Week 5

For my Indigenous America 250 Storymakers personal project, I have chosen to focus on the Account of the conference with Indians at Fort Pitt, June 29, 1774. Found in the Friendly Association Papers—which are located in the Haverford College Quaker & Special Collection— this is an important document shedding light on the intricacies of Native-colonial diplomacy in the Ohio Valley in the mid-18th century. I have chosen this document because of my interest in learning more about the thought process and decisions of Native leaders and Nations when it came to allying themselves with colonists around the time of the Revolutionary War, which is what initially drew me to this document. It depicts a formal conference between colonial leaders and Lenape leaders in the midst of escalating hostilities that would break out into open war in the near future during Lord Dunmore’s War. This manuscript contains both the record of speeches delivered at Fort Pitt and a written statement printed from Tuscarawas Town by Delaware leaders. It is an excellent resource to identify Indigenous political strategy, intercultural diplomacy, and tenuous alliances at play during this trying time.

The conference was made up of a variety of military officers, civilian officials, interpreters, and Native leaders. Major Smallman, Captains Ashton and McCulloch, and Indian agent George Croghan attended the conference along with colonial visitors. Simon Girty, who later became known for being an ally of Native troops in the American Revolution, served as the interpreter. Native Americans who were present included Captain White Eyes, a prominent Delaware chief, to represent his people. There were also the young Shawnee leaders and delegates referred to as the Wingenum.

The central theme of the paper is a formal speech or declaration dated June 29, 1774, by Delaware leaders at Tuscarawas Town, later read at Fort Pitt. The Delaware announce in this speech their commitment to peace and attempt to disassociate themselves from other hostile Native nations’ actions—primarily the Shawnee. They express disappointment that their advances of peace had not been reciprocated by the western tribes but confirm that they remain committed to the cause of peace. As proof of this commitment, they offer five Shawnee prisoners and an injured white settler to colonial authorities.

The Fort Pitt conference occurred in the immediate lead-up to Lord Dunmore’s War, a war in 1774 between the Colony of Virginia and Native American Ohio Valley tribes, specifically the Shawnee and Mingo. The war was brought on by increasing settler intrusion west of the Appalachian Mountains and violent retaliatory assaults by both parties, including the notorious murder of Shawnee and Mingo people at Yellow Creek earlier that year.

Fort Pitt (now Pittsburgh) was an important British fort, as it was both a site for military raids as well as diplomatic exchanges with Native nations. While certain Native nations, such as the Shawnee, resented colonial advancements, other nations, like the Delaware, instead occupied the middle ground, attempting to avoid war through diplomacy. The Delaware had long occupied a precarious position as previous members of the Iroquois League's “tributary” nations, and they were often caught between larger Indigenous armies and expanding colonial powers.

The Friendly Association, which maintained this record, was a Quaker-led peace movement that sought improved relations between settlers and Indians. Though their authority had waned by the 1770s, their archives are a valuable source through which to study Native diplomacy and colonial Indian policy.

This letter is a prime example of Native political tact and diplomatic strategy. The Delaware’s message is phrased carefully to reassure colonial officials of their loyalty and to demonstrate that they are not allies of the “hostile” Shawnee. The gesture of offering up prisoners and a rescued wounded settler is symbolic and strategic—both a message of good intentions and a removal of the Delaware from the mounting violence sweeping across the region.

Captain White Eyes is a significant figure. Characterized elsewhere as a progressive and peaceful leader, White Eyes seeks to defend the exhaustion and disillusion of his people, as well as their dignity and intentions. His speech shows frustration with colonial suspicion and diplomatic caution about how what he says will be received.

Notably, the Tuscarawas Town speech is not an isolated move, but rather one component of a broader Native strategy of political differentiation. In defining themselves against the Shawnee, the Delaware are engaging in tribal self-definition, attempting to secure a different fate for their people in the face of inevitable colonial pressure. This mirrors the disjointed nature of Indigenous political existence in the period, whereby the tribal nations consistently had varied strategies toward settler colonialism—ranging from armed opposition to tactical alliance.

Furthermore, the speech's tone—appealing to the “good Spirit,” emphasizing morality and justice, and appealing to the misery of both Indians and colonists—demonstrates the use of shared moral vocabulary to bridge cultural gaps in diplomacy. The Delaware leaders frame their actions as politically savvy and divinely ordained, emphasizing their sincerity.

Yet, despite these efforts, the reality was that such gestures were often not enough to protect Native lands or sovereignty. Lord Dunmore’s War would go forward regardless, and the violence of westward expansion would continue to erode Delaware territory in the decades that followed.

In conclusion, the Fort Pitt conference document is a valuable historical resource that offers insight into Indigenous diplomacy, colonial-Native relations, and the survival and autonomy strategies Native leaders used. It reveals the Delaware’s attempt to utilize peaceful negotiation, moral suasion, and symbolic acts to represent their political stance amidst increasing instability. Simultaneously, it demonstrates the limits of such diplomacy in the landscape of settler colonial expansion. As a document that has been saved by the Friendly Association, it also attests to the ways that Quaker mediators and record-keepers helped frame the documentary record of intercultural negotiations along the 18th-century American frontier.