The following page includes replications of the final script to provide a sense of the creative and developmental process behind Ghost River. The annotations are notes and conversations that unfolded over the course of the revision of the script. The creative process for this work featured various members from the advisory team.
GHOST RIVER: THE FALL AND RISE OF THE CONESTOGA
Written by Lee Francis 4
Illustrated by Weshoyot Alvitre
Edited by Will Fenton
LEE FRANCIS: Use of the name and settling on the spelling. The English called them the Conestoga, after the name of their principal village, Gan’ochs’a’go’jat’ga (“Roof-place” or “town”), anglicized as “Conestoga.”
MICHAEL GOODE: Kanastoge may mean “at the place of the immersed pole” or the word “Conestoga” may be derived from Andastoegue, for “people of the cabin pole.” The English word “Susquehannock” derived (possibly) from the Powhatan Algonquian word, Sasquesahanough. Their name could refer to “roily water people” or “people at the falls” or “Oyster River People.” Swedish and Dutch settlers referred to them as the Minquas, which is an adaptation of the Lenape term for them.
WILL FENTON: I’d like to make the argument for embracing the established spelling, “Conestoga.” As it is, the Conestoga have a number of different names. According to the Cecil Daily: The Huran called them Andastoerrhonon. The French called them Andaste. The Dutch and Swedes called them Minquas. The Algonquian pronunciation was Sasquesahanough, meaning “people at the falls.” In Pennsylvania, the English called them the Conestoga in reference to the village of Conestoga Town where they lived, which was based on the Pennsylvania Dutch term “Kanastoge,” meaning “place of the immersed pole.” So, given that Kanastoge was already a colonial moniker (Penn Dutch), I really think that using the most established identifier will increase accessibility.
Full spread all black with text.
V.O.
History is complicated.
Violence is easy.
LEE FRANCIS: This was one of the first things that struck me… “History is complicated. Violence is easy.”
Splash page.
Lenape Origin Story as an Invocation
The art and backdrop will spread over both pages. The feeling for the illustrations is to tell the story as two images – not using panels and borders but rather as continuous movement, a way to tell the story in an abstract manner. It can be abstract, ephemeral, leaning more on evoking emotion, intuition. It is time immemorial, the time before time, where time is not a linear construct but cyclical, momentum, the joy of Creation.
VO.
In the beginning of our knowledge of time the world was full of water. The first creature to rise from the depth of the water was Turtle. As Turtle raised its back up high to feel the warmth of the sun, all of the water ran off its shell so it became dry. This became the first earth.
No notes for this page.
Splash page.
V.O.
From the middle of its back a tree began to grow. From the root of this tree was sent forth a sprout beside it. From that sprout grew a man. The man was then alone. But the tree bent over until its top touched the earth, and another root emerged. From this root came another sprout. And from that sprout grew a woman. And all humankind grew from these two together, the man and the woman.
This is how we begin.
WILL FENTON: I think this is a lovely story, though I wonder if using a Seneca story might create confusion. Is there an analogous Susquehannock/Wendat myth? I’ve contacted Dan and Curtis about it. If we do keep this origin story, I think we’ll need to have it vetted by a Seneca scholar.
DAN RICHTER: I’m not sure we have any record of a Susquehannock origin story. (“Creation” is probably not the right word, since most Native origin stories don’t begin with a time when nothing existed.) It’s likely that the Susquehannocks shared a version of the Wendat and Haudenosaunee Sky Woman stories, but there is no way to know for sure, as far as I know.
WILL FENTON: I’ve removed all instances of “tribe,” a 19c anthropological term used by US Government (to determine who is/isn’t sovereign).
WILL FENTON: Regarding the “NOTE,” I can imagine surfacing it in either the front or backmatter, but I do think we need to find different sources against which to vet this. Most of the work of 19c anthropologists is a bit suspect.
WILL FENTON: Sub in a Lenape origin story from either Curtis or Bierhorst’s Mythology of the Lenape?
