128:
143:, Pennsylvania's interpreter and agent. Pennsylvania agreed to recognize the Iroquois as the owner of all Indian lands in Pennsylvania; the Iroquois, in turn, agreed to sell lands only to Pennsylvania representatives. Canassatego probably attended a 1736 treaty where some Iroquois chiefs sold land along the
272:
Canassatego was reportedly assassinated with poison in
September 1750. Contemporary accounts that were recorded said that he was killed for taking bribes in exchange for selling tribal communal lands. Another said that he had been poisoned by agents of New France. Historian William Starna argued that
167:
of 1737, which was quite controversial. Canassatego complied, berating the
Delawares as "women" who had no right to sell land, and ordering them to leave. "You are women; take the Advice of a Wise Man and remove immediately", he told the Delaware. The Iroquois denigration of the Delaware as "women"
205:
underway, the
British colonies needed to cultivate a good relationship with their Iroquois neighbors, who might otherwise become French allies. After a speech by Canassatego, officials from Maryland and Virginia agreed to pay the Iroquois for land in their colonies, although they believed that the
192:
The first of these sachems (or chiefs) was a tall, wellmade man; had a very full chest, and brawny limbs. He had a manly countenance, mixed with a good-natured smile. He was about 60 years of age; very active, strong, and had a surprising liveliness in his speech, which I observed in the discourse
268:
Canassatego's final appearance at a treaty conference was in August 1749, one year after the end of King George's War. In
Philadelphia, he complained that colonists were settling on Native land along the Susquehanna River. He agreed to sell this land to Pennsylvania, but once again, the written
217:
We have one thing further to say, and that is We heartily recommend Union and a Good
Agreement between you our Brethren. Never disagree, but preserve a strict Friendship for one another, and thereby you as well as we will become the Stronger.
233:. He made similar recommendations about colonial unity at another conference in 1745. His words became a central part of the Iroquois Influence Thesis, the controversial proposal that the Iroquois League was a model for the
154:
Canassatego served as the speaker for the
Onondaga at another conference in 1742, where the Iroquois chiefs collected the final payment for the 1736 land sale. At this meeting, Canassatego managed to convince Governor
289:. Following a literary convention by which Native American characters were used to satirize Europeans, Canassatego was portrayed as wise and honest, in stark contrast to the scheming Englishmen he encounters.
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We are a powerful confederacy, and, by your observing the same
Methods our wise Forefathers have taken, you will acquire fresh Strength and Power; therefore, whatever befalls you, never fall out with one
99:
Canassatego appears in
British historical documents only during the last eight years of his life, and so little is known of his early life. His earliest documented appearance is at a treaty conference in
131:
This map shows
Pennsylvania's land purchases from Native Americans. Canassatego had a role in the 1736 and 1749 sales, although the Iroquois League nations had a questionable claim to those lands.
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Iroquois had no legitimate claim to those lands. Virginia got the better part of the deal, however: although
Canassatego and other Iroquois leaders believed that they had sold only the
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Our wise Forefathers established Union and Amity between the Five Nations; this has made us formidable, this has given us great weight and Authority with our Neighboring Nations.
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At the treaty conference were representatives of five of the Iroquois nations (except the Mohawk, the easternmost tribe), and the provinces of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and
87:, where he recommended that the British colonies emulate the Iroquois by forming a confederacy. He was reportedly assassinated, perhaps by sympathizers or agents of
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in the 1740s. He was involved in several controversial land sales to colonial British officials. He is now best known for a speech he gave at the 1744
611:
626:
Bowen, Catherine Drinker, "The Most Dangerous Man in America: Scenes from the life of Benjamin Franklin," Little, Brown and Company, 1974.
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Canassatego was probably assassinated by pro-French Iroquois who wanted to repudiate Canassatego's diplomatic ties with Pennsylvania.
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568:
112:(Haudenosaunee) League. According to most modern scholars, Canassatego did not appear to be one of the fourteen Onondaga hereditary
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117:
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Canassatego was concerned that the British colonies lacked a coordinated policy to deal with the military threat coming from
654:
234:
574:
Johansen, Bruce E. "By Your Observing the Methods Our Wise Forefathers Have Taken...." In Barbara Alice Mann, ed.
