Less than a year after the 1784 Treaty of Fort Stanwix, the State of New York began negotiating its own treaties and land deals with the Oneida, Tuscarora, Onondaga and Cayuga Nations. Its argument was simple: these nations lived inside the state's borders, so the state could deal with them directly. The federal government — weak under the Articles of Confederation and in the first years under the Constitution — either could not or would not stop it.
Lands reserved or negotiated over in the late 1780s and early 1790s (National Park Service).
The state's treaties
| When | Where | With | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| June 1785 | Fort Herkimer (German Flatts) | Oneida and Tuscarora | ceded their interests in lands in southern New York, including the area of present-day Binghamton |
| September 1788 | Fort Schuyler (formerly Fort Stanwix) | Onondaga; Oneida | both nations' lands greatly reduced, but hunting and fishing rights on the ceded lands protected — and the Onondaga right to make salt on the shores of Onondaga Lake |
| 1789 | Albany | Cayuga | a contract that greatly reduced Cayuga land while protecting hunting and fishing rights |
| finally (date not given) | Fort Stanwix | Cayuga; Onondaga | a treaty with the Cayuga, and a council fire rekindled with the Onondaga, at which both confirmed they had ratified their treaties with the state |
The federal government steps in
The Non-Intercourse Act of 1790 changed the rules. It gave the United States government sole authority over dealings between American Indians and others, and barred the sale of Indian land to individuals or states without formal federal approval — a measure that improved relations with Native nations.
The Treaty of Canandaigua wampum belt, given to George Washington as a symbol of continuing friendship (National Archives).
In the 1794 Treaty of Canandaigua, the United States acknowledged New York's treaties and promised to protect the greatly reduced Oneida, Onondaga and Cayuga lands in the years ahead. That promise was not kept. In the 1970s, the nations began filing lawsuits seeking compensation for lands taken after 1794.
What the land became
The treaties opened the region to settlers and land speculators. The state also granted land to veterans of the Revolutionary War, who either settled on it or sold their claims to speculators. In the years that followed, villages, towns, cities and canals were built on the lands the Oneida, Onondaga and Cayuga had given up.
Sources
- National Park Service, Fort Stanwix National Monument: "State of New York Treaties and Land Transactions with the Oneida, Onondaga, and Cayuga," part of the series The Treaties of Fort Stanwix.
In these publicationsFort Stanwix National Monument
Licence: CC0 1.0 (public domain) · Adapted from www.nps.gov
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