Haldimand Proclamation (1784)

In the peace negotiations between Great Britain and the United States following the American Revolutionary War, Britain completely ignored its Indigenous allies and transferred to the Americans sovereignty over all British-claimed land as far west as the Mississippi River, even though almost the entire territory was occupied by First Nations, who believed they had never relinquished it to the white people. When Mohawk war chief Joseph Brant learned of the treaty’s terms, he angrily exclaimed that England had “sold the Indians to Congress.” The indignation of the Six Nations at their betrayal led the British administrators in Quebec to attempt to mollify them by various means. It took nearly two months to conclude an agreement, which was ratified at Niagara on 22 May 1784 and proclaimed by governor Sir Frederick Haldimand. For £1,180 7s. 4d. the Mississaugas agreed to give up about half of their hunting grounds between lakes Ontario, Erie, and Huron for the benefit of the British crown and for the use of the loyalist settlers and their “Six-Nations brothers.”