The Treaty Held with the Indians of the Six Nations at Philadelphia, in July 1742: To Which is Prefix'd an Account of the First Confederacy of the Six Nations, Their Present Tributaries, Dependents, and Allies

This is a rare, unfiltered voice from 1742: the words of Iroquois chiefs preserved in their own diplomatic register, speaking directly to colonial officials in Philadelphia. The document captures a moment when the Six Nations, among the most powerful indigenous confederacies in North America, gathered to negotiate the terms of their relationship with British authorities. The chiefs insist on friendship, but make clear that any land transactions require proper acknowledgment and fair compensation. They express frustration with settlers who encroach on their territories without authorization, and they invoke the weight of prior agreements to hold colonial authorities to their promises. This isn't a colonial interpretation of indigenous positions; it is the indigenous positions themselves, rendered in their own logic and eloquence. For readers interested in early American history, indigenous diplomacy, or the complicated origins of the United States, this slim volume offers something invaluable: direct access to how the Iroquois understood and asserted their sovereignty at a critical crossroads.