To this end, one of
the most influential of their chiefs, John Jones, of Dover Sound, offered
to give up to his Indian brethren, free of all cost, a large tract of
unceded land, that they might be gathered together as one nation.
In the council held at Sangeeny, where were convened Indian chiefs from
lakes St. Clare, Samcoe, Huron, Ontario, and Rice, and other lakes, it was
proposed to devise a plan by which the tract owned by the Sangeenys could
be held for the benefit of the Ojebwas, to petition Government for aid in
establishing a manual-labour school, and to ascertain the general feeling
of the chiefs in relation to forming one large settlement at Owen's Sound.
At this meeting forty-eight chiefs were assembled.
There is much to admire in the simple, earnest, and courteous style of the
oration delivered by Chief John Jones, and will give to my readers some
idea of the intelligence of an educated Indian:--
"Brothers, you have been called from all your parts of Canada, even from
the north of Georgian Bay. You are from your homes, your wives, and your
children.
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