The Treaty of 1784 was signed at the remains of Fort Schuyler/Stanwix/NPS.

On Friday, Dr. Matthew Hill and Dr. Jon Parmenter will present a new study, “The Fort Stanwix Treaties: An Ethnohistory of Iroquois Diplomacy and Dispossession,” at Fort Stanwix National Monument in New York. This presentation will take place at 11 a.m. at the Rome Historical Society.

Many are aware of the significance of Fort Stanwix during the American Revolution, but few realize the importance of the fort as a site for treaty council negotiations in the 18th century. Of these events, “(T)he 1768 Fort Stanwix Treaty between the Iroquois and Great Britain had the distinction of being the largest Indian treaty council to that date (over 3,000 Native people attended) and also witnessing the largest Indian land cession in colonial American history,” the two say.

“By examining the processes of diplomacy and the people that influenced the dispossession of land during the 18th Century, Hill and Parmenter provide a different perspective on the treaties signed at Fort Stanwix,” said Keith Routley, supervisory curator at Fort Stanwix. “We are excited to hear the results of their research and share it with the community.” 

The National Park Service funded this Ethnographic Overview Assessment so that the cultural significance of the treaties could be better understood and presented to the public through special presentations, interpretive programming, and other events. Dr. Parmenter is an associate professor in the Department of History at Cornell University and a renowned historian who specializes in the history of indigenous people in the Northeast. Dr. Hill is senior research fellow and lecturer in the Department of Anthropology with the Center for Heritage and Society at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

The Rome Historical Society is the official friends group of Fort Stanwix National Monument. The museum is open 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Tuesdays through Fridays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.