Such as before, each topic discussed aligns within a bigger picture. History has managed to capture Native voices and viewpoints, which allows them to live through their words long after they are gone. It is through speeches and treaties that we are able to understand the worldview of non-Natives and their motivations with history to complete certain acts. A speech by an Iroquoian leader shows the deep resentment that many Native Americans felt about colonial encroachment on their lands and their subsequent difficulties with self-support. Canassatego, a leader of the Onondaga nation, became a prominent diplomat and spokesman of the Iroquois Confederacy in the 1740s. He was involved in several controversial land sales to British American officials and is best known for a speech he gave at the 1744 Treaty of Lancaster, where he recommended that the British colonies emulate the Iroquois by forming a confederacy. …show more content…
Pennsylvania arranged the treaty council in an attempt to play the role of honest broker. Virginia and Maryland agreed to attend because the Iroquois threatened to forcibly extract payment from frontier settlements, which they claimed had encroached upon their lands. Despite the forceful counterclaims of Virginia, both it and Maryland eventually agree to provide the Iroquois with a considerable amount of gifts. During his speech he recognized that both the Iroquois and Canassatego knew that the goods provided by the English were small in number compared to what the land was worth and with increased colonial encroachment he knew that it was only to become a common