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as a 6, not 5, Nation diplomat who continued building alliances with Britain's Northern Colonies with his friend
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Starna, William A. "The Diplomatic Career of Canasatego". In William A. Pencak and Daniel K. Richter, eds.,
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Friends and Enemies in Penn's Woods: Indians, Colonists, and the Racial Construction of Pennsylvania
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to pay more than the original purchase price. Penn, for his part, urged Canassatego to remove the
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was killed fighting the French a year later. This work, begun by Canassatego and continued by
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In the 1730s, a faction of Iroquois leaders opened a diplomatic relationship with the British
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164:
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Native American speakers of the Eastern woodlands: selected speeches and critical analyses
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Short Hints towards a Scheme for a General Union of the British Colonies on the Continent
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The Great Law and the Longhouse: a political history of the Iroquois Confederacy.
403:(Boston, 1801), 1st series, 7:179. In Johansen, these words are misattributed to
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Benjamin Franklin, Pennsylvania, and the first nations: the treaties of 1736-62
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to Pennsylvania, although the territory had traditionally been occupied by the
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document ceded much more land than what had been agreed upon in negotiations.
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Near the end of the conference, Canassatego gave the colonists some advice:
120:. But Johansen disagrees, saying that Canassatego held the League title of
257:, which became the prototype for the US Federal system declared in 1776.
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to Virginia, the official deed gave Virginia much more land than that.
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In 1744, Canassatego served as a speaker at meetings to negotiate the
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in attendance, recorded the only written description of Canassatego:
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521:
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Naval Historical Center
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A fictional version of Canassatego was featured in the 1755 novel
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nation who became a prominent diplomat and spokesman of the
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Indian treaties printed by Benjamin Franklin, 1736-1762
296:(YN-38/YNT-6/YTM-732), a harbor tug, for Canassatego.
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Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society
253:progressed towards Benjamin Franklin's introducing
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46:
41:
29:
18:
603:Iroquois Diplomacy on the Early American Frontier
193:betwixt him, Mr. Weiser, and some of the sachems.
168:has been the subject of much scholarly writing.
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597:. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2006.
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563:Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1998.
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104:in 1742, where he was a spokesman for the
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580:, 83–105. Greenwood Publishing, 2001.
108:people, one of the six nations of the
623:, 144–63. University Park, Pa., 2004.
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650:18th-century Native American leaders
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318:Iroquois and the Founding Fathers
237:. Canassatego was replaced by
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71:(c. 1684–1750; also spelled
163:from what was known as the
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606:. New York: Viking, 2008.
292:The US Navy named the USS
235:United States Constitution
397:"Witham Marshe's Journal"
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324:. Accessed 13 July 2011.
316:Pearson, Ellen Holmes. "
137:Province of Pennsylvania
283:Lydia: or Filial Piety
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118:Iroquois Grand Council
75:) was a leader of the
553:. Philadelphia, 1938.
547:Boyd, Julian P., ed.
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600:Shannon, Timothy J.
285:, by English writer
251:Hendrick Theyanoguin
247:Hendrick Theyanoguin
239:Hendrick Theyanoguin
81:Iroquois Confederacy
655:Deaths by poisoning
591:Kalter, Susan, ed.
322:Teachinghistory.org
178:Treaty of Lancaster
85:Treaty of Lancaster
133:
612:978-0-670-01897-0
557:Fenton, William N
395:Starna, 144. See
208:Shenandoah Valley
203:King George's War
145:Susquehanna River
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525:the original
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517:"Canasatego"
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479:Starna, 160.
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470:Starna, 157.
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102:Philadelphia
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95:Early career
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645:1750 deaths
452:Kalter, 24.
264:Final years
157:Thomas Penn
69:Canassatego
20:Canassatego
634:Categories
531:2012-09-26
300:References
294:Canasatego
231:New France
186:Marylander
89:New France
73:Canasatego
434:Boyd, 38.
245:in 1754.
225:another.
199:Virginia
122:Tadadaho
110:Iroquois
106:Onondaga
77:Onondaga
31:Onondaga
201:. With
114:sachems
50:c. 1684
610:
584:
567:
277:Legacy
33:leader
305:Notes
608:ISBN
582:ISBN
565:ISBN
184:, a
58:1750
55:Died
47:Born
320:."
636::
559:.
519:.
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370:^
329:^
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
