Indian Nullification of the Unconstitutional Laws of Massachusetts Relative to the Marshpee Tribe: Or, the Pretended Riot ExplainedApess, William
History
Indian Nullification of the Unconstitutional Laws of Massachusetts Relative to the Marshpee Tribe: Or, the Pretended Riot Explained
Apess, William
Indians of North America -- Legal status, laws, etc.; Mashpee Indians -- Land tenure; Mashpee Indians -- Legal status, laws, etc.
The Marshpee affairs, we are gratified to learn, are
more quiet than they have been. The Indians took forcible
possession of the Meeting-house the other day, and have
retained it ever since, but no farther act has been committed
on their part. They notified Mr. Fish that they had dismissed
him from their Parish, and also formally gave notice to the
overseers that their offices were at an end. Hon. J.J. Fiske,
of the Executive Council, has visited the Indians, by request
of the Governor, and has, we learn, discharged the duty in a
highly conciliatory and discreet manner. The Indians would
not at first consent to see him, but being satisfied of the
disposition of the Executive to listen to their grievances,
they met Mr. Fiske alone in the Meeting-house, where, by their
special request, the overseers also appeared. The Sheriff of
the county, Hon. John Reed, and others, were also present.
About one hundred of the Indians appeared, many of them armed
with guns. They were perfectly under the command of Apes, but
all of them conducted with propriety, and seemed peaceably
disposed. Mr. Fiske heard their complaints for one day. Their
demands were to have the overseers removed, and the books and
funds, now in the hands of the Treasurer, transferred to
them; and in fact to be left to the entire management of their
affairs. It was explained to them that the Governor had no
power to do this, if he were so disposed. That he could only
change their overseers, and lay their complaints before the
Legislature, who alone could alter the laws now governing the
plantation. To this, Apes would not agree, insisting that they
should be relieved of the guardianship of the State, and that
the Governor could do it at once.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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