MICHIGAN PIONEER SOCIETY

 

ADDRESS OF THE CHIEFS OF THE CHIPPEWA NATION

 (Found among Major May’s papers, April A. D. Fraser)

   Father, We the chiefs of the Chippewa Nation of Indians, inhabiting and owning the lands on the West and North of the Great Water, called Lake St. Clair, now waite on you, to assure, of our sincere and friendly attachment to the people with whom but very lately we were at war, but that war not brought on by us but instigated by bad council.

   We sometimes since met a great war-chief of your people at Greenville for the purpose of putting a happy end to the war subsisting between us, which chief we are told is now gone to the great and good spirit therefore cannot now talk with us; in our great council with him he gave us assurance that all our lands should remain to us and remain to our youths and at our disposal,  what passed there, we consider as done before the Great and Good Spirit that punishes people for doing bad things or telling things that are not true.

   In full belief of what had been agreed upon between us and the great  war  chief, we returned home contented to our little houses to see our children and aged parents.

   Father, We have been long sufferers by the hunt (on which our support depended) having left our country and we unable to cultivate the land as white people do, to obtain a support, we found no other alterations to gain a subsistence but to rent our lands to white people to labour; out of the whites we made choice of three of our brethren with whom we have for a long time been on the most friendly footing, and who for many years past have often relieved us from distress, to these three we have rented part of our lands, for which we are to receive an annual payment in the necessaries of life, as will appear by their agreement with us which we now shew you, besides our enjoying every use of said land that we ever before have done.

   Father, We have already received a considerable amount in advance from our brothers for said land we are now in want of necessaries for the approaching cold weather, which they are ready to give us; as soon as you are (our) good father will say that our conveyance of the land to them is just and for our advantage, this we hope you will do in order that we may get the wished for supply and enable us to do justice to our friends by our fulfilling the agreement made with them.

   And request you would communicate this our desire and agreement to our great and good father at the great village of Philadelphia, hoping that he will say that we have done right and allow us to do our friend justice.

 

Detroit, 8 of September 1797