TREATY OF 1717.

signatures

At Portsmouth, in her Majtie’sProvince of New Hampshire, in New England, the 28th Day of July, in the thirteenth year of our Sovereign Lady Anne, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, Queen, Defender of the Faith, &c.[1714]

The several Articles of the foregoing sheet, after a long Conference with the Delegates of the Eastern Indians, were read to them, & the sense & meaning thereof explained by two faithful, sworn Interpreters, and accordingly signed by every of the Sachems and Delegates that were not present & had not signed the last year.

In the Presence of his Excellency the Governour, and his Excellency General Nicholson, & the Gentlemen of Her Majtie’sCouncills for the Provinces of the Massachusetts Bay & New Hampshire, & other Gentlemen.

Signed, Sealed, & Deliveredin presence of us,

signatures

Georgetown, on Arrowsick Island, in his Majesty’s Province of the Massachusetts Bay in New England, the 12th Day of August 1717, in the fourth year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord George, by the Grace of God of Great Britain, France and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, &c.

We, the Subscribers, being Sachems and Chief men of the several Tribes of Indians belonging to Kennebeck, Penobscut, Pegwackit, Saco, and other, the Eastern Parts of his Majesty’s Province aforesd, having had the several Articles of the foregoing Treaty distinctly read and Interpreted to us by a Sworn Interpreter at this time, do Approve of, Recognize, Ratify, and Confirm all and every the said Articles, (excepting only thefourthandfiftharticles, which relate to the restraint and limitation of Trade and Commerce, which is now otherwise managed.)

And whereas, some rash and inconsiderate Persons amongst us, have molested some of our good fellow Subjects, the English, in the Possession of their Lands, and otherwise illtreated them;—We do disapprove & condemn the same,—and freely consent that our English friends shall possess, enjoy & improve all the Lands which they have formerly possessed, and all which they have obtained a right & title unto, Hoping it will prove of mutual and reciprocal benefit and advantage to them & us, that they Cohabit with us.

In testimony and perpetual memory whereof, We have hereunto set our hands & seals, in behalf of ourselves and of the several Tribes of Indians that have delegated us to appear for, & represent them the day and year aforementioned.

NudggumboitX Sign. }AbissanehrawX Sign. }Kennebeck.UmguinnawasX Sign. }

AwohawayX Sign. }PaquaharetX Sign. }Kennebeck.CæsarX Sign. }

LerebenuitX Sign. }OhanumbamesX Sign. }Penobscut.SegunkiX Sign. }

AdeawandoX Sign. }Pegwackit.ScawesoX Sign. }

MoxusX Sign. }BommazeenX Sign. }Capt. SamX Sign. }NagucawenX Sign. }Kennebeck.SummehawisX Sign. }WegwarumenetX Sign. }Terramuggus.X Sign.}

SabadisX Sign.}Ammarascoggin.Sam HumphriesX Sign.}

Signed, Sealed, & Delivered, in presence of

signatures

The figures or emblems connected with the signatures of the Indians are called, in the language of the Algonquins,Totems; and are the distinguishing marks or signs of the clans or tribes into which the various nations are divided. They are not the personal emblems of the chiefs, although in signing treaties they employ them as their sign manual. Each tribe or clan had its emblem, consisting of the figure of some bird, beast, or reptile, and is distinguished by the name of the animal which it has assumed as a device, as Wolf, Hawk, Tortoise. To different totems, says Parkman in his “Conspiracy of Pontiac,” attach different degrees of rank and dignity; and those of the Bear, the Tortoise, and the Wolf are among the first in honor. Each man is proud of his badge, jealously asserting its claim to respect. The use of the totem prevailed among the southern, as well as the northern tribes; Mr. Parkman says that Mr. Gallatin informed him, that he was told by the chief of a Choctaw deputation at Washington, that in their tribe were eight totemic clans, divided into two classes of four each.

Mr. Parkman says again, in the work above cited, page 9, “But the main stay of the Iroquois polity was the system oftotemship. It was this which gave the structure its elastic strength; and but for this, a mere confederacy of jealous and warlike tribes must soon have been rent asunder by shocks from without, or discord from within. At some early period the Iroquois must have formed an individual nation; for the whole people, irrespective of their separation into tribes, consisted of eight totemic clans; and the members of each clan, to what nation soever they belonged, were mutually bound to one another by those close ties of fraternity which mark this singular institution. Thus the five nations of the confederacy were bound together by an eight-fold band; and to this hour their slender remnants cling to one another with invincible tenacity.”

FOOTNOTES:[1]For a pleasant and very well-written account of this tribe, by Hon. Lorenzo Sabine, see the Christian Examiner for 1857.[2]Mr. Sabine has given their history in a truthful and friendly communication to the Christian Examiner for 1852.[3]See N. Y. Colonial Documents, edited by E. B. O’Calligan, LL. D.[4]Undoubtedly the Connecticut.[5]N. Y. Colonial Documents, vol. ix.

[1]For a pleasant and very well-written account of this tribe, by Hon. Lorenzo Sabine, see the Christian Examiner for 1857.

[2]Mr. Sabine has given their history in a truthful and friendly communication to the Christian Examiner for 1852.

[3]See N. Y. Colonial Documents, edited by E. B. O’Calligan, LL. D.

[4]Undoubtedly the Connecticut.

[5]N. Y. Colonial Documents, vol. ix.

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