194 THE GEORGE CATLIN INDIAN GALLERY. 



broken. It was, indeed, truly broken by Sullivan's invasion. It was so completely 

 broken that never again will the " Long House" be reconstructed. 



At the end of the Revolutionary war (1783) the Indians sued for peace. They were 

 now at the mercy of General Washington and* the American people. A peace was 

 granted them, and small homes allowed in the vast domains they once claimed as 

 absolutely and wholly theirs by the highest title known among men, viz, by the gift 

 of God. The mercy of the American people granted them the right to occupy and 

 cultivate certain lands until some one stronger wanted them. They hold their homes 

 to-day by no other title than that of occupancy, although some Indian bands have 

 bought and paid for the lands they reside upon the same as you, my friends, have 

 bought and paid for the farms you live upon. The Indian mind has never to this 

 day been able to comprehend how it is that he has been compelled to buy and pay 

 for that which has descended to him from time immemorial, and which his ancestors 

 had taught him was the gift of the Great Spirit to him and his posterity forever. It 

 was an anomaly in civilized law far beyond his reasoning powers. 



In the treaty of peace concluded after Sullivan's campaign the remnants of the 

 Iroquois transferred their allegiance to the United States, and to that allegiance they 

 have remained firm and true to this day. They stood side by side with you in the 

 last war with Great Britain, in the defense of this frontier, and fought battles under 

 the leadership of the able and gallant General Scott. Again, the sons of the Iroquois 

 marched shoulder to shoulder with you, your fathers, your husbands, and your sons 

 in the last great rebellion of the South, and used, with you, their best endeavors to 

 maintain the inviolability and integrity of the American Constitution, to preserve 

 unsullied the purity of the American flag, and to wipe out forever from every foot of 

 American soil the curse of human slavery. Such, in brief, has been their fidelity to 

 their allegiance. 



RECENT COUNCILS OF THE SIX NATIONS. 



The council of the sachems, chiefs and warriors of the Six Nations, held at the 

 rooms of the Buffalo Historical Society, on the 8th of October, 1884, at the ceremo- 

 nies of reinterment. of Red Jacket, was the first general council of the united Iroquois 

 which has been held since the conclusion of the Revolutionary war and the conse- 

 quent disruption of the league. — W. C. Bryant. 



(See No. 263, Bed Jacket, herein.) 



After the return of the Six Nations Indians to Canada from Buffalo in 

 October, 1884, they met in council, and passed the following amongst 

 other resolutions : 



Extracts from the minutes. 



The Six Nations in Council, 

 Brantford, Ontario (Canada), October 14, 1884. 



Present, the visiting superintendent, interpreter, and twenty-nine chiefs. 



The chiefs having deliberated upon and' discussed the report of their delegates at- 

 tending the recent ceremonies in the city of Buffalo, the speaker of the council arose 

 and, addressing the superintendent, said : 



On the arrival of their delegates in Buffalo, on Wednesday last, they had the honor 

 of being received by a deputation of gentlemen, conducted to carriages, and con- 

 veyed to a hotel, where they were entertained in the most hospitable manner, made to 

 feel at home among friends, not as strangers. They were requested on the same day 

 to meet their brethren resident in the State of New York, when, being assembled, 

 they were invited to consult and arrange for Indian ceremonies attending the rein- 

 terment of the remains of Red Jacket and his warriors upon the following day. 



