REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR 1923 73 
diate concern to us now. We are concerned with what took place 
after the Revolutionary War. After the establishment of the United 
States, the federal authorities sought to define the relation of the 
United States and of the Six Nations of Indians, one to the other. 
This was accomplished in the Canandaigua treaty of 1794, and this 
must be treated as a basic document and a starting point for any 
consideration of the legal status of the New York Indians, who are 
the descendants of the Five and the Six Nations. 
In this treaty the United States acknowledges the lands reserved 
to these Indians, “to be their property.” 
This is apparently a recognition of the right of these Indians to 
hold their property as their own. Treaties made with the United 
States, subsequently modify the holdings of the Indians as outlined 
in the Treaty of 1794. Among these are the treaties of 1838 (known 
as the Buffalo Creek treaty), of 1842 (known as the Amended 
Sele camlineatiys pete: 
It appears that by treaty sy otherwise the land holdings of these 
Indians have been considerably diminished. In instances it appears 
that the people of the United States used undue pressure and influ- 
ence to obtain treaties and signatures, but however this may be, the 
legal and land status of the New York Indians underwent a con- 
siderable transformation. Nevertheless, it appears that such lands 
as remained unsurrendered and unaffected by treaties later than 
1794, still have attached to them the same protection as guaranteed 
by the Treaty of 1794, namely, that of being the sole property of 
the tribe occupying it. 
Such lands as were acquired subsequently are subject to other 
conditions. For example, the Tonawanda reservation in Genesee 
and Erie counties was purchased by the Tonawanda band from a 
group of citizen American land owners. ‘The title is by deed vested 
in the State of New York in trust for these Indians and the deed 
is deposited with the State Comptroller. 
Lands Disposed of by the Several Nations 
The Six Nations of the Iroquois was a society or confederacy of 
nations. Each nation was independent and self-governing during 
the period of aboriginal power. In all the laws of the Six Nations 
as a confederacy there is no item forbidding any of the component 
nations from acting independently in such matters as land sales. 
During the entire period of dealing with the Six Nations each one 
of the six has been dealt with separately and this without the slight- 
est opposition of the Six Nations Council. The Six Nations Coun- 
