Chapter 4: The McGillivray Moment

Chapter Summary: 

     The beginning of the chapter emits a sense of peace, camaraderie, and optimism, even in the face of adversity. Indian chiefs meeting in the capital of the United States to discuss a peace treaty to ensure everyone gets what is theirs: what could go wrong? With the help of Washington and the powerful, respected chief of the Creek Indians Alexander McGillivray, "the solution" to the problem of the seemingly inevitable forced removal of Native Americans off of their land seemed "imminent and feasible." Washington saw the Native American land as the promising future of America, but it still belonged to those who had settled there first - how to assimilate this land into the American nation while still respecting and protecting the rights of the natives? The problem of removing the Native Americans from their land would "stain the character of the nation," by going against the very principles that the United States had been founded upon. Washington's solution was to form "sanctuaries" in the land occupied by Native Americans that were under tribal control and federal protection. They would be untouched by white settlers, but become assimilated into the American nation. The problem was, who was in charge of them? Who had authority, who could speak for them collectively? And Alexander McGillivray was the answer. He was the beacon of hope for a peaceful coexistence. 
     The three-week period in which the tribe leaders and the government of the US convened is mysterious. All we know are the final declarations. They respected the Native Americans' rights, but also stated that the Creek people "were going to be asked to change their entire way of life in order to accommodate themselves to the imminent arrival of white settlers." It is hard to tell if McGillivray understood the implications of everything that was laid out in the treaty, or if Washington was trying to underhandedly get his way. However, in the end, settlers still encroached upon the Native American land, and then Georgia sold acres of land that belonged to the Creek people, openly violating the treaty. Washington meant well, but he was unable to control the seemingly inevitable Indian removal. 

Chapter Review:

     This meeting was the "apogee of [Washington's] optimism." I loved this quote, because it really evoked what I had been imagining. Washington seems like he wanted the Native Americans to have their land and he wanted to protect their rights, and it seemed at this moment that everything would be peaceful and the ideal solution would occur. It's almost a dreamlike event where everyone is apart from reality. They all want it to happen, but the reader knows the bloody tragedy that will befall them anyway. It was like a "vastly more attractive might-have-been." However, we know that it was doomed from the start.