Canasatego

Canassatego (c. 1684–1750) was a leader of the Onondaga nation who became a prominent diplomat and spokesman of the Iroquois Confederacy in the 1740s. He was involved in several controversial land sales to British American officials. He is now best known for a speech he gave at the 1744 Treaty of Lancaster, where he recommended that the British colonies emulate the Iroquois by forming a confederacy. He was reportedly assassinated, perhaps by sympathizers or agents of New France.

Early career

Canassatego only appears in historical documents for the final eight years of his life, and so little is known of his background. His earliest documented appearance is at a treaty conference in Philadelphia in 1742, where he was a spokesman for the Onondaga people, one of the six nations of the Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) League. According to most modern scholars, Canasatego was apparently not one of the fourteen Onondaga hereditary sachems who sat on the Iroquois Grand Council. One modern source disagrees, however, maintaining that Canasatego held the League title of Tadadaho.