Rare collection of three letters concerning grievances addressed to Superintendent of Indian Affairs William Clark by various Native American chiefs of the Shawnee and Delaware tribes, five total pages, ranging in size from 8 x 10 to 7.75 x 13.25, dated to the years 1823, 1826, and 1827, with each letter executed and signed in a secretarial hand, with one letter bearing the “X” marks of Delaware Chief “William Anderson” and Shawnee Chief “Ma-yea-wes-ca-ca.”
The earliest example, from February 1, 1823, issued by a Shawnee chief who requests provisions promised to his tribe, in part: “At or near the Residence of Capt. Jacob Wolf on the South Bank of White river a Council was held on the first day of February A.D. 1823 composed of the Chiefs of the Shawanee Nation / Namely /Pepequaw Capt. Reid, Ma yea wes Ka Ka, Kis Kul Wa, Leth how E Kus wa, Walkaway, Col. Lewis, John Comstalk & Peli a wa, All Chiefs of the Shawanee Nation, & after mature deliberation on their national concerns, as relates to their present situation do conclude to say a true statement of their present distress & situation before the person who they believe has authority & will redress their grievances.
To Col. Clark, the former Governor of Missouri, now superintendent for Indian Affairs West of the Mississippi, We the Chiefs of the Shawanee nation wish to write to our friends, as you know, by the authority of Congress we were sent here to White river; & were instructed when our necessities required to lay our grievances before you, all the Shawanees are now here, & speak one word to you, our agent has never visited us, & we have chosen a friend to write for us…When we left our Country our friends the Congress told us if we removed to this Country, that they would help us, & do for us as their Children. We have, agreeable to the Instructions given to us, with great, & many difficulties, come to this place, with our young men, women & children, & has not wherewithal for support, the game is all killed, & we are poor & not able to purchase corn, & without immediate assistance must Parrish. Now you know what Congress has promised to the Indians, & now we wish you to comply with our request, & that you will shortly let us know how to supply the necessity of our Women & Children. Otherwise we will suffer. We are now speaking to you as we depend on your word.” The secretary concludes the letter with the names of the nine chiefs: Pepequaw, Capt. Reid, Ma yea wes Ka Ka, Kis Kul Wa, Leth how E Kus wa, Walkaway, Col. Lewis, John Cornstalk, and Peli a wa. The chiefs request assistance in the form of 300 bushels of corn, six barrels of salt, and tobacco.
The second letter, dated November 28, 1826, consists of grievances made by Shawnee and Delaware chiefs. The first, in full: “Speach delivered by Anderson the Chief of the Dellewares—My Friends, [Lewis] Clark, [Richard] Graham [U.S. Indian Agent for Delawares & St. Louis], and Menard, I wish you listen, to what your old friend has to say. You spoke to me, and my grand children, when we were all sitting before you at St. Louis in Council. You spoke that you wished us to go and see the land north of this. It appears that I am now in bad fix for that—My Grand Children the Shawnee have come here and saw no body to join them here—My friends I do not think it is write for us to go there alone, when we have so many go and children that wishes to go and see the country but can not because their homes are to poor—My Friends you must not think it hard, because we do not go at this time.” The conclusion is signed with an “X” by “William Anderson, Chief of the Dellewars."
The second section, in full: “Speach delivered by Ma yea wes ca ca one of the Shawnee Chiefs—We are come here according to the time appointed by our friend Menard, when we came here, we saw none of our Brothers here, of the different nations, whom we expected to meet and join us. We were surprised when we came here, not to find our friends, that were to go with us to see the land—when we were all sitting before our brother Clark, we thought we should all go together, and our grand Father at the head for now I shall turn back, winter is now coming on and it is to cold to travel so far: Our friend Clark and Menard must not think hard, because we do not go.” The conclusion is signed with an “X” by “Ma-yea-wes-ca-ca, a Shawnee Chief.”
The third letter, from February 19, 1827, written on behalf of “Fish, ‘Senewascascas,’” forwards a complaint of improper treatment by white settlers, in part: “When I saw you last you gave me permission to go and visit the country above the Osage River the Blues and the country around. I did so but very unexpectedly had much trouble with the white inhabitants of that country; you likewise told me that the people of that country were good citizens; when I arrived there they wished to prevent me from hunting. I told them that you had given me permission to visit and hunt in that country; those same people told me that they neither knew you or [Richard] Graham [U. S. Indian Agent for Delawares & St. Louis], that they knew not whether you were white, or Indians that they never had heard of you. The day after this conversation my little son driving our horses to camp came across four men cutting a bea tree the boy stoped near them and as soon as they perceived him they whiped hun and his horse, this boy being very much frightened lost himself; but fortunately an Indian who was in that direction found him and brought him to our camp. The man who whiped him calls himself Barry Esty These troubles took place in Petit Button. I was not at our camp when it took place. But two men came and told one of my young men who understands the English very well, that they would come the next day with forty men to drive us away. The son of Barry Esty came the next day and I told him that I would move that very day 6 miles off and if they were not satisfied not to come with Forty men that one would be sufficient. I wish you to judge my father that if after such treatment it is very incurraging for us Indians to visit such country and people. Signed at the conclusion on behalf of Senewascascas. In overall very good condition, with scattered light foxing, small areas of paper loss, and some fold separations repaired with archival tape.
