12–16 June 1753
Hendrick protests Mohawk land encroachments and breaks with New York
Fort George, New York City; Mohawk lands
A Mohawk delegation led by Hendrick complained to Governor George Clinton that colonists had taken more land than the Mohawks had sold. Clinton referred disputed claims to officials at Albany and opposed the delegation’s proposed removal of settlers. On June 16, Hendrick rejected that response and declared the Covenant Chain broken between them and New York, saying he would notify the other Five Nations.
Dates preserve the source’s precision. This entry is part of a selected historical record; its qualifications and sources are retained below.
Context / qualification
The speeches survive through an interpreter and colonial minutes. The complaint began June 12; the declaration of a broken alliance belongs to the June 16 exchange. This was a Mohawk diplomatic action, not evidence that all Indigenous nations had entered or permanently abandoned a single alliance.
Sources
- Howard Zinn, A People’s History of the United States, chapter 5, p. 86; supplied print pages, edition/year unidentified
- Conference between Governor Clinton and the Indians, June 12–16, 1753, Documents Relative to the Colonial History of New York, vol. VI, pp. 781–788; especially June 16 heading p. 785 and Hendrick’s reply p. 788 ↗