In 1850, A Plea to an Organize a New Indian Territory
A remarkable (and rejected) request by a Chippewa Chief for the United States to redress its wrongs in 1850
First Edition of Ojibway Indian Chief George Copway’s account of the deprivations and oppressive treatment of Native Americans submitted to Congress in 1850.
Of significance, Copway proposes an Ojibway-speaking territory with U.S. Military protection and courts, to be established in the eastern Dakotas. The pamphlet includes the full text of “A Bill to Provide for the Organization of an Indian Territory East of the Missouri River.” Copway writes:
The groans of the Indian are occasionally heard by the intoxicated and avaricious throng in the way of complaint; he has waited for justice, while those who have wronged him, like the wild horses of his prairie, neigh over his misfortunes. The eagle of liberty stretches her wings north and south. The tide of emigration will soon reach the base of the Rocky Mountains and rise to the summit. Enterprise follows in its train; yet when the blessings are lavishly bestowed on the palefaces, as the consequence of attainments in knowledge, the red-man has been denied the least of those which the American government guarantees to its humblest subject. (p4)
Copway’s pamphlet includes a dozen testimonial letters from such men as Edward Everett and Professor Benjamin Silliman of Yale. Copway’s review of the mistreatment of Native Americans is well laid out as are the benefits to them and the United States, if the bill were passed and his Nation were granted a territory.
Smith’s Mississauga Portraits: Ojibwe Voices from Nineteenth-Century Canada(Toronto, 2013) provides an excellent overview of Copway’s endeavor to create this Indian territory, a never-fulfilled ambition that, in some regard (opinion ours), had elements of utopianism [pp190–193].
While advocating for the sovereignty of tribal nations, [Copway] also struggled with the powerful tensions between his own nation’s traditional values and institutions and the pull of modernity. His proposed ‘organization’ for a new Indian territory, along with a bill he drafted and presented to Congress in 1850, contains fascinating insights into his views on the nature of tribalism, native self-governance, the assimilative process, the role of education, and the relationship between the United States and Indian Nations.” ¹
The Indian territory bill was presented to Congress, but it never reached the floor. Nevertheless, when the DAB profiled George Copway they proclaimed “he displayed the vision of a statesman…” for his attempts to have Congress create a new territory for his people.
George Copway (1818–c.1863) was an Ojibway (Chippewa) chief and Methodist convert. He was born Kah-Ge-Ga-Gah-Bouh (or Bowh), but given the name George Copway upon his conversion. In 1834 he was sent as a missionary to the Ojibways around Lake Superior. In 1838–1839 he attended Ebenezer Academy near Jackson, Illinois and later returned to the mission field. He subsequently made a visit to the Eastern United States lecturing on temperance and Indian subjects. Copway’s autobiography, The Life, History, and Travels, of Kah-Ge-Ga-Gah-Bowh (George Copway), A Young Indian Chief of the Ojebwa Nation…, was published in 1847 and found success and a readership. In 1851 he authored the first travel book written by a Native American.
What Are We Talking About — Copway, Geo[rge]. or The Indian Chief Kah-Ge-Ga-Gah-Bouh (1818–c.1863) Organization of a New Indian Territory, East Of The Missouri River. Arguments and Reasons Submitted to the Honorable the Members Of the Senate and House of Representatives of the 31st Congress of the United States. New York: S. W. Benedict, 1850. First Edition. 8vo. 32pp. Without original printed wrappers, [B²] with expert tissue repair to closed inter-textual tear, spine has later paper reinforcement, some foxing. [372281]
Refs. Sabin 16719. Field 367. Howes C-771. Gilcrease-Hargrett p209 — “Copway, a Chippewa chief, advocated the erection of a new Indian Territory which should be an improvement upon the old, by offering an asylum to Northern bands only, and by providing at the outset for Indian self-government.” Goodspeed’s — “Copway, a Chippewa (Ojibway) chief & convert to Methodism, in 1834 went as a missionary to the region south of Lake Superior & spent the rest of his life in missionary fields & lecturing in the cause. He was the author of several books.” 1. McKnight, Documents of Native American Political Development: 1500s to 1933 (OUP, 2008). DAB IV: 433.
American History via rare books, early letters, diaries, manuscripts, ephemera, graphics — bought, sold, discussed.
If you found this article of interest, consider following our publication, here, on Medium. Thanks for stopping by.
