A brief history in time
In 1609 captain Henry Hudson sailed accross the Atlantic Ocean in his ship 'Halve Maen' (Half Moon), entered into New York Harbor and proceeding up the river that now bears his name. He made it as far as modern-day Albany where the river narrows, before he was forced to turn around, realizing it was a river and therefore, that it could not be the Southwest Passage.
Just South of Albany the Dutch trading post (factorij) Fort Nassau (later Fort Oranje) was established in the 1610's. During the rest of the century, the Hudson Valley formed the heart of the Nieuw Nederland colony trading operations with the local native inhabitants, with the settlement Nieuw Amsterdam on Manhattan serving as a post for supplies and defense of the upriver operations.
At the time of Hudson's arrival, the Hudson Valley region was inhabited primarily by the Mahican and Munsee Native American people, known collectively as the River Indians. Different indigeneous people lived in the interior and coastal regions of North America, of which the Mohawk, Seneca, Onondaga, Cayuga and Oneida nations, all belonging to the powerful Iroquois Confederacy, were perhaps the most numerous.
According to Mohawk history, the powerful Iroquois Confederacy, the Haudenosaunee (also known as the 'League of Peace and Power, the 'People of the Long House'), was formed in the 12th century. Soon after their arrival, the first Dutch explorers/traders made contact with the Mohawk, who were known as the 'Keepers of the Eastern Door'. Four years later, in 1613.
Iroqois leaders entered into negociations with representatives of the Dutch government. The resulting document of agreement, refered to as a 'wampum' by native Americans, is apparently missing in the Dutch historical archives, but in safe keeping with the Mohawk, who respect it as an enduring formal convenant of peace, friendship and cooperation between the two nations to this very day. You can read the literary text of this historic document below.
Hiawatha Wampum Belt
This writer was present at a ceremony on April 5th 2009, when a ÔWampumÕ replica of this convenant was given by Mohawk representative Jerry Thundercloud McDonald to Ms. Carolien Gehrels, the deputy mayor of the city of Amsterdam. (Read more on the blog section.)
Here follows my English translation from the original Dutch text of the 1613 agreement between the Mohawk and the Dutch:
Here on Tawagonshi we the undersigned Jacob Eelckens and Hendrick Christiaenssen entered into negociations, duly authorised and instructed to come to terms about trade with the native owners or leaders of the land, and, in sofar as is compatible with the following, have reached a decision, that Roijanners (leaders) of the Rotoninghsijonni (phonetical representation of the Mohawk word Haudonosaunne) Garhat Jannie, Caghneghsattagkegh, Otsweakerongh and the Teijoghswegengh, and also others of lower rank, who declare that they have come to full agreement on this matter, and that the participants (parties) promise:
1. That the trade between their people and ours shall be permitted as long as we participants are also mutually in agreement, and further
2. That we participants shall have the privilege to export our goods, unless a sale agreement about these goods was not yet agreed upon, and further
3. That parts of the land can be bought which we can consider as private property, provided that this is agreed by the individuals involved, and that a mutually acceptable sales contract has been drawn up, and further
4. That we participants shall act in case of food shortage and provide each other with the necessities, and further
5.
In case of disagreement about real or perceived injustices, we paricipants, promise that they will be treated as Auspicia melioris aevi, and that whatever conflict, of whatever nature or background, shall be submitted to a official court to be fully investigated
Considering the above, we participants promise in mutual 'amitie' and friendship to keep and maintain this for as long as the grass is green, and as proof of honor and affection, we exchange a silver chain for a wampum ('vaedem seewant' in Dutch).
In the knowledge of the truth of this, signed by the participanten on this 24 April 1613
Jacob Eelckens
Hendrick Christiaenssen
the stamp of Garhat Jannie
the stamp of Caghneghsattagkegh
the stamp of Otsweakerongh
the stamp of Teijoghswegengh"
(scource: 'Als de schildpad sterft' (When the turtle dies) by Dick de Soeten, pages 96-98)
Read here the original Dutch text of this agreement.
Native American faces
Victims of colonization
Historians believe Mohawk Native Americans were infected after contact with children of Dutch traders in Albany in 1634. The disease swept through Mohawk villages, reaching Native Americans at Lake Ontario in 1636, and the lands of the Iroquois by 1679, as it was carried by Mohawks and other Native Americans who traveled the trading routes. The high rate of fatalities caused breakdowns in Native American societies and disrupted generational exchanges of culture.
Foundations of freedom
For some Europeans, Native American societies reminded them of a conception of a golden age known to them only in folk history. The political theorist Jean Jacques Rousseau wrote that the idea of freedom and democratic ideals was born in the Americas because "it was only in America" that Europeans from 1500 to 1776 knew of societies that were "truly free."
"Natural freedom is the only object of the policy of the [Native Americans]; with this freedom do nature and climate rule alone amongst them ... [Native Americans] maintain their freedom and find abundant nourishment . . . [and are] people who live without laws, without police, without religion."
Jean Jacques Rousseau, Jesuit and Savage in New France
The Iroquois nations' political confederacy and democratic government have been credited as influences on the Articles of Confederation and the United States Constitution. Historians debate how much the colonists borrowed from existing Native American forms. Several founding fathers had contact with Native American leaders and had learned about their style of government. Prominent figures such as Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin were more involved with their stronger and larger native neighbor -the Iroquois.
"As powerful, dense [Mound Builder] populations were reduced to weakened, scattered remnants, political readjustments were necessary. New confederacies were formed. One such was to become a pattern called up by Benjamin Franklin when the thirteen colonies struggled to confederate: 'If the Iroquois can do it so can we,' he said in substance. "
Bob Ferguson, Choctaw Government to 1830