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JEFFERSON, Thomas (1743-1826), President. Autograph letter signed ("Th:Jefferson") as President, to "Brother Handsome Lake" (Sganyadai'yo), the Seneca Indian religious leader (1735-1815), Washington, 3 November 1802. 2½ pages, 4to, the second leaf neatly inlaid at edges, small fold separations with careful reinforcement.
PRESIDENT TO HANDSOME LAKE, THE SENECA PROPHET: "...YOU ARE OUR BRETHREN OF THE SAME LAND; WE WISH YOU PROSPERITY AS BRETHREN SHOULD DO...."
A highly significant letter--quoted in many biographies--to the great Seneca prophet and reformer Handsome Lake, half-brother of chief Cornplanter. In 1797 Handsome Lake nearly died from alcohol abuse, but after a series of powerful visions, promulgated a new code for the Iroquois, in which abstinance from liquor was a key precept. His influence among the Iroquois became considerable, and he was in 1801 a member of a delegation that visited Washington D.C. and met the new president. Their meeting resulted in a remarkable--though brief--correspondence. Here, Jefferson politely acknowledges "the message in writing which you sent me through Captain Irvine, our confidential agent." He is "happy to learn you have been so far favored by the divine spirit as to be made sensible of those things which are for your good & that of your people, & of those which are hurtful..." It is good that Handsome Lake and his tribesmen "see the ruinous effects which the abuse of spirituous liquors have...It has weakened their bodies, enervated their minds, exposed them to hunger, cold, nakedness & poverty...I do not wonder then, brother, at your censures not only upon your own people...but on...white people who have supplied...this article...Spirituous liquors are not in themselves bad...It is the improper and intemperate use of them, by those in health, which makes them injurious. But...I greatly applaud your resolution not to use them at all...And as it is the desire of your nation that no spirits should be sent among them & I am authorized by the great council of the U.S. [Congress] to prohibit them I will sincerely cooperate...in any proper measures for this purpose..."
Then, Jefferson turns to Handsome Lake's complaint concerning forced sales of the Seneca's tribal lands: "when you visited me the last winter; that the lands you then held would remain yours, & should never go from you but when you should be disposed to sell..." While "we indeed are always ready to buy land...our laws have forbidden individuals to purchase lands from you; and have rendered it necessary, when you desire to sell, even to a state, that an agent from the U.S. should attend the sale, see that your consent is freely given, a satisfactory price paid, and report to us...for our approbation. This was done in the late case...." He explains the transaction, which took place in New York, then reverts to one of his most cherished ideas, that the Seneca and other tribes should adopt settled agriculture and husbandry. He does not think "the sale of lands is under all circumstances injurious to your people. While they depended on hunting, the more extensive the forests around them, the more they would yield. But, going into a state of agriculture, it may be as advantageous to a society, as to an individual...to sell a part, and lay out the money in stock & implements of agriculture...A little land, well stocked & improved, will yield more than a great deal without stock or improvement. I hope therefore...that you will see this transaction in a more favorable light, both as it concerns the interest of your nation & the exercise of that superintending care which I am sincerely anxious to employ..."
"Go on then brother in the great reformation you have undertaken. Persuade our red brethren to be sober, to cultivate their lands, and their women to spin & weave for their families. You will soon see your women & children well fed & clothed, your men living happily in peace & plenty, and your numbers increasing from year to year. It will be a great glory to you to have been the instrument of so happy a change, & your children's children from generation to generation will repeat your name with love and gratitude for ever. In all your enterprises for the good of your people you may count with confidence on the aid and protection of the United States, and on the sincerity & zeal with which I am myself animated in the furthering of this humane work. You are our brethren of the same land; we wish you prosperity as brethren should do...."
As Malone points out, "perhaps no President ever addressed visiting delegations of Indians in more gracious fraternal language" (Dumas Malone, Jefferson the President: First Term, p.273); the same may be said for his rare letters to Native Americans, although, for all his courtesy, "his...concern was to protect his own borders by removing Indians from them as soon as possible and replacing them with white settlers" (Ibid.). Jefferson wrote on only two occasions to Handsome Lake (12 Feb 1803 and this date); the Jefferson Papers at DLC holds press copies of both. This is clearly the recipient's copy, carried to Handsome Lake by messenger. For full texts of this letter (and several to other tribes or chiefs) see Yale University's Avalon Project https://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/jeffind2.htm
PRESIDENT TO HANDSOME LAKE, THE SENECA PROPHET: "...YOU ARE OUR BRETHREN OF THE SAME LAND; WE WISH YOU PROSPERITY AS BRETHREN SHOULD DO...."
