To James Madison from Chiefs and Warriors of the Six Nations, 28 September 1812
From Chiefs and Warriors of the Six Nations
Onondaga September 28th. 1812.
Brother
The undersigned chiefs and Warriors of the Oneida, Onondaga, Stockbridge Tuscarora and Seneca Tribes of Indians as far West as Tonawanta, regularly deputed by our respective Tribes have this day lighted up a Council Fire at Onondaga, the Ancient Council ground of the Six Confederate Nations of Indians, and have invited our white Brothers of Onondaga to meet with us and hear what we have to say.
Brother
We see that the Tomahawk is lifted up between your people and the British; we are uneasy about it, and therefore we have met, and determined to tell you our minds about it.
Brother
At the close of the late War Gen. Washington told us to be sober, to attend to agriculture, and to refrain from shedding blood;1 his advice was good—our good prophet of the Seneca Tribe who is now with us in this Council has given us the same advice, and our Tribes have entered into a league to follow that advice, we wish to hold fast to it, and not to take any part in the contest between your People and the British, We have repeatedly been told by your Agents that it was your wish we should remain neutral and therefore we were much surprised and disappointed in the Council lately held at Buffaloe Creek at being invited to take up the Tomahawk.2
Brother
You must not suppose from what we have now told you that we are unfriendly to you or your People. We are your decided Friends, We reside among your people, your Friends are our Friends and your Enemies are our Enemies. In the former War between your people and the British some of us took up the Tomahawk on their side. When the Peace took place we buried it deep and it shall never again be raised against you, and Your People.
Brother
We are few in number, and can do but little, but our hearts are good, we are willing to do what we can, and if you want our assistance say so, and we will go with your People to Battle, we are anxious to know your wishes respecting us as soon as possible because some of our young Men are uneasy and We fear they may disperse among different Tribes and be hostile to you. Pray direct your Communication to the Chiefs and Warriors of our respective Tribes to be left at Onondaga Post Office.
Calocwaasa
his X mark
Tuhatat
his X mark
Matenis Sothm
John Jordan
Olaghkood
his X mark
Unondalack
his X mark
Canatale
his X mark
Onus Car
his X mark
⟨Homanase?⟩
his X mark
Tuwasgunt
his X mark
Coloya
his X mark
Satagalis
his X mark
Canussookta
his X mark
Tanumtagoy
his X mark
Canajohaly
his X mark
Sanushes
his X mark
We the Subscribers do Certify that we were present at the Council herein before mentioned, that the same is, as interpreted, and that the same was subscribed in our presence. Onondaga 29. Septr. 1812.
Ephim. Webster
Interpreter & Agent for the
Onon. Indians
Jasper Hopper
Clk of Onon. Cy.
Thaddeus Patchen
Capt. of Artillery
Polaski King
Justice of the peace
RC (NOsU).
1. No address or message from George Washington to the Six Nations or any of their constituent tribes at the end of the Revolutionary War has been found. As president, however, Washington addressed the Seneca chiefs on 29 Dec. 1790 and 19 Jan. 1791; among other advice he urged them to remain at peace with the United States and offered to provide them with instruction in farming techniques (Abbot et al., Papers of George Washington: Presidential Series, 7:146–50, 252–53).
2. The invitation to which the memorialists referred may have been that given at a council at Buffalo on 6 July 1812 by U.S. agent Erastus Granger, or another one similar to it. Despite urging the Iroquois to remain neutral, Granger stated that up to two hundred young warriors might be allowed to fight on the side of the United States if necessary to prevent them from joining the British. The Seneca leader Red Jacket gave a wary and noncommittal response to this offer two days later, but on 8 Sept. 1812 at a council at Buffalo Creek, Seneca war chief Little Billey declared, “agreeable to your communication we shall now prepare to defend against the common Enemy” (Public Speeches, Delivered at the Village of Buffalo, on the 6th and 8th Days of July, 1812, by Hon. Erastus Granger, Indian Agent, and Red Jacket, One of the Principal Chiefs and Speakers of the Senaca Nation, Respecting the Part the Six Nations Would Take in the Present War Against Great Britain [Buffalo, 1812; 25553], 6, 13–14, 17, 18, 27; Francis Jennings et al., eds., Iroquois Indians: A Documentary History of the Diplomacy of the Six Nations and Their League [microfilm ed.; 50 reels; Woodbridge, Conn., 1984], reel 45).