Orator: Canasatego of the Onondaga, c 1684-1750

Native leaders who cooperated with colonial authorities walked a difficult and dangerous line.  Forced or induced to make steep land concessions, and embroiled in conflicts with other colonial powers and other tribes, the conflicts of loyalties became impossible and tragedy followed.  Onondaga leader Canasatego, c 1684-1750,  was yet another casualty of early colonial conflict and land hunger.

Little is known of Canasatego's early life.  Sources differ on whether he ranked as a Sachem or was a leader who rose through the ranks with his skill in oratory and diplomacy.  He enters the historical record in the 1730's, through the auspices of Conrad Weiser.  Weiser worked with Canasatego, Shkellamy and other Native leaders to make concessions of land in Pennsylvania.  The problem was that the Iroquois didn't live on this land, or even use it as a hunting range.  It belonged to the Delaware/Lenape.  Despite this, in 1736, the Penn family brokered an agreement with the Iroquois to cede the land.  Later, in 1737, the Delaware would be forced again to make land concessions as a result of the Walking Purchase.  Then, William Penn's sons had an even more ruthless idea.  Use the Iroquois to force the Delaware from their land.  At a meeting between Pennsylvania authorities, the Delaware and the Iroquois, Canasatego ordered the Delawares to vacate the land.  Sources differ on what he actually said, but he may have called the Delaware warriors women to their faces.  Angered and humiliated, resentment between the tribes simmered.

In 1744, Canasatego served as one of the speakers for the Iroquois delegation at a parley that lead to the Treaty of Lancaster.  An observer for the colony of Maryland noted that Canasatego was about 60 years old, tall, with a muscular chest and brawny limbs.  He had an engaging personality, with a ready smile and lively speech, the necessary qualities for any diplomat.  Present at the conference were members of all the Iroquois tribes except the Mohawk, as well as representatives for Maryland, Delaware and Pennsylvania.  Canasatego was able to persuade the colonial leaders to agree to a much larger purchase price for the land.  However, the final treaty gave Virginia the Shenandoah Valley and several thousand acres more than the Native leaders had bargained.  Canasatego gave the colonial leaders some advice:

We have one thing further to say, and that is We heartily recommend Union and a Good Agreement between you our Brethren. Never disagree, but preserve a strict Friendship for one another, and thereby you as well as we will become the Stronger.  Our wise Forefathers established Union and Amity between the Five Nations; this has made us formidable, this has given us great weight and Authority with our Neighboring Nations. We are a powerful confederacy, and, by your observing the same Methods our wise Forefathers have taken, you will acquire fresh Strength and Power; therefore, whatever befalls you, never fall out with one another. (Wikipedia).

Benjamin Franklin was a member of the Pennsylvania delegation and later printed these words in his newspaper.  Sources differ on just how much the Iroquois Confederacy influenced the future United States government, but these words must have given Franklin food for thought, since he saw fit to reprint them for posterity.  Canasatego again pressed the idea of colonial unity in 1745.  His last appearance was a treaty conference in 1749, where again, the Natives were forced to cede far more land than what they originally bargained for.  Soon after, in 1750, Canasatego was poisoned.  Colonial authorities blamed French agents for poisoning the Onondaga leader, who was perceived as being pro-British and anti-French.  He was also rumored to have accepted bribes for the various land concessions he had made over the years.  Probably, he was killed by pro-French Iroquois who wanted to repudiate the various land deals Canasatego had helped negotiate during his lifetime.