A DELAWARE VISIONARY
White Eyes, a Unami-speaking Delaware (Le- nape), was a chief in the Ohio Country during the American Revolution. In the early 1770s, violence on the frontier between whites and American Indians threatened to lead to open warfare. White Eyes unsuccessfully attempted to prevent what would become Lord Dun- more’s War in 1774, fought primarily between the Shawnee and Virginia settlers. However, he served as an emissary between the two sides and helped negotiate a treaty to end the war. Although most Delaware people opted for
neutrality in the Revolutionary War, Chief White Eyes favored the American colonials. In April 1776, the chief addressed the Conti- nental Congress in Philadelphia. In order to end the violence on the frontier and bring peace between Native peoples and the “Long Knives,” he pushed for the creation of a sepa- rate Indian state, one set apart for the benefit and protection of Indian nations. In 1778 at Fort Pitt, he completed an alli-
ance with the United States, the first federal– Indian treaty in the new nation’s history. The sixth article of the treaty gave the Delaware people the right “to join the present American confederation [Articles of Confederation] and to form a state [the 14th state] whereof the Delaware Nation shall be the head and have a representation in Congress.” The treaty also provided for White Eyes to serve as guide for the American confederates when they moved through the Ohio Country to strike at their British and Indian enemies near Detroit. In early November 1778, White Eyes and
his warriors joined a U.S. expedition as a guide and negotiator. Soon after, the Americans re- ported that White Eyes had died. The cause of his death remains open to question. Yet, Herbert Kraft, a distinguished anthropologist and authority on the Delaware people, insists that while White Eyes was reported to have died of small pox, he was actually assassinated by white settlers in the Ohio Country. After the chief ’s death, the alliance with the United States eventually collapsed along with the idea of a Delaware people–lead state. Thus, despite White Eye’s efforts to protect his people, the Delaware Treaty of 1778 also marks the first in a long history of broken accords between American Indians and the federal government.
HAUDENOSAUNEE DIPLOMATS
The Iroquois, or Haudenosaunee Confed- eracy of the Six Nations (Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca and Tuscarora), was deeply riven by the Revolutionary War,
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Between the 17th and 19th centuries, British, French, Spanish and U.S. government represen- tatives gave peace medals made of silver and bronze to Indian tribes to further negotiations and trade between the nations.
1. Bronze metal depicting King George II on the front (not shown) and a Quaker offering a peace pipe to an American Indian man on the reverse. 1.8" x 1.8". NMAI 24/1034
2. (front), 3. (reverse): Silver 1792 peace medal depicting former U.S. President George Washing- ton shaking hands with an American Indian. Made by Joseph Richardson Jr. (1752–1831), 6" x 4.3". NMAI 22/8915
4. Silver 1862 medal depicting former U.S. President Abraham Lincoln. 5.9" x 4.9". NMAI 24/1213
5. Cast restrike of 1881 bronze medal depicting former U.S. President Chester A. Arthur on front (not shown) and American Indian chief with settler on reverse. 5.3" x 2.4". NMAI 26/5255
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PHOTOS BY NMAI STAFF
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