In The News

Treaty of Canandaigua, 1794

Written by a group of Haudenosaunee leaders and scholars, this book tells the complex and intriguing story of the Six Nations and their relationship with the United States over the 200 year period following the American Revolution. The U.S. Constitution recognizes treaties as "the supreme law of the land". Yet 200 years after signing the treaty that was to protect their lands and sovereign rights, the Haudenosaunee -- the Six Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy -- have been stripped of all but a small fraction of their original territories. The treaty, signed in 1794, nevertheless remains in effect, and it is still formally observed by the U.S. government. The authors examine the history leading up to the signing of the treaty and look at how the Haudenosaunee have fared under its terms.

The Canandaigua agreement was a treaty of accommodation, born of military and political necessity on both sides. Because the Six Nations at the time was too powerful a force to be subject to U.S. domination, the treaty was drawn up in terms of equality -- without the restrictions imposed on Indian nations by later treaties. Haudenosaunee territories and the Six Nations sovereignty within them were recognized as absolute. The treaty has been violated numerous times, even in Supreme Court decisions, and the fight to retain sovereignty and regain land taken illegally continues to this day. Although many Americans feel that Indian treaties are thing of the past and that Native Americans should resign themselves to merging with mainstream culture, the Haudenosaunee have recently gained more recognition in federal courts.

The authors have written this book knowing that the Canandaigua Treaty is their best hope for retaining sovereignty and recovering lands, and that the legal outcomes for the Iroquois Confederacy will affect Indian nations throughout the country. Offering a variety of perspectives -- cultural, legal and political -- as well as valuable information drawn from historic archives, this book represents a comprehensive portrait of a great people and their struggle for survival.

THE EDITORS: G. Peter Jemison, a member of the Seneca nation, is an artist, author, and curator of Native American art exhibitions. He serves as manager of the Ganondagan State Historic site, the site of an ancient Seneca Village in upstate New York. Anna M. Schein, is University Librarian, West Virginia University. Her documentary photographs have been exhibited in U.S. and Haudenosaunee libraries and archived in the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. She lives in Morgantown, West Virginia.

PARTIAL CONTENTS:

Thanksgiving Address, by Clayton Logan

The Edge of the Woods, by Chief Jake swamp

Introduction, by G. Peter Jemison

Treaty Making, by Chief Irving Powless, Jr.

A View from the Six Nations, by Joagquisho (Chief Oren Lyons)

The Canandaigua Treaty of 1794 in Historical Perspective, by John C. Mohawk

The Haudenosaunee Confederacy 1774-17 77, by Doug George-Kanentiio

The States, the United States, and the Canandaigua Treaty, by Daniel J. Richter

Some Observations on the Treaty of Canandaigua, by Robert W. Venables

The Right to Sovereignty, by Ron LaFrance

Sovereignty and Treaty Rights -- We Remember, by G. Peter Jemison

"Broken Promises Come High", by Joy Bilharz

Celebration at the Chosen Spot: the 200th Anniversary of the Canandaigua Treaty, 11 November, 1794, by Anna M. Schein

Appendix: 1790 Letters: Cornplanter, Halftown, and the Great Tree to President George Washington; Letter inviting the Head Chiefs, Sachems and Warriors of the Six Nations to treaty negotiations; The Savery Journal: Canandaigua Treaty Excerpt; The Canandaigua Treaty and ratification.