CURTIS ZUNIGHA: I’ve told a Lenape creation story (some use the word ‘myth’ or ‘legend’) for many years but I learned it from storytelling by a Lenape elder. So I was surprised having difficulty finding something in writing. Here is a story that has written origins as far back a 1679 as told by a Lenape elder named Tantaque: “In the beginning of our knowledge of time the world was full of water. The first creature to rise from the depth of the water was Turtle. As the turtle raised its back up high to feel the warmth of the sun, all of the water ran off its shell so it became dry. This became the first earth. From the middle of its back a tree began to grow. From the root of this tree was sent forth a sprout beside it. From that sprout grew a man. The man was then alone. But the tree bent over until its top touched the earth, and another root emerged. From this root came another sprout. And from that sprout grew a woman. And all humankind grew from these two together, the man and the woman.” Note: Many creation stories/myths/legends in many populations and cultures around the world contain the image of a flooded world. And many indigenous cultures also refer to the turtle and the water, thus “Turtle Island.” I know this is brief but I will stand on my credentials in advising that this story is ok to use when writing about or redrawing history of the Lenape.
PAGE FOUR
Three panels, horizontal.
Speeding through time.
Panel One
The earliest Susquehannock. They are gathering, coming back from fishing. Beginning to establish the village.
Panel Two (1500s)
The building of the first longhouses. The People work together to build a settlement with more permanent structures.
Panel Three (1640s)
Warfare. Other Peoples (the Iroquois) have come to this place to wage war. There is fighting, chaos, violence.
V.O.
It is an old story that is told. It is beautiful. And violent and difficult.
PAGE FIVE
Three panels, horizontal.
Speeding through time.
Panel One (1670s)
The first Quakers meet the Conestoga. Three Quaker men are meeting with several of the People. They are welcoming and gracious as they show the Quakers their small village and their community.
Panel Two (1700s)
The people leaving the Village. Colonization overtakes the People and we can see small colonial dwellings in the distance, as several of the Village Members are clearly leaving to head North to friendlier locations where there is more safety, more resources, more comfort.
Panel Three (1750s)
The remaining people looking toward the horizon. One of the older men is holding the Wampum. In the distance, we see the river, ever winding, ever present.
V.O.
It is told from the heart, carried on the current, and flows until the last sun forever sets.
LEE FRANCIS: The historical overview
WILL FENTON: Are you referencing the war between the Lenapes and the Susquehannocks; if so, it was earlier, probably in the 1640s and 1650s. The enemy in the 1670s was the Haudenosaunee, which might be interesting given your choice of origin story (unless it changes). This frame also provides you with an opportunity to explain why such a mixed group of people, survivors of these wars, wound up at Conestoga village.
JACK BRUBAKER: Page four, panel three suggests that “other peoples (the Lenape)” have waged war against the Conestogas. I would substitute Iroquois for Lenape. The Iroquois defeated the Susquehannocks, forcing them south. When they returned to this area, they were called Conestogas. As far as I know, friction between Susquehannocks/Conestogas and Lenapes did not exist in this period.
JACK BRUBAKER: Page four reads, “the earliest of the Conestoga People.” They were Susquehannocks at that time, not Conestogas. This designation should be clarified because panel 3 says these people were defeated by the Iroquois. The Iroquois defeated the Susquehannocks, not the Conestogas. The survivors of the Susquehannocks fled to Virginia. They returned to Pennsylvania in the 1680s and were then called Conestogas. They were allies of the Iroquois. In fact, members of the Iroquois affiliates, especially Senecas, were among those killed at Conestoga and in the workhouse in Lancaster. If this is not clear, please ask the writer to contact me and I will explain in more detail. It’s all in my book, too.
December 1, 1763 – Conestoga Indiantown
Splash page.
Winter: There are a few people milling around the village. They are going about their days, preparing for an upcoming hunt, tending fires, just the daily routine of a small, poor village in Colonial Pennsylvania.
DAN RICHTER: I think this date is too late. The Native people living in the Moravian villages were relocated to Phila in November, before the Conestoga Massacre. It was not, technically, a township, but a village on a larger manor owned by William Penn, or at least land that Penn owned according to his own English law.
WILL FENTON: Somewhere in here it would be good to show Conestoga people interacting with colonists. Perhaps a scene of someone selling baskets or furs, with passersby mumbling about those Indians who don’t belong here, who have killed our kin during the war and are no doubt plotting more mischief. I think we need to establish a backdrop for racial animosity. That is, the Paxton murderers didn’t materialize out of thin air.
Four panels.
Panel One
Old Sheehaes, perhaps the eldest Conestoga is looking over folks busying for the morning. He is wearing winter clothing but it is worn and offers only a modicum of protection. The morning is cold and bright. He is speaking to someone.
SHEEHAES
I remember when I was a boy of your age. Our village was full of life. There were more of us then.
Panel Two
We see that he speaks to a young boy, Ess-Canesh. The boy has a short haircut and bright eyes.