A highly significant letter--quoted in many biographies--to the great Seneca prophet and reformer Handsome Lake, half-brother of chief Cornplanter. In 1797 Handsome Lake nearly died from alcohol abuse, but after a series of powerful visions, promulgated a new code for the Iroquois, in which abstinance from liquor was a key precept. His influence among the Iroquois became considerable, and he was in 1801 a member of a delegation that visited Washington D.C. and met the new president. Their meeting resulted in a remarkable--though brief--correspondence. Here, Jefferson politely acknowledges "the message in writing which you sent me through Captain Irvine, our confidential agent." He is "happy to learn you have been so far favored by the divine spirit as to be made sensible of those things which are for your good & that of your people, & of those which are hurtful..." It is good that Handsome Lake and his tribesmen "see the ruinous effects which the abuse of spirituous liquors have...It has weakened their bodies, enervated their minds, exposed them to hunger, cold, nakedness & poverty...I do not wonder then, brother, at your censures not only upon your own people...but on...white people who have supplied...this article...Spirituous liquors are not in themselves bad...It is the improper and intemperate use of them, by those in health, which makes them injurious. But...I greatly applaud your resolution not to use them at all...And as it is the desire of your nation that no spirits should be sent among them & I am authorized by the great council of the U.S. [Congress] to prohibit them I will sincerely cooperate...in any proper measures for this purpose..."
Then, Jefferson turns to Handsome Lake's complaint concerning forced sales of the Seneca's tribal lands: "when you visited me the last winter; that the lands you then held would remain yours, & should never go from you but when you should be disposed to sell..." While "we indeed are always ready to buy land...our laws have forbidden individuals to purchase lands from you; and have rendered it necessary, when you desire to sell, even to a state, that an agent from the U.S. should attend the sale, see that your consent is freely given, a satisfactory price paid, and report to us...for our approbation. This was done in the late case...." He explains the transaction, which took place in New York, then reverts to one of his most cherished ideas, that the Seneca and other tribes should adopt settled agriculture and husbandry. He does not think "the sale of lands is under all circumstances injurious to your people. While they depended on hunting, the more extensive the forests around them, the more they would yield. But, going into a state of agriculture, it may be as advantageous to a society, as to an individual...to sell a part, and lay out the money in stock & implements of agriculture...A little land, well stocked & improved, will yield more than a great deal without stock or improvement. I hope therefore...that you will see this transaction in a more favorable light, both as it concerns the interest of your nation & the exercise of that superintending care which I am sincerely anxious to employ..."
"Go on then brother in the great reformation you have undertaken. Persuade our red brethren to be sober, to cultivate their lands, and their women to spin & weave for their families. You will soon see your women & children well fed & clothed, your men living happily in peace & plenty, and your numbers increasing from year to year. It will be a great glory to you to have been the instrument of so happy a change, & your children's children from generation to generation will repeat your name with love and gratitude for ever. In all your enterprises for the good of your people you may count with confidence on the aid and protection of the United States, and on the sincerity & zeal with which I am myself animated in the furthering of this humane work. You are our brethren of the same land; we wish you prosperity as brethren should do...."
As Malone points out, "perhaps no President ever addressed visiting delegations of Indians in more gracious fraternal language" (Dumas Malone, Jefferson the President: First Term, p.273); the same may be said for his rare letters to Native Americans, although, for all his courtesy, "his...concern was to protect his own borders by removing Indians from them as soon as possible and replacing them with white settlers" (Ibid.). Jefferson wrote on only two occasions to Handsome Lake (12 Feb 1803 and this date); the Jefferson Papers at DLC holds press copies of both. This is clearly the recipient's copy, carried to Handsome Lake by messenger. For full texts of this letter (and several to other tribes or chiefs) see Yale University's Avalon Project https://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/jeffind2.htm