Page 38 - ACTL_Sum23

“And so, when John \[Cartlidge\] convened a gathering at his home in Conestoga in late February-early March of 1722, shortly after the assault, offered food and drink, invited members of the community, including both native people and settler colonists to attend, his guests accepted the invitation. John’s most important guest was Captain Civility. As one observer later explained to officials in Philadelphia, ‘after Captain Civility listened to testimony about the assault on Sawantaeny, Captain Civility, on the part and behalf of the Indians, said that at the first settlement of this country, the Christians and the Indians were two people, but after the coming of William Penn, he made them one flesh and they had so continued on the same chain of friendship ever since; therefore, Captain Civility assured those assembled that indigenous people did not want the killing to disrupt Anglo-Native relations. To the contrary, they should work to put the incident behind them and, ‘be forever hereafter as one head and one heart, and live in true friendship and amity as one people.’” Governor Keith could hardly believe the reports of the Native American response, so he conducted his own in- vestigation. He met with community members, including indigenous people. Once again, the native people insisted that they had no intent for reprisal, only reconciliation. The treaty that was reached became recognized by the U.S. State Department as Ratified Treaty No. 1 and is still on the books today. Professor Eustace pointed out that the U.S. has the high- est incarceration rate in the world. We have five percent of the global population and twenty-five percent of its im- prisoned population. More than two million Americans are currently in some form of incarceration. Twenty percent of our population has a criminal record. Forty percent of the nation’s prisoners are African Americans, yet African Amer- icans only make up thirteen percent of the population. The lesson to be learned from the Treaty of 1722 is that Captain Civility’s notion of justice should be reconsidered. Professor Eustace left us with an important thought: Dan Folluo Tulsa, Oklahoma 37 JOURNAL “Today we can still choose to go back to reconsider the treaty that he helped create. The real question is whether we can finally manage to recognize civility when we find it.” Governor Keith ultimately traveled to Albany where there was a congregation of indigenous leaders. He offered his condolences and offered reparations. The indigenous lead- ers forgave the offenses and asked that the Cartlidges be released from prison.