Speculators in Empire: Iroquoia and the 1768 Treaty of Fort Stanwix by William J. Campbell (review)

Speculators in Empire is written by an academic historian for other academic historians, particularly those whose interest is the Six Nations of New York. Campbell utilizes the entire universe of Iroquois studies for this book and, while some of this ground has been plowed before, he has compiled a comprehensive study that is well written, thoroughly researched, and well documented.

The title of this book makes reference to the Treaty of Fort Stanwix, yet the content includes more, such as the history of European entry into the North American continent and the resulting collision with the Stone Aged indigenous peoples. Campbell also describes the greed and duplicity of the European countries and men who hoped to profit from this collision.

The author exhibits a real empathy for the Iroquois and all indigenous people by describing what made them special. He describes their native intelligence illustrated by the commonsense creation of the Grand Council to limit wars and the elaborate traditions centered on “longhouse” values, ancestral spirits, and a holistic relationship with the cosmos.

In any history of the American Indian a dichotomy exists in understanding the true nature of indigenous peoples. The history of the Indigenous peoples has been written by Europeans and excerpted from the journals of the explorers, traders, missionaries, and government officials who were closest to them, yet, there are no perspectives provided by indigenous peoples. In many cases, the history was written to cover up and justify atrocities, and also written by Indian agents and missionaries who had their own agenda in creating the image of the “noble savage.” This book continues the confusion about the nature of the indigenous people, a point Campbell acknowledges in his introductory notes.

The Iroquois depicted in Speculators in Empire were feared for their ferocity, but this image was chastened by a matriarchal system of census governance. Campbell presents a compassionate story of the Iroquois. He describes the history and tradition, as well as their enlightened use of the longhouse and the creation of the Grand Council. He describes a sophisticated political thought process, and, he talks of Native statesman traveling to the courts of Europe as diplomats. The book alludes to many eloquent speeches delivered by Indian spokesman at the signing of the many treaties. The speeches expressed intelligent ideas on matters of trade, land, and the politics of the time. Campbell says that they were adept at identifying their interests, at devising remedies, at putting pressure on other parties, and at stating matters eloquently. In diplomatic arts, they equaled the colonizers.

To the European settler, on the frontier of this new country, the Indian had a different persona, one in which they made savage attacks on settlements, butchering men, woman, and children. Their barbaric practices and savage behavior made them feared and in some ways was used as justification for their eradication.

In their journals, traders, Indian agents, and missionaries describe childlike creatures who placed great value on trinkets and were easily manipulated by these gifts, resulting in being swindled out of their land. Campbell’s depiction of the indigenous people is the official version and is certainly authenticated by the various references he makes to previously published accounts. Hundreds of books and articles have been written about the Six Nations; the hyperbole includes bits and pieces that have been endlessly recycled and are then used as a basis for new interpretation. Between the paucity of actual events and the woeful unreliability of the prose, the reader is left to wonder if the indigenous peoples actually were as sophisticated as Campbell and other historians describe them.

This history turns on one event, the coming of the European to the North American continent. So this book discusses treaties and describes Indian agents, special interest of the French, English, Germans, Dutch, and the newly independent States of America. The book presents a well-documented and...