A
strong deputation was sent from the Senecas, with Red Jacket at its head.
At the opening of this council a question arose as to precedence in
debate, which is said to have been the occasion of one of Red Jacket's
most effective and brilliant speeches, and was the means of securing for
himself and fellow delegates, the high position he ever claimed, as
belonging rightfully to his nation.
The right of precedence was claimed by the Wyandots, a large and powerful
nation, which for a long time, had been pre-eminent among the Western
tribes. To them had been committed for preservation and safe keeping, the
Great Belt, the symbol of a previous union among the tribes. It had been
used in gathering them to form their league, to resist the settlements of
the whites north and west of the Ohio river. The concert of action among
the Indians, in the wars at the West between 1790 and 1795, is to be
traced to this league. To the Wyandots also had been given the original
duplicate of the treaty of peace, concluded at Greenville in 1795.
Hence the claim they presented to precedence at this council; a claim
which was eloquently supported by their most able chiefs.
This claim was denied by Red Jacket, who maintained that the place in
question belonged rightfully to the Senecas, and sustained his position by
a reference to facts and usages in the past, which displayed a minute and
accurate knowledge of the history of the different Indian tribes, that
surprised as well as delighted his hearers.
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