The Covenant Chain was a series of alliances and treaties developed during the seventeenth century, primarily between the Iroquois Confederacy (Haudenosaunee) and the British colonies of North America, with other Native American tribes added. First meeting in the New York area at a time of violence and social instability for the colonies and Native Americans, the English and Iroquois councils and subsequent treaties were based on supporting peace and stability to preserve trade. They addressed issues of colonial settlement, and tried to suppress violence between the colonists and Indigenous, as well as among the Indigenous, from New England to the Colony of Virginia.
History
The Covenant Chain is embodied in the Two Row Wampum of the Iroquois, known as the people of the longhouse - Haudenosaunee. It was based in agreements negotiated between Dutch settlers in New Netherland (present-day New York) and the Five Nations of the Iroquois (or Haudenosaunee) early in the 17th century. Their emphasis was on trade with the Native Americans. As the historian Bernard Bailyn has noted, all the colonies, Dutch and English, were first established to create profits.
When the English took over New Netherland in 1664 and established the Province of New York, they renewed these agreements. Conflicts erupted in New England in King Philip's War in 1675, "the most destructive war" in seventeenth-century North America, in which more than 600 colonists and 3,000 Indians died. Nearly at the same time was Bacon's Rebellion in Virginia. Both resulted in widespread suffering and loss among Native Americans and colonists.
At a council meeting in 1684, Virginia Governor Lord Effingham used the phrase "covenant chain" to describe these agreements. The metaphor was continued by a Seneca speaker, who said: "Let the Chaine be Kept Cleane and bright as Silver that the great tree that is can not break it a peeces if it should fall upon itt."
Later colonial administrators assumed that these treaties granted the English sovereign control over the Iroquois and other tribes involved in the chain. The Iroquois did not agree with this and believed themselves at least to be equals. In a Covenant Chain council that took place in 1692, the Iroquois leaders asserted:
::You say that you are our father and I am your son...
::...We will not be like Father and Son, but like Brothers.]]
The Albany Congress was called to help repair the chain. Colonial delegates failed to work together to improve the diplomatic relationship with the Iroquois, a serious shortcoming on the eve of the French and Indian War. As a result, the British government took the responsibility of Native American diplomacy out of the hands of the colonies and established the British Indian Department in 1755.
In a 1755 council with the Iroquois, William Johnson, Superintendent of the Northern Department based in central New York, renewed and restated the chain. He called their agreement the "Covenant Chain of love and friendship", saying that the chain has been attached to the immovable mountains and that every year the British would meet with the Iroquois to "strengthen and brighten" the chain. He developed great influence among the Iroquois and was later knighted for his contributions to development in the Northeast.
Commemoration
In June 2010, Queen Elizabeth II of Canada renewed the Covenant Chain Treaties by presenting eight silver hand bells each to Band Chiefs from Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory and Six Nations of the Grand River in commemoration of 300 years of the Covenant Chain. The bells were inscribed "The Silver Chain of Friendship 1710–2010" (which was a common term often used throughout history when the Chain was renewed).
Notes
References
- Bailyn, Bernard, The Barbarous Years: The Peopling of British North America: The Conflict of Civilizations, 1600-1675.
- "Covenant Chain", Iroquois Democracy, Portland State University, 2001. https://web.archive.org/web/20080819150237/http://www.iroquoisdemocracy.pdx.edu/html/covenantchain.htm
- Jennings, Francis. The Ambiguous Iroquois Empire: The Covenant Chain Confederation of Indian Tribes with English Colonies. New York: Norton, 1984.
- George-Kanentiio, Doug. "Iroquois Culture and Commentary". Santa Fe: Clear Light, 2000.
- Richter, Daniel K. and James H. Merrell, eds. Beyond the Covenant Chain: the Iroquois and their Neighbors in Indian North America, 1600–1800. Syracuse, New York: Syracuse University Press, 1987. .
- Taylor, Alan. American Colonies: The Settling of North America. New York: Penguin, 2001.
- Tidridge, Nathan. The Queen at the Council Fire: the Treaty of Niagara, Reconciliation, and the Dignified Crown in Canada. Toronto: Dundurn, 2015. .
- Williams, Paul Charles. The Chain. Thesis (LL.M.) -- York University, 1982.