Case Study: Canassatego: Response to a Delaware Complaint Concerning the Walking Purchase
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Case Study: Canassatego: Response to a Delaware Complaint concerning the Walking Purchase
- Why did Canassatego begin or end each statement by presenting wampum to the party he was addressing?
From the excerpt, Canassatego represents the Iroquois league, which spoke on behalf of the Indians living between today’s upstate New York and Philadelphia following the Delaware Indians’ action to cede around 1200 square miles of land to Pennsylvania. Canassatego offers wampum, which seems to the seal or rather official communication that a treaty has been made in the excerpt. This scenario is seen in the scene where he posits that “after a long and full examination ratified the deed of their ancestors and given a fresh one under their hands and seals and then requested us to remove them enforcing your request with a string of Wampum.” The scenario is also replicated whereby he turns to the Delawares and outlines “let this belt of wampum serve to chastise you,” meaning the object served as a seal that all individuals within the jurisdiction ought to adhere to and behold.
- On what grounds did Canassatego support Pennsylvania’s side in the Walking Purchase dispute and assert the Iroquois League’s influence over the Delawares?
Canassatego outlines that Delaware’s ancestors had sold the land over 50 years ago under their hand’s seal. He further posits that “we have with our eyes a deed signed by nine of yourselves and chiefs now numbering 15 and upwards”. The utterance denotes that Cannasatego implies that the land under contention was initially sold by the Delawares and a seal given to certify the sale. He further outlines that after the sale occurred, the Delawares plundered the money acquired from the sale and began to repulse removal by the Pennsylvanians. Therefore it is evident that Canassatego implies that the land under contention was sold by the original owners the Delawares to the Pennsylvanians.