History of the Indian Tribes of Hudson's River — Passage 150 (part 2)
[Edward Manning Ruttenber (1872)] The attachment of the northern and western Indians to the French was strong; the grievances of the Senecas and their Lenape allies were aggravated by the peace to which they had been compelled and in which they had been forced to concede that their lands were a part of the royal dominions. In regard to their territorial possessions, their decision in 1748 had grown into a positive policy, which the English were obliged to recognize on the very threshold of negotiations, as well as the wide-spread influence which it exerted. T o treaties, submissions, and cessions, which recognized any other fact than that they were a free people — that they had independent lands, which were their ancient possessions — they would give no attention, while to proffered protection they replied that they wanted none so much as from the English themselves.2