74 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 
cil never intervened and never interposed and never objected to any 
land cession by any one of the nations of the six for the reason 
that it never in all its history attempted to control the national affairs 
of any one of the several nations. The Six Nations as a govern- 
ment was a convention of a society or confederation of six nations 
met to discuss common customs and common welfare. The nations 
were allies in war, but each one of the nations might make war 
independently and the enemy was not to injure the nation not par- 
ticipating. They were allies in defensive measures against the white 
settlers, but at times the several nations were allies of different 
Kuropean nations. There was no unanimity even in this. 
To say that any one of the Six Nations could not dispose of its 
holdings assured by the Treaty of Canandaigua is a fallacy. This 
very treaty assured and confirmed to each one of the several nations 
its national holdings. It did not confirm this to the Six Nations as 
a unit but to each of the several nations. The United States and 
the several nations of the six, have so construed this treaty and no 
objection has ever been raised. 
The plain facts of history and of practice are that each one of the 
six nations was independent in its right to dispose of its lands to the 
people of the United States, and that the Council of the Six Nations 
never thought it a right or function to interpose. 
To What Lands May the New York Indians Lay Claim? 
From a study of the legal status of the New York Indians it 
appears that each Indian tribe or nation owns all such lands as the 
several treaties acknowledge to be theirs, subject to land cessions 
made subsequently to the signing of the treaties. 
1 They own the land that they now occupy, but the title to this 
land through agreements and land sales, in some cases has under- 
gone a change. This the courts have frequently stated. If court 
decisions in this matter are faulty, then the Supreme Court must 
be invoked. 
2 They own or have other claim to all such lands as have been 
purchased or taken from them under whatever pretext or authority, 
if the conveyance of such land was not authorized, agreed to and 
sealed by the consent of Congress or by authorized representatives 
of the Federal Government. This position has been held by the 
United States Circuit Court of Appeals and has been followed by 
Judge Hazel. 