SHEEHAES
Before the wars. Before the violence. Before the anger from the white men. Before many of our people traveled far away.
ESS-CANESH
Like Michael and Mary.
Panel Three
Close on Sheehaes, a sense of sorrow and past memories can be seen in his eyes.
SHEEHAES
Yes.
Panel Four
Medium on Ess, with an earnest question.
ESS-CANESH
Sheehaes, why are we still here? Tenseedaagua says we should go North, with other people.
DAN RICHTER: Added beat to acknowledge Dan Richter’s suggestion: I suspect they also would have been discussing their memories of the first Gnadenhutten massacre of 1755, when their kin were killed by other Native people. And also the animus of the Paxton murderers toward Moravian missionaries; see Scott Gordon’s article in Journal of Moravian History (2014).
WILL FENTON: At some point, we should probably loop in Weshoyot and see how she’s thinking of depicting this clothing. I suspect she’ll need some help from the Circle Legacy Center folks.
BARRY LEE: I generally accept that the Lenape looked very much like the rest of NE Woodland people. As the contact period progressed, it would be fair to expect them to be influenced by local trends. Yet still there are illustrations that showed they held onto their particular fashion adornments. There is a period drawing of a Stockbridge Munsee soldier fighting alongside the colonials wearing a frock shirt and worn britches. He looks like I would expect the other Colonial militia to look right down to the felt tricorn hat and there is no evidence of a breech clout. The standard for the man is frock shirt, metal arm bands, breech clout, leggings, and moccasins. For the ladies a “Quakerish/Puritan” dress with added bead/quill work. But there is quite a bit of speculation there. For instance, I expect the Conestoga in Lancaster area looked very much like the local “plain community” in the 1700’s.
WILL FENTON: Tenseedaagu is Will Sock!
JACK BRUBAKER: Esscanesh refers to “Grandfather Sheehaes.” According to Sheriff Hays’ list of the 20 Conestogas who were killed, Esscanesch was Sheehaes’ son. (Sheehaes was an old man, but he must have sired a very young son.)
Two panels. Full page with inset, bottom right quarter.
Panel One
Sheehaes looks out over the village and sweeps his hand to indicate the place.
SHEEHAES
Our Lord and Creator gifted us this bounty. Then Brother Onas gave us his word of protection, in wampum, for this land. We could leave, but then there would be no one left to tend the fire. There would be no one left to tell the stories.
Panel Two
Closer on Sheehaes.
SHEEHAES
We stay because some of us are too old to leave. We stay because some of us are too young to travel. We stay because our roots are planted deep, like the First Tree.
WILL FENTON: What about, instead of a tree, an elm, a la Penn’s treaty elm? Or is that too on the nose?
Three panels.
Panel One
Ess-Canesh thinks about this, but he says nothing.
Panel Two
Sheehaes puts his arm around the boy’s shoulder and leads him to his dwelling.
SHEEHAES
Come, Ess-Canesh. There are still things to tend to before the hunt. Let’s warm ourselves by the fire.
Panel Three
They walk together toward the dwelling.
WILL FENTON: I don’t know who Harry is, so I suggested that we use a character you’ve already introduced.
December 18, 1763 – Lenape Indian Conversation (Province Island)
We shift to the Lenape Indians at Province Island. They discuss what happened in Conestoga and what might happen to them.
Four panels. Large top 2/3rds, three on the bottom 1/3
Panel One
Province Island, demarcated with brick and cobblestones. Two Lenape men speak outside one of a building. Joel is tall and gaunt. His face is stern and he wears colonial clothing except he still wears traditional beads around his neck and on his ears. Anton, one of the leaders of the small band of Lenape, is stocky with a broad, square face. He wears his hair long but also dresses in colonial attire.
JOEL
Did you hear?
ANTON
I heard them talking about it outside.
Panel Two
Anton and Joel are joined by Naemi, a small, thin woman with grey streaks in her dark hair. She wears traditional European clothing and she is accompanied by and several of the other Lenape. They have heard news but are not sure what has actually happened. They are convening to find more information.
NAEMI
What? What is it?
ANTON
The Conestoga…they’ve been murdered.
NAEMI
Where?
Panel Three
Anton addresses Naemi and Joel. He gestures toward Conestoga village.
ANTON
Conestoga Indiantown—out past Lancaster.
WILL FENTON: You might consider whether they would have this response—in fact, they might read it in the context of Gnadenhutten.
