INSIDE NMAI


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The King George II 1757 Peace Medal is an example of an agreement between Native Americans and European powers


before the signing of the constitution. It will be featured in Nation To Nation: Treaties Between The United States And American Indian Nations at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C.


PEACE MEDAL KING GEORGE II BY ANDREW VONDALL P


rior to the birth of the United States of America, European settlers made many deals with American Indians. The first Indian Peace Medal cast in America,


commemorated the 1758 Treaty of Easton between the Lenape in Delaware and King George II of England. Facing left, wearing armor, is King George II in the British, “Half- Crown” style of currency, worth the equiva- lent of two-and-a-half shillings. The inscrip- tion, GEORGIUS II DEI GRATIA translates to, “George II by the Grace of God.” Unlike


many coins with King George II in this pe- riod, this Indian Peace Medal was struck in copper, not Spanish silver treasure seized from fleets leaving Peru. Engraved by Edward Duffin of Philadel-


pictured here,


phia, an American clockmaker and friend of Benjamin Franklin, the Peace Medal was commissioned by the Friendly Association. This group of Pennsylvania Quakers was attempting to mediate negotiations be- tween England and the Lenape, whose land included present-day Delaware, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. Known to the Lenape or Lenni-Lenape as Lenapehoking,


their land would be renamed and become the birthplace of the United States. The Lenape are depicted in Benjamin


West’s 1771 painting of William Penn’s 1682 Treaty with the Lenape. Penn died in 1718 and his peace with the Lenape was undone by his heirs. The Lenape ex- isted mostly as a collection of villages and ultimately made separate deals with Europeans in separate bands. Known to- day as the Delaware Nation and Delaware Tribe of Indians, the main divisions of the Lenape live in present-day Oklahoma. X Andrew Vondall is a public affairs specialist at the Museum. SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 83


WALTER LARRIMORE, NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN, 24/1033.


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