Research in Progress: GRASAC Members Lead Workshop Revisiting 1858 Indigenous Diplomatic Council

Editorial note: This post was originally published in the GRASAC Newsletter in May 2025 and is republished here for broader access.

From Heidi Bohaker

 GRASAC members Alan Corbiere and Chandra Murdoch led a special research workshop May 1-2 titled “To Find our Wampum all White” which has brought together Indigenous academics, knowledge holders, and community representatives from thirteen First Nations to share research and collectively respond to a historically significant Indigenous diplomatic council gathering held in 1858. 

In September of that year, a council of thirteen Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee, and Munsee-Delaware communities was held at the Onondaga and Tuscarora Longhouses at Six Nations. The gathering had been called in response to the government of the Province of Canada passing the Gradual Civilization Act of 1857 (a precursor to the 1876 Indian Act) and the proposed move of Indian Affairs from Imperial to Provincial control.  After meeting for nine days and voicing deep concerns around what these changes meant for their relationship with the government, delegates rejected the transfer of Indian Affairs and demanded that the law be repealed. They presented the government with a petition and a string of wampum, the ends of which were black (representing discord): to be returned to them when their grievances had been addressed and the black wampum had “white in its place.”

Delegates to the May 1-2 workshop, met again at Six Nations of the Grand River, this time at Six Nations Polytechnic at Oshweken. Participants shared their knowledge to date about this important gathering, with a view to publishing the complete council minutes and their research findings.

Stay-tuned! And in the meantime, you are interested in learning more about the rich history of Grand General Councils, Chandra’s PhD thesis is available for download: Chandra Murdoch, “An Act To Control: The Grand General Indian Council, The Department of Indian Affairs, and the Struggle over the Indian Act in Ontario, 1850-1906.” (PhD, University of Toronto, 2023).