WILL FENTON: Either here or somewhere else, I think we need to briefly explain the relationship between Moravian Lenape and Conestogas in 1760s. The Lenapes may well have had kin at Conestogas; certainly they knew people who lived there. Establishing these ties are important; again, Conestogas were not all Susquehannocks.
WILL FENTON: I’m trying to show hybridity via the clothing—think it works?
WILL FENTON: We should find three Lenape that would have been confined to Philadelphia. Ideally, we would ID both their Indian and English names. Perhaps we can focus specifically on the Lenape (to respect Lee’s wishes) but add a contextual note in the annotated script that teases out this nuance.
WILL FENTON: Edited art direction to reflect confinement at Province Island. Changed Indian names to those identified by Scott Gordon.
Two panels, vertical.
Panel One
JOEL
Do you think they are coming for us? They may confuse our people with theirs. What will we do?
NAEMI
Anton, what have you heard?
Panel Two
ANTON
Same as you, now. Only that they were massacred at first light. No one is left in the village. Nothing but ashes remain.
WILL FENTON: I’ve changed Thomas to John and Ann to Mary because you haven’t introduced Thomas or Ann as far as I can tell.
Splash page.
Slight overhead shot looking down on Anton and a small group of 8 – 10, people all asking questions and worried.
Everyone is murmuring, worried, sad.
ANTON
Everyone! Be at peace! The Lord in his kindness and mercy has brought us here. We have friends. They will help us. We’ll be safe.
No notes for this page.
Four panels.
Panel One
Shift to Joel, standing near the back of the crowd. He is a tall man, thin and severe.
JOEL
So we wait?
Panel Two
Focus on Anton with Naemi at his shoulder.
ANTON
What choice do we have?
NAEMI
I wish we could head to the forest.
Panel Three
Anton turns to respond to Naemi. Joel is in the background.
ANTON
You know they won’t let us leave.
JOEL
Then…we wait.
Panel Four
Anton turns away.
ANTON
We wait…and hope that Providence will watch over us.
WILL FENTON: Introduce Martha, however quickly.
SCOTT GORDON: This might be the only problematic dialogue. These Indians were confined; they did not have the “choice” to leave. The diaries record the desires of many of the Moravian converts to leave, especially after disease started killing them off, so wanting to leave & go up the Susquehanna was a real wish. So something like “I wish we could head to up the forest” might work. But “leave everything behind” doesn’t really work—as they have just arrived in Philadelphia a few weeks earlier. They have not been living there.
WILL FENTON: Great catch, Scott. Edited per your suggestion. Also changed names of Moravian Lenapes to reflect your research on Lenapes at the Barracks.
December 14, 2013 – The Reading of the Names
Flash forward to the 250th anniversary conference. In a ceremony, Native Peoples read the names of those who were murdered.
Seven panels. One full page with 6 inset on the bottom half (3×3)
The symposium room, everyone is standing and a group of about ten is in front of the group. They are Native People, dressed in business casual (a few in traditional Lenape or Seneca dress). Each of the panels will have one face, close-up, speaking the name of one of those massacred. Mitchell is an older Native man, small build, white hair, intense eyes.
Panel One
The group begins to offer the invocation and the reading.
MITCHELL
We ask Creator to look down upon us as we remember our ancestors.
Inset Panels
Wa-a-shen
Tee-Kau-ley
Kannenquas
Tea-wonsha-i-ong
Tong-quas
Ess-canesh
No notes for this page.
Nine panels.
They continue reading the names. Each name to one panel.
Panels One – Nine
Tenseedaagua
Kanianguas
Ex-undas
Shae-e-kah
Kyunqueagoah
Koweenasee
Hy-ye-naes
Quaachow
Saquies-hat-tah
WILL FENTON: Love this. If we can find a recording from the symposium, I’d like to integrate the readings of names into our digital version.
Same as page 14 but in reverse with inset panels at the top overlaying the spread (Panel Six).
Chee-na-wan
Ko-qoa-e-un-quas
Canu-kie-sung
Karen-do-uah
Sheehaes
Panel Six
Back to the in the full symposium room, a bit closer on Mitchell though other folks can be seen as he offers tobacco and sweetgrass in honoring.
MITCHELL
We leave these offerings as we remember you and your story.
No notes for this page.
January 23, 1764 – The Arming of Philadelphia.
As the Paxton Murders march toward Philadelphia, a militia is assembled, including even new recruits from historically peaceable Quakers. We will see these echoes in the final scenes in Lancaster.
Six panels.
