TheTreaty of Fort Stanwix was atreaty finalized on October 22, 1784, between theUnited States andNative Americans from the six nations of theIroquois League.[1] It was signed atFort Stanwix, in present-dayRome, New York, and was the first of several treaties between Native Americans and the United States after the American victory in theRevolutionary War.
Following the Revolutionary War, theBritish ceded their claims in North America to theAmerican government, against the desire of their Native American allies. As a result, the status of Indian lands was ignored in theTreaty of Paris, which was the peace and land settlement between the British and the American colonies. Iroquois League fled to Canada after the Revolution in order to continue receiving British support. Later, some of the Iroquois returned to their home in the Ohio region. Those that returned often got into violent conflict with colonists trying to settle the area.[2] The Treaty of Fort Stanwix was intended to serve as a peace treaty between the Americans and the Iroquois, as well as secure other Indian lands farther west, which the Iroquois had gained by conquest during theBeaver Wars in the last century.Joseph Brant was the leading Indian at the start of negotiations. He said, "But we must observe to you, that we are sent in order to make peace, and that we are not authorized, to stipulate any particular cession of lands."[3] Brant had to leave early for a planned trip to England. The leading Indian representatives who signed the treaty wereCornplanter and Captain Aaron Hill. In this treaty, the Iroquois Confederacy ceded all claims to the Ohio territory, a strip of land along theNiagara river and all land west of mouth of Buffalo creek. In Pennsylvania, the land acquired in this treaty is known as the "Last Purchase".
TheSix Nations council at Buffalo Creek refused to ratify the treaty, denying that their delegates had the power to give away such large tracts of land and asked the Americans for return of the deeds and promised to indemnify them for any presents they had given. The generalIndian confederacy also disavowed the treaty because most of the Six Nations did not live in the Ohio territory. TheOhio Country natives, including theShawnee Indians, the Seneca-Cayuga, the Lenape (Delaware) and several other tribes, rejected the treaty. A series of treaties and land sales with these tribes soon followed:
The Treaty of Fort Stanwix was a significant blow to the Iroquois League. The Revolutionary War had significantly weakened the strength of the confederacy, and the negotiations at the Treaty of Fort Stanwix served to further divide them. After the war, the Iroquois never returned to their former influential status.[4]