History

The History of the Five Indian Nations of Canada

Indigenous Statecraft, Diplomacy, and Imperial Rivalry in Eighteenth-Century North AmericaBy Cadwallader Colden

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Cadwallader Colden's *The History of the Five Indian Nations of Canada* is an ambitious early eighteenth-century account of the Haudenosaunee—Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca—and their political, military, and diplomatic relations with neighboring peoples and European colonies. Drawing upon reports, correspondence, and colonial experience, Colden describes Indigenous systems of alliance, warfare, governance, and negotiation in a prose that combines chronicle, ethnography, and political history. Its orderly narrative and emphasis on sovereignty reflect Enlightenment habits of classification, while its subject matter places Indigenous power at the center of British North American affairs. The book is therefore both a historical source and a revealing example of colonial-era writing about Native nations. Born in Scotland and trained as a physician, Colden became a prominent naturalist, surveyor, and colonial administrator in New York, eventually serving as lieutenant governor. His scientific interests and close involvement in imperial diplomacy gave him unusual access to information about Haudenosaunee affairs. He wrote amid intense Anglo-French rivalry, when understanding Indigenous alliances was essential to colonial strategy, yet his work also expresses genuine respect for the political intelligence and military strength of the nations he discusses. Its perspective remains shaped by eighteenth-century imperial assumptions and should be read critically alongside Indigenous histories and oral traditions. This book is recommended to readers interested in Indigenous North American history, colonial diplomacy, early ethnography, and the intellectual culture of the Enlightenment. It offers indispensable insight into the Haudenosaunee Confederacy's regional influence while illustrating how European observers interpreted—and sometimes distorted—Native political life. Students and scholars will find it especially valuable when approached simultaneously as documentation, argument, and artifact: a text that preserves important historical testimony even as it exposes the limitations of colonial knowledge.

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Rating★★★★ 4.1 (65)

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GenreHistory

Length7 hrs 16 mins

Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices

FormateBook with Audio

Publish dateAug 21, 2021

LanguageEnglish

1Canada Under British Rule 1760-1900

2The History of the Five Indian Nations of Canada

3Part I. The History of The Five Nations, From the Time the Christians First Knew Any Thing of Them, to That of the Revolution In Great-Britain

4The Preface to the First Part

5Vocabulary

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6Introduction

7Chapter I. Of the Wars of The Five Nations With The Adirondacks And Quatoghies

8Chapter II. The Wars and Treaties of Peace of The Indians Of The Five Nations With The French, From 1665 To 1683, And Their Affairs With New-York In That Time

9Chapter III. Of the Transactions of The Indians Of The Five Nations With the Neighbouring English Colonies

10Chapter IV. Mr . De La Barre' S Expedition, and Some Remarkable Transactions In 1684

11Chapter V. The English Attempt to Trade in the Lakes, And The French Attack The Senekas

12Chapter VI. Colonel Dongan's Advice to The Indians. Adario's Enterprize, And Montreal Sacked by The Five Nations

13Part II. The History of The Five Indian Nations Of Canada, From the Time of the Revolution to the Peace Of Reswick

14The Preface to the Second Part

15Chapter I. The State of Affairs In New-York And Canada, At the Time of The Revolution In Great-Britain

16Chapter II. A Treaty Between the Agents Of Massachuset's Bay, New-Plymouth, And Connecticut, And The Sachems Of The Five Nations, At Albany, In the Year 1689

17Chapter III. An Account of a General Council of The Five Nations At Onondaga, To Consider the Count De Frontenac' S Message

18Chapter IV. The French Surprise Schenectady. The Mohawks Speech of Condoleance on That Occasion

19Chapter V. The Five Nations Continue the War With The French; The Mohawks Incline to Peace ; Their Conferences With The Governor Of New-York

20Chapter VI. The English Attack Montreal By Land, In Conjunction With The Indians, And Quebeck By Sea

21Chapter VII. The French And The Five Nations Continue the War All Winter With Various Success . The French Burn A Captain Of The Five Nations Alive

22Chapter VIII. The Five Nations Treat With Captain Ingoldsby

23Chapter IX. The French Surprise and Take Three Mohawk Castles

24Chapter X. The Treaties and Negotiations The Five Nations Had With The English And French, In the Years 1693 And 1694

25Chapter XI. The War Renewed . The French Repossess Themselves Of Cadarackui Fort, And Find Means to Break Off the Treaty Between The Five Nations And Dionondadies

26Chapter XII. The Count De Frontenac Attacks Onondaga In Person, With the Whole Force Of Canada. The Five Nations Continue the War With The French, And Make Peace With The Dionondadies

27Chapter XIII. The Conduct Which The English And French Observed, In Regard to The Five Nations, Immediately After the Peace Of Reswick