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Untitled Article
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Untitled Article
selling t'beir lands to the wl * ifce peo- pie , i . e . the Americans . Now this sale of lands to the Americans , the -English agents , who Reside among die Indians that dwell
west of the United States , always discountenance arid condemn , and do alt they can to prevent its taking place . In July 1802 , a meeting was held between Commissioners appointed by the U . S . and the Indians at Lake Erie for
the extinguishment of their claim to some Jand on the borders of the Lake , at which there were supposed to be present 2000 Indians : the object of the meeting failed , which was attributed to the influence of the British in the
Indian councils , who did not approve of the measure ; and Mr . Dinmore states in the Manlhly l&agazine , that at -a more recent meeting of Indians for the same purpose , the British influence again prevented it »
It is reasonable to suppose that " these agents , who are in the pay of the British government , act agreeably to the wishes of their supejiors , and this conduct must be admitted to betray , to say the least , groat jealousy of the increase of territory of the U . S .
and perhaps we may say envy also at the upright conduct of . that Government towards the Indians ., who purchase and pay honourably for the lands they have from them , and do not seize on their territory , and drive them off by forcc ^ as the English formerly did . The Indians are cautioned against granting leases to the Americans , which there seems no occasion for when it is known that - an American views leases with contempt ; it being a general
Untitled Article
i : sentiment < -among them / either to own the land they live m or else to remain as labourers in farming , mechanics , &c till they can pur-Chase < the freehold , and no iiidi *
vidual American is allowed to purchase any land of an Indian : the government alone possesses that right , lest the Indians should suf . fer thereby . The Orator also advises them
to cultivate their lands , not to aid them in civilization , but that they may have more cattle to hunt : the very pursuit that is a great bar to improvement in civilization , which Americans gene - rally promote , but the English as much oppose .
Captain Norton , who i £ said to be the reporter of the speech , a » d who perhaps was the maker of it , possesses a superior naind to the generality of Indians , t extract the following notice of him from the Manuscript Journal of a friend of mine , who was introduced to
him at Niagara ^ in Sept . 1799 . Ci Captain N- vfas born of " Scotch parents , and spent 18 " months in Edinburgh , 14 years " ago : on his return to Anie" rica he > travel led to the wesU
" ward to see his parents , but " having got among the Indians , " was kept so long among them " ( voluntarily ) that he cpultl not Cu proceed , was eventually adopf" ed by the Mohawk nation , and " has since become one of them *
" He is nearly six feet high , of a " good figure and pleasant cdun" tenance , his conversation and " -manners are very agreeable , bis " dress perfectly Indian and 66 rich :, his hair is cut off entirely ,
" except over his ears , and on the " crown of ihe head , which i * " turned up in a pla t j that pw *
Untitled Article
496 An Indian Speed .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1809, page 496, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1740/page/22/
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