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Treaty of Canandaigua (Pickering Treaty), 1794, Six Nations

At Canandaigua the United States acknowledged Six Nations land in New York, with Seneca boundaries, a road right and annual goods.

Signed
November 11, 1794
Senate
Ratified
The land in this treaty’s record. Open on the map

What happened

On November 11, 1794, at Canandaigua, New York, Timothy Pickering signed a treaty with the chiefs of the Six Nations. He acted as President Washington's agent. The Haudenosaunee side was large: Ganondagan, a New York State historic site, says the nations sent 1,600 representatives, including 800 Seneca, and that Quaker observers came at the Seneca's invitation.

The treaty named the lands the United States recognized as belonging to the Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga and Seneca. The United States promised it would "never claim the same, nor disturb them." Seneca land would stay theirs "until they choose to sell the same to the people of the United States." In return, the Six Nations agreed never to claim other lands within the United States, and the Seneca ceded the right to build a wagon road from Fort Schlosser to Lake Erie. The United States delivered $10,000 in goods and set yearly payments at $4,500, to be spent on clothing, animals, tools and craftsmen.

Ganondagan says the treaty restored to the Six Nations lands in western New York that had been ceded under the Fort Stanwix treaty. It also says there have been violations, yet the treaty "has never been broken" and is still recognized by the Six Nations and the United States. Later disputes over this land appear in the atlas's linked violation and case records.

Good to know. Ganondagan's statement that the treaty "has never been broken" is its own view; the same source says there have been violations.

Summarized with AI assistance from 4 sources and checked against their words; not yet reviewed by historians or by the nations. Report an error

What the sources say, and how this was checked

Well supported by the sources below.

  1. the United States will never claim the same, nor disturb them or either of the Six NationsTreaty with the Six Nations, 1794 (Oklahoma State University Tribal Treaties Database)
  2. it shall remain theirs, until they choose to sell the same to the people of the United StatesTreaty with the Six Nations, 1794 (Oklahoma State University Tribal Treaties Database)
  3. The Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Nations sent 1600 representatives to the treaty councilCanandaigua Treaty (Ganondagan State Historic Site)
  4. the Canandaigua Treaty restored to the Six Nations lands in western New York State that had been ceded by the Fort Stanwix TreatyCanandaigua Treaty (Ganondagan State Historic Site)

Research notes. Ganondagan's statement that the treaty 'has never been broken' is the site's own view; the same page says there have been violations. Ganondagan does not say which Fort Stanwix treaty (1768 or 1784) it means; Article III of the text mentions a strip ceded to the British Crown about thirty years earlier.

What the treaty did to the land

Each shape is a numbered area in the federal government’s 1899 record of land cessions.

What happened next

Everything the record holds about this land and this treaty, in order: what earlier agreements said, what this one did, and what the United States, the courts and the nations did afterwards.

  1. 1790

    Law

    Trade and Intercourse (Nonintercourse) Acts, 1790-1802

    Starting in 1790, Congress barred purchases of Indian land without federal approval, the root of the Nonintercourse Act used in later land claims.

  2. 1794

    This treaty

    Signed

    At Canandaigua the United States acknowledged Six Nations land in New York, with Seneca boundaries, a road right and annual goods.

  3. 1795

    Promise broken

    Oneida land (New York): 1795 sale without federal approval

    The US promised not to disturb Oneida land and required federal approval of sales; New York bought most of it in 1795.

  4. 1834

    Law

    Trade and Intercourse Act of 1834

    The 1834 Trade and Intercourse Act made any purchase of Indian land invalid unless made by federal treaty, a rule still codified today.

  5. 1958

    In court

    Seneca Nation (Kinzua Dam litigation)

    Despite the 1794 treaty, a federal appeals court in 1958 let the Allegheny Reservoir flood Seneca land, finding Congress had authorized it.

  6. 1958

    Promise broken

    Tuscarora and the Niagara Power Project (1960)

    The Tuscarora cited the 1794 treaty against a Niagara reservoir; the Court found no treaty applied and let 1,383 acres be taken.

