Roll 70, Indian Scouts, 1866-74.
[ii].
William Watts
Folwell, A History of Minnesota, Minnesota Historical
Society, Volume 4, pages 476-7, Op. cit.
[iii].
Ibid,
footnote number 41.
[iv].
Folwell,
page 477, Op. cit.
[v].
Ibid,
quoting a November 14, 1866 letter to Joel Bassett.
Thanks to http://www.maquah.net/Historical/1863/1863-1864_treaty-INDEX.html, from which the foregoing was pasted and some typos corrected.
END.
