The Surrender Demand That Came Before Peace
Father De Smet escorts Kamiakin, Skloom, and other chiefs to Vancouver to meet Gen. Harney—but the terms are blunt: the 'ringleaders' must be handed over first.
We learn from a very reliable source, says the Democratic Standard of the 18th inst., that Mr. Owen is on his route to Vancouver with Kamiakin, Skloom, and other Indian chiefs. The Reverend Father De Smet is with them, and is probably the principal person who has induced them to make this movement. They are coming to see Gen. Harney to conclude terms with him.
The first important condition was that Kamiakin and Skloom, the ringleaders, should be given up into the General's hands. Until this is done there could be no peace. Father De Smet had been among the Indian tribes to tell them what would be required before they could expect peace with the whites, and the report was that Kamiakin and Skloom would in the spring voluntarily offer themselves to the disposition of the Guard. This report was confirmed by the report received at Fort Vancouver.
“The first important condition was that Kamiakin and Skloom, the ringleaders, should be given up into the General's hands. Until this is done there could be no peace.”
The 1850s peace process treated Native leaders as 'ringleaders' to be delivered up, part of the coercive treaty-and-reservation system that reshaped the Northwest. The Yakama Nation and other tribes still hold treaty rights and co-manage lands and waters their ancestors were pressured to cede. The language of surrender is a reminder of how much of that history was decided by force.
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