  7. 1958

    Promise broken

    Canandaigua 1794 and the Kinzua Dam (1958-1965)

    Congress flooded part of the Seneca's Allegany lands for Kinzua Dam, though a court called the treaty infringement undisputed; $15 million followed.

  8. 1960

    In court

    Federal Power Commission v. Tuscarora Indian Nation

    The Court allowed the Power Authority to take Tuscarora land bought in fee for a reservoir, with just compensation.

  9. 1970

    Land returned

    Oneida Indian Nation reacquisition and trust applications

    The Oneida Nation has bought back old New York reservation land; the Supreme Court said purchase alone doesn't restore sovereignty.

  10. 1974

    In court

    Oneida Indian Nation v. County of Oneida (Oneida I)

    In 1974 the Supreme Court unanimously held that the Oneidas' claim to land ceded to New York in 1795 arises under federal law.

  11. 1985

    In court

    Oneida County v. Oneida Indian Nation (Oneida II)

    In 1985 the Supreme Court held that the Oneidas may sue under federal common law for land conveyed to New York in 1795.

  12. 2005

    In court

    Cayuga Indian Nation of New York v. Pataki

    The Second Circuit barred the Cayugas' land claim against New York under laches, reversing a $248 million award after the Sherrill decision.

  13. 2005

    In court

    City of Sherrill v. Oneida Indian Nation of New York

    The Oneida Nation could not revive tribal sovereignty over old reservation land it bought back, so the city could tax it.

The law behind it

The legal ideas behind the decisions, and related records without a date. Court cases and laws with a date are in what happened next, above.

  • Legal doctrine

    abrogation

    Abrogation is Congress overriding a treaty: Lone Wolf (1903) allowed it, but modern courts require clear evidence Congress chose to break the treaty.

  • Legal doctrine

    plenary power

    Congress claims 'plenary' power over Indian affairs, upheld since Kagama and Lone Wolf; Justice Thomas has questioned it, and the Brackeen Court said it has borders.

  • Legal doctrine

    takings

    Native land held by treaty must be paid for if taken (Sioux Nation, 1980), but unrecognized 'Indian title' is not compensable (Tee-Hit-Ton, 1955).

  • Legal doctrine

    indian country

    Federal law defines 'Indian country' as reservations, dependent Indian communities and Indian allotments; the definition decides which government's laws apply.

  • Legal doctrine

    indian title

    Indian title is a tribe's right to occupy land, which only the United States may extinguish; courts enforce it through the Nonintercourse Act.

  • Legal doctrine

    laches

    Laches bars claims after long delay; courts applied it to the Oneida sovereignty bid in Sherrill and the Cayuga land claim.

  • Legal doctrine

    land into trust

    Land into trust is the process by which the United States holds land for a tribe or Indian, using Interior's IRA section 5 authority.

  • Legal doctrine

    canons of construction

    Courts read ambiguous treaties in favor of tribes and as the Indians would have understood them, rules the Supreme Court has repeated for more than a century.

  • Legal doctrine

    nonintercourse

    The Nonintercourse Act, 25 U.S.C. 177, voids any purchase of Indian land not made by federal treaty or convention, and still anchors land claims.

  • Legal doctrine

    aboriginal title

    Aboriginal title is Native nations' right to land held before European arrival; unrecognized title can be ended without payment.

Who is doing the work today

The nations connected to this treaty come first, then groups returning land and defending treaty rights. Support goes directly to them.

Working with these nations

Native legal and land defense, nationally

Gifts go straight to each organization; this atlas takes nothing. Listing is not endorsement: how organizations are listed.

Sources

  1. digitreaties.org/treaties/treaty/12013172reference work
Research notes

Still invoked by Haudenosaunee (annual cloth distribution). Senate ratification date not captured (submitted to Senate 1795-01-02 per Wikipedia).

Shapes are approximate and are not legal descriptions of land, title or jurisdiction.