Think of this as somewhat of a music montage, with the poem (from one of the political cartoons) serving as a counterpoint to what takes place. All the panels on this page are close ups of various acts of arming and preparing for battle.
Panel One
Hand on a rifle.
Panel Two
A Quaker hat.
Panel Three
A fist clutching a pamphlet.
Panel Four
A jacket.
Panel Five
Boots.
Panel Six
Half a face of a Quaker preparing for battle.
V.O.
Come let us prepare
We true Men that are,
(The Poll being at a Conclusion)
To drink laugh and sing
‘Till we make the House ring
For the Quakers are now in Confusion.
SCOTT GORDON: The Moravian Indians brought from their villages were not in urban Philadelphia—so the stage direction here doesn’t quite work
WILL FENTON: I’ve removed mention of the Lenape/Barracks and placed the emphasis on Philadelphia post-militia act.
January 23, 1764 – Confinement at the Barracks
Six panels.
While Philadelphia prepares for the siege of the Paxton murders (and other backcountry settlers), the Lenape are ushered into barracks. Little do they know, they will be confined to those barracks for more than a year.
Panel One
A group of Lenape are herded into the barracks..
Panel Two
An older woman falls. Her escorts help her up gently.
Panel Three
They get her to her feet and press on.
Panel Four
The Lenape are escorted into a building.
Panel Five
The Lenape are inside the foyer of a large building at the barracks. Their faces can be seen in the half light as…
Panel Six
The door closes.
V.O.
Joy, Joy to them all
Who occasion’d their Fall,
That these Fellows no longer might wrong us,
Our Choice let us prize,
Then will from the Skies
Banish’d Justice once more come among us.
SCOTT GORDON: This happened in November—before the murders. The Moravian Indians have been confined since late November. The chronology is:
– December 1763-Jan 4 1764: Province Island
– Jan 4-24: PA tries to send them to NY, they start out, have to come back
– Jan 23-24: they are back in PA and confined to barracks.
SCOTT GORDON: I think the images are alright. It’s the surrounding text that could use a bit of adjusting…
WILL FENTON: Edited accordingly. The digital edition may include annotation that locates the barracks in Northern Liberties.
WILL FENTON: It might be useful to maintain some consistency in how we refer to the Paxton Boys — I vote for “murderers” throughout.
Separate from the folks who were brought into the building, we see a Lenape man and woman.
Six panels.
Panel One
The Lenape man and woman hold each other.
Panel Two
Two people run by them.
Panel Three
They are alarmed. Close on their faces.
Panel Four
A group of four Quaker men march down the street. They are carrying rifles.
Panel Five
One of the men stops to look at the Lenape couple, nods, and goes on his way with his compatriots.
Panel Six
The man and woman watch them continue to march down the street.
V.O.
To the Patriot FEW,
A Bumper is due,
Whose Virture stands nobly confest Sir,
We may safely depend,
Our Rights they’ll defend,
And against all injustice protest Sir.
WILL FENTON: Removed mention of the street. In the artwork, they’re outside, but there are not landmarks that locate them in Philadelphia.
December 14, 1763 – The Massacre at Conestoga
Early morning, before dawn, the Paxton Murderers approach the village. Most of this scene in in silhouette: shadows, violence, and death. The last image is of the wampum belt buried in the ash of the main longhouse.
Three panels. Horizontal.
Panel One
Conestoga Indiantown: Dawn is breaking over the village. All is silent. Something is dangerous. In the corners, shadows begin to form. They are ominous and deadly.
Panel Two
The shadows in the corners grow larger and begin to take shape. Human shapes but edged and sharp.
Panel Three
More shadows that almost obscure the entire panel.
JACK BRUBAKER: The date of December 7, 1763 is wrong. It should be Dec. 14. There is no indication here that this was the first of two massacres that two-thirds of the Conestogas escaped the first killings. The reader needs to understand that there were two separate massacres in Lancaster County.
Six Panels.
Panel One
The inside of a dwelling. Tea-wonsha-i-ong sleeps on a platform bed, wrapped in blankets.
Panel Two
The door opens.
Panel Three
Tea-wonsha-i-ong stirs and sits up to look at the open door.
Panel Four
A shadow emerges in the doorway.
Panel Five
The shadows grow in the doorway.
Panel Six
Black, as the shadows obliterate Tea-wonsha-i-ong.
WILL FENTON: They probably would not have been sleeping on the ground–either on platform in a longhouse or in a bed in a cabin