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Show 60 THOMAS] CONNECTICUT'S POLICY TOWARD THE INDIANS 611 of the Indians of the plantation wherein such lands do lie; and all sales or leases of land for anv term or terms of years that shall at auy time hereafter during the continuance of this act, be made by any Indian or Indians to any other Indian or Indians, shall be utterly void and of none effect, unless the same be made by and with license of the respective guardians as aforesaid.1 In 1780 an act was passed appointing commissioners to examine all sales of lands previously made by any of the Indians of the Moheakun-nuk tribe residing in Stockbridge which had not been legally confirmed, and to confirm those for which payment had justly been made. Another act was passed confirming the agreement with the Penobscot Indians, by which said Indians released their claims to all lands on the west side of Penobscot river, " from the head of the tide up to the river Pasquatequis being about forty-three miles; and all their claims and interest on the east side of the river from the head of the tide aforesaid up to the river Mantawbmkeektook being about eighty-five miles, reserving only to themselves the island on which the old town stands and those islands on which they now have actual improvement." As the records show purchases of but a comparatively small portion of the territory of the state, and no assertions are found in any of the numerous histories that the lands, except in the bounds of Plymouth colony, were generally purchased, the reasonable inference is that they were not, or at least that a large portion of them was otherwise obtained. This conclusion appears to be confirmed by statements which have been quoted above. That Massachusetts made au earnest effort to christianize the Indians is certainly true, but it must be admitted that the treatment of these natives by the Puritans of Massachusetts Bay in regard to their lands will not compare in the sense of justice, equity, and humanity with the policy of Connecticut, Rhode Island, or Pennsylvania. CONNECTICUT The policy of the settlers of Connecticut in their dealings with the natives regarding their lauds forms one of the brightest chapters, iu this respect, of the early history of our country. It is perhaps not without justification that the author of one of the histories of the state* makes the following statement: The plauters of Connecticut proved by their conduct that they did not seek to obtain undue advantage over the Indians. Eveu the Pernod war was not undertaken for the purpose of increasing their territory, but only in self-defense; for they did not need their lands, nor did tbey use them for a considerable time. If they had wished for them, they would have preferred to pay several times their valuo. They allowed the other tribes all the land they claimed after the destruction of the Pcquods, and took none without paying a satisfactory price. Indeed, in most eases they bought the land in large tracts, and afterward paid for it again in smaller cues, when they wished to occupy it. In some instances, they thus purchased land thrice, and, with the repeated presents mado to the sachems, tho sums thoy speut 'Laws of Colonial and Statu Governments Relating to Indian Affairs (18:12), p. 16. 'Theodore Dwight, jr., The History of Connecticut from tho First Settlement to tho rreseut Time (1841), p. 89. |