Diplomacy and Indian Gifts

This study of gifts to the Indians is an attempt to illuminate a hitherto almost obscure factor in the Colonial westward movement. These "presents," comprising such eighteenth-century items as fabrics, hardware, munitions, food, toys, jewelry, clothing, wampum, and liquors, were a potent factor in the complex diplomatic history of Indian politics along the old Northwest frontier. Thousands of pounds sterling were expended both by the French and by the English in observing this old Indian custom