Contributing Institution
Maine State Archives
Document Type
Text
Exact Creation Date
11-5-1829
Language
English
Recommended Citation
Barber, Virgil, "Letter from Virgil Barber to John G. Dean, Esq." (1829). Wabanaki Relations. 2.
https://digitalmaine.com/arc_200_exhibit_wabanaki_relations/2
Rights Statement
No Copyright - United States. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/
The organization that has made the Item available believes that the Item is in the Public Domain under the laws of the United States, but a determination was not made as to its copyright status under the copyright laws of other countries. The Item may not be in the Public Domain under the laws of other countries. Please refer to the organization that has made the Item available for more information.
Description
John G. Dean was an attorney in Ellsworth and a key member of the Maine Legislature tasked with settling the Northeastern Boundary between Maine and New Brunswick, which included buying up the ancestral homelands of the indigenous tribes. Virgil Barber was a Jesuit priest assigned to Old Town and the Penobscot Tribe until his recall in 1830. In the letter above, Barber transmits the Penobscot Tribe's answer to the proposed State purchase of two townships belonging to the Penobscots. “And what do white people suppose we must think when we see they wish to take from us one piece of land after another, till we have no place to stand on, unless it is to drive us, our wives, and our little children away? But if so great and so free a country as this would exterminate us, we have no chance anywhere else; we or our children must sooner or later be driven into the salt water and perish. When the United States were fighting for liberty, Gen. Washington sent for the Chiefs of our Tribe, and gave them his promise that, if we would remain neutral in the war, he would secure to us our rights. We have been faithful to our white brethren and all we ask in return, is, that their conduct towards us should be just and reasonable.” Lieutenant Governor John Neptune, Penobscot Tribe Answer to the proposed State purchase of two townships belonging to the Penobscots, 1829