1 piece.
Manuscript Document Signed. Hancock, John. Philadelphia, In Congress, December 9, 1776. 1 p., folio; creased along vertical folds, horizontal fold separated - no paper loss. Docketed. To all Whom it May Concern.
"Permit the following Indian Sachems & Warriors, to wit, Cayeshuta, Jenontow,way,taw, shaw and Tegawshaingoyn of the Six Nations, - Captain Pipe, Captain White-lys & Captain Killbuck of the Delaware Nation, - and Nimwa & Kokitha of the Shawanise Nation who are in Friendship with the People of the united States of America, and have visited Congress in pursuance of their Resolve, to return to Pittsburgh with the Commissioners for Indian Affairs in the middle Department without Hindrance or Molestation, and all committees & other Persons of the said states are hereby required to be aiding & assisting of them during their said journey to Pittsburgh.- By Order of Congress John Hancock Presid." A remarkably surviving unrecorded 1776 artifact of the political relationship between the Continental Congress & several Native American nations. After the treaty meetings at Fort Pitt during August of 1776 between the United States & representatives of several Native American nations, military leaders & other representatives of the Iroquois, Delaware & Shawnee were invited to visit the Continental Congress in Philadelphia. After arriving, the delegation delivered a speech before Congress on Thursday, December 5th, 1776. On Saturday, Dec. 7th, a speech, prepared by Congress' Committee on Indian Affairs (whose members included Thomas Jefferson) was delivered to the Indians; they returned thanks for the speech, informed Congress that they had something to say on Monday next, and withdrew. Recording the events of Monday, Dec. 9th, 1776, The Journals of the Continental Congress report that "The Indians being introduced, spoke to Congress, but having said nothing relative to matters between them and the United States no notice was taken of it and they withdrew." The document offered above is the pass issued by the Continental Congress to the Native American representatives on Dec. 9th, 1776 for their safe return to Fort Pitt. It was, no doubt, subject to repeated & rough handling during this passage. That greater political & strategic negotiations can be inferred from the meetings between the Continental Congress & representatives of the Native American nations, for which this document serves as an object of primary historical evidence, is certainly open to conjecture. The text of the speech delivered by the Continental Congress to the Indians is recorded in The Journals of the Continental Congress, Washington, 1906, vol. VI, p. 1013.