Pen and ink witchcraft: treaties and treaty making in American Indian history

514 Pages·2013·5.02 MB·English

by  Colin G. Calloway

Pen and Ink Witchcraft
Pen and Ink Witchcraft
TREATIES AND TREATY MAKING IN AMERICAN INDIAN
HISTORY
Colin G. Calloway
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Calloway, Colin G. (Colin Gordon), 1953-Pen and ink witchcraft : treaties and
treaty making in American Indian history / Colin G. Calloway.
pages cm
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978–0–19–991730–3 (alk. paper) 1. Indians of North America—
Treaties. I. Title.
KF8205.C35 2013
346.7301’3–dc23
2012045536
ISBN 978–0-19–991730–3
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
“that pen and ink witch-craft, which they can make speak things we
never intended, or had any idea of, even an hundred years hence; just as
they please.”—the Ottawa chief Egushawa in council on the banks of
the Ottawa River, 1791
“Nations that deserve the Title of Treaty breakers, that are not to
be bound by the most solemn Covenants, but break the chain of
Friendship, will soon fall into Contempt.”—Governor James Glen of
South Carolina to the Six Nations, 1755
To Marcia, Graeme, and Meg
{ CONTENTS }
Acknowledgments and a Note on Terminology
Introduction
1. Treaty Making in Colonial America: The Many Languages of Indian
Diplomacy
2. Fort Stanwix, 1768: Shifting Boundaries
3. Treaty Making, American-Style
4. New Echota, 1835: Implementing Removal
5. Treaty Making in the West
6. Medicine Lodge, 1867: Containment on the Plains
Conclusion: The Death and Rebirth of Indian Treaties
Appendix: The Treaties
Notes
Bibliography
Index
{ ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND A NOTE ON
TERMINOLOGY }
Anyone doing Indian history has to take account of Indian treaties. I began
reading them nearly forty years ago, as a graduate student poring over the
manuscript records of innumerable Indian councils in the British Museum and
the Public Records Office (now the National Archives) in London. But many
scholars have thought about treaties, … talked about them, and written about
them long before I took on this project. In addition to those whom I have cited in
the notes and bibliography, an incomplete list of individuals I remember talking
with, listening to, and learning from over the years must include N. Bruce
Duthu, the late William N. Fenton and the late Francis Jennings, Laurence M.
Hauptman, Frederick E. Hoxie, Francis Paul Prucha, K. Tsianina Lomawaima,
Heidi Kiiwetinepinesiik Stark, the late Helen Hornbeck Tanner, Dale Turner,
Jace Weaver, and David Wilkins. They and other friends and scholars fueled my
interest in Indian treaties at one time or another even if they didn’t know it,
although they bear no responsibility for this book.
A few had more direct influence. William Campbell and I found ourselves
studying the Treaty of Fort Stanwix at about the same time; for Bill it was the
core of his dissertation—now his first book—and for me it was a story that had
to be told in the book I was envisioning. I am grateful to Bill for sharing his
manuscript with me and for reading my chapter on Stanwix. I am indebted to
Theda Perdue for reading and commenting on the chapter on New Echota. Not
for the first time (and I’m sure not for the last) I called on my good friend and
colleague Bruce Duthu to cast his expert eye over what I had to say about
treaties in modern America. I would not have found Howling Wolf’s drawing of
the Medicine Lodge treaty council without Joyce M. Szabo, and Sharon
Muhlfeld first provided me, many years ago, with the original reference for the
pen and ink witchcraft quotation. Ned Blackhawk and a second, anonymous,
reviewer carefully read the manuscript for Oxford University Press and provided
thoughtful comments and insightful suggestions that helped me to bring out the
story more effectively.
In completing the research for this book, I benefited enormously from the
assistance of good staff members at the Baker/Berry Library and Rauner Library
of Dartmouth College; at the National Archives at College Park, Maryland; and
at the Manuscripts and Archives Division of the New York Public Library. For
assistance in acquiring illustrations and sometimes other materials, I am grateful
to Josh Shaw at Rauner Library; Bridgeman Art Library International–New
York; Chicago History Museum; Washington State Historical Society; Library
and Archives, Canada; Pennsylvania Historical Society; New-York Historical
Society; New York State Library; Oklahoma Historical Society; University of
Oklahoma Western History Collections; History Colorado (the Colorado
Historical Society); and the National Anthropological Archives and Human
Studies Film Archives of the Smithsonian Institution.
As in all my writing and teaching, I use the terms “Native American” and
“Indian” interchangeably. I also use “tribe” and “nation” interchangeably when
describing Native American tribal nations, and I do not mean to suggest that they
are either less than or the same as nation-states. I recognize that the tribal names
that appear in historic records and later histories often reflect other people’s
names for the nations in question, not the names the people used to identify
themselves, and sometimes not the preferred names today. However, though
respectful to the peoples involved, replacing anglicized names with the tribes’
own names causes other problems. Many readers might recognize
Haudenosaunee as a more appropriate term for the Iroquois, and some might
recognize Kanien’kehaka as Mohawk, but applying this practice consistently to
every Indian nation mentioned in the book would confront readers with a
bewildering array of unfamiliar terms. For this reason, I suspect, Taiaiake Alfred
replaces Mohawk with Kanien’kehaka as the appropriate name for his own
nation, but he continues to use anglicized names like Sioux, Cheyenne, and
Cherokee when referring to other people.1 Rather than privileging just a few
tribes with their own names, I have opted for consistency, using the anglicized
names more familiar to most readers, except in cases like Dakota and Lakota,
which are not only commonly recognized but also specify particular divisions of
the Sioux.