Vanished Worlds, Enduring People

John H. Allan. Letter to the Maine Indians, May 1780. [view first image] | [view second image]

Colonel John Allan was appointed superintendent of the eastern Indians by the new American government in 1777. During the Revolutionary War he tried valiantly to keep the Indians of Maine, the Passamaquoddys, Penobscots, Micmacs (Mi’kmaq), and others, allied with the American cause. In this letter, accompanied by the presentation of wampum strings, he formally requests their presence at a council to be held at Passamaquoddy in May 1780. Many of Allan’s efforts were in vain. In July of that year, all but about a hundred Indians, mostly women and children, set off for British territory. While many eventually returned, others remained loyal to the British crown.