546 APPENDIX, 



The Indians listened with attention to the message transmitted 

 to them from the President, and to the statements with which it 

 was enforced. Pezhickee, the venerable and respected chief of 

 the place, was their speaker in reply. He lamented the war, and 

 admitted the folly of keeping it up ; but it was carried on by the 

 Chippewas in self-defence, and by volunteer parties of young 

 men, acting without the sanction of the old chiefs. He thought 

 the same remark due to the elder Sioux chiefs, who probably did 

 not sanction the crossing of the lines, but could not restrain their 

 young men. He lived, he said, in an isolated situation, did not 

 mingle in the interior broils, and did not deem himself responsible 

 for acts done out of his own village, and certainly not for the acts 

 of the villages of Torch Lake, Ottowa Lake, and the St. Croix. 

 He had uniformly advised his people to sit still and remain at 

 peace, and he believed that none of his young men had joined 

 the war-parties of last year. The Government, he said, should 

 have his hearty co-operation in restoring peace. He referred to 

 the sub-agency established here in 1826, spoke of its benefits, and 

 wished to know why the agent had been withdrawn, and whether 

 he would be instructed to return ? In the course of his reply, he 

 said that formerly, when the Indians lived under the British go- 

 vernment, they were usually told what to do, and in very distinct 

 terms ; but they were now at a loss. From what had been said and 

 done at the treaty of Fond du Lac, he expected the care and pro- 

 tection of the American government, and that they would advance 

 towards, instead of (as in the case of the sub-agency) withdrawing 

 from them. He was rather at a loss for our views respecting the 

 Chippewas, and he wished mucb for my advice in their affairs. 



I thought it requisite to make a distinct reply to this point. I 

 told him that when they lived under the British government, 

 they were justified in shaping their course according to the advice 

 they received ; but that, on the transfer of the country, their alle- 

 giance was transferred with it. And when our Government 

 hoisted its flag at Mackinac (1796), it expected from the Indians 

 living within our boundaries the respect due to it ; and it acknow- 

 ledged, at the same time, the reciprocal obligations of care and 

 protection. Tliat it always aimed to fulfil these obligations, of 

 which facts within his own knowledge and memory would afford 

 ample proofs. I referred him to the several efforts the Govern- 



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