The Menominee Tribe signed treaties with the United States Government from 1817 to 1856. At the National Archives in Washington,
DC there is documentation regarding the Menominee treaty negotiations, both ratified and non-ratified.
The Tribal leaders had many difficulties when dealing with the government during the treaty negotiations. In fact, they were at a
great disadvantage. One of the major things they had to contend with were interpreters. Many times they were not as honest as
they should have been and they usually spoke Chippewa not Menominee. This made a big difference in the way things were interpreted.
The leaders learned the hard way that those who didn’t speak Menominee could not be trusted. That is, they did not explain the full
intent of the treaties.
One example of the treachery that went on happened in June, 1820. When the Tribe moved out to their summer hunting and planting
grounds a couple of young males stayed behind. The Menominee agent, Col. Bowyer, had been authorized to try to negotiate a treaty
for a small piece of land, near the mouth of the Fox River, to accommodate a military fort. While the Chiefs were away the agent used
the young men to sign a treaty ceding 1,024,000 acres for $800. When the Menominee Chiefs heard about this act they immediately
returned to the Bay. According to the agent’s report the Chiefs were so angry they executed the leader of the group that signed
the paper.
The Chiefs then insisted the document be rejected and it was not ratified. However, canceling the treaty was not due to the honesty
of the agent or the request of the Chiefs but because the NY Congressmen had it canceled. Evidently the NY Indians wanted the same
piece of land and had the treaty blocked without the knowledge of the Menominee Chiefs. This led the way to the difficulties encountered
with the 1831 Treaty.
The following is another example of the difficulties the Menominee leaders encountered during the Treaty Era. This happened during
the 1831 negotiations with the NY Indians the Tribe called "Waubanockies".
According to the documentation the Tribe had signed a treaty in Washington, DC on February 17, 1831 allowing the NY Indians a piece
of land (500,000 acres). The following year the Senate was talked into making changes but needed the Menominees’ signed agreement
before final ratification. The NY Indians were not satisfied with the amount of land and went to Congress to ask for more. The President
sent the Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Wisconsin area to make the Menominees agree to the changes.
Dialogue for Treaty of 1831
At this particular time the Tribe insisted on an interpreter who knew how to speak Menominee. Also, the tribal custom was for the Chiefs
to consult together and then have the tribal orator speak for everyone. The orator or speaker for the Chiefs was "Grizzley Bear". The
negotiations went on for several days. Grizzley Bear’s replies to the government’s requests were somewhat lengthy so the following
are excerpts of these speeches.
Grizzley Bear- Prepared his pipe:. . . We smoke to please the Great Spirit before we begin any important business like this. . . . We know
all about this dispute and what these NY Indians tried to do against us. But I need not go all over it. When Col Stambaugh was here, . . .
he said, "Your Great Father wants to see you." We thought we were going to settle and agreed to go and see our Great Father.
(in DC) ... When we were with our Great Father, the President, we told him that we would not allow these NY Indians anything. But
he said to us "My children if you like me you must let (them) have a piece of your land: as much as will be necessary for them" - We
then began to make the bargain - We know what we agreed to. . . . Afterwards we gave away 500,000 acres for these NY Indians
and when they got us to agree to that I told our Great Father, and every one about us heard it, that we would not give them a s
tep more.
. . . He said, "my children, I ask you to grant a piece to the NY Indians but I will pay you for it. We were then all satisfied and we thought
that the NY Indians there were all satisfied too. . . . Our Great Father said to us - "now my children I am pleased that you have behaved
so well. If these NY Indians will not accept of what you have agreed to give them, they shall not remain two days on your land. I will
send them off. You have behaved very generously. You have given more than I expected you would have done."
. . . Father we have done as you have told us - We have all been together and consulted this morning - We all agree in what I tell you.
Father you have Senators, who think themselves great men: But they do not know one place from another, on this Fox River, or they
never would ask to do what is in the paper you read and which was explained to us. . . . We may be considered by them small. But
we have our War Chiefs - and we do like your Senators, consult them all, and when we all agree on anything, it cannot be made
otherwise - Now I don’t see why they refuse what our War Chiefs offered - We were too generous - agreed to give them too much.
But these NY Indians were not satisfied, and if we had given them half as much more they would not have been satisfied.
Now Father I have told you what we agreed to give these NY Indians
- We are not disposed to give them any more - I told our Great Father the President so - . . .
. . . We cannot do just whatever these NY Indians want - They are always wanting more - . . .
Father you told us that these NY Indians said they bought a great deal of our land - I ask you, with what did they pay for it - We
received nothing nor did any of our people receive anything of consequence - How then can they say they bought our land?
Father you now understand me - We do not agree to the proposition made by the Senate - We cannot agree to it - And we ask you to
tell all that we have said to our Great Father and the Senate - and to see that we are not wronged - We look to you to help us.
Governor Porter - . . . I will caution the NY Indians, and tell them that they must not hunt on your lands - or injure your sugar camps. But
you must not entertain bad feelings against them - You are all my children and I wish to see you all living in peace and harmony. I hope
you will again consider what I stated to you yesterday, and consent that the Treaty shall be ratified with the alterations proposed by the
Senate.
Grizzley Bear- Here Grizzley Bear rose in haste, as though much enraged, and declared that they never would consent to any such
thing: . . .they never would consent to give up this ground: and that if these Waubanockies intended to rob them of it, they would
defend themselves - They had their guns . . .
He was here interrupted by the Governor who commanded him to stop - that he must not get out of humor nor talk this way. That he
must listen patiently until he would hear all he had to say - - He (Governor Porter) then proceeded.
Governor Porter-. . . Your Great Father has sent me here to give you good advice - And you must give me your attention. . . . if you will
not assent to the several stipulations contained in this Resolution of the Senate; which I understand you distinctly to say you will not;
nor consent to anything which will enable us to effect an arrangement, the whole Treaty must fall to the ground: and what then will be
your situation? I beg you to reflect on this- Inspite of what the Tribal Speaker had told the Governor, he told them to again to consult
together and he would listen to their answer. The same day, at 4 O’clock the Menominee Chiefs assembled and Governor Porter said
he was prepared to hear what they had to say.
Grizzley Bear- Father it seems to take you a long time to do business - you white men - It is many years that this matter has been
unsettled.
Father it does not take us so long to do our business - . . . The forest is our life, and, as you perceive, we do not like to part with it -
or any of our land as we said to you before.
. . . You must understand me Father - There must be no mistake - You have been very particular in making us understand all you
have said - That is all right - Now understand what we have agreed to do. .
Grizzley Bear then described the boundaries of the land they were willing to sell to the Government. Then he said:
Now my father I hope it will be as we have told you. And it must be understood that these NY Indians shall not hunt on our lands - We
forbid them to do so - have told them so. . . .
We hope that what we have agreed to do, will be satisfactory to our Great Father, the President, and to the Senate . . . and to you.
And after this if the NY Indians hunt upon our land we will break their guns - This is our custom . . . These NY Indians are hard to be
satisfied - They are made like you are - They have education and pride themselves upon it. But Father they have no ears - They are
like dogs. When we give them a piece they want more. They have no hearts or souls. And, as I told you before, they behave so badly
that we hate them. . . . They have no right to ask or expect any thing from us. . . .
Father we do not agree to grant anything to please the NY Indians - We do not care whether they like this or not - We have done so
much to please you under the hope that it will be satisfactory to our Great Father. . .
The next step in this whole process was for the Governor to discuss the terms with the NY Indians. This took several days because
they would not attend the consultation meeting. Finally he informed them in writing that the Menominees refused the change in terms
to the 1831 Treaty. When the Governor finally got them to meet with him he again informed them that the Menominees absolutely
refused to approve the revised Treaty. He prevailed upon them to accept the terms.
The NY Indians’ answer was given in written form. From the tone of the reply they felt they had a right to claim the land and that the
Menominees had to give it to them. However, one of the Stockbridge leaders finally informed the Governor as to what was happening.
He indicated that they were satisfied with the terms of the Treaty, but their White lawyer, Samual Beall, was causing the problems.
Evidently he was receiving $600/year for his services as long as the Treaty was not settled. He was the one who kept things in a turmoil.
When Governor Porter reviewed their written reply he pointed out to them the falsehoods they had outlined. They admitted they didn’t
know what was in the paper. He then advised them to think for themselves and accept the terms offered to them. Soon afterwards the
NY Indians agreed to the terms and signed the agreement.
It should be noted that these negotiations took place in October when the men were anxious to be out hunting for their
families’ winter supply of meat. The stalling tactics that took place may have been deliberate to force the Menominees to sign. It was
documented that the agent threatened to withhold payments that were still owed to them. Besides the problem with the interpreters
they had to put up with government agents who used any method to coerce them to sign.
By 1852 all the Menominee Bands had moved onto the present Reservation but they still hadn’t signed the final treaty. They were still
operating under the terms of the 1836 Treaty Agreement, however, the "rations" they were entitled to were slow in coming, finally an
agreement was drawn up May 12, 1854 at Keshena Falls. Oshkosh would not sign because that one Article (#4) had not been read or
explained to them. This particular Article would have cut the Tribe off from all previous land payments that were still due them. There
were still two more years to go on the Treaty of the Cedars (1836) payments. Oshkosh was furious and he and Keshena would not sign
until this was changed.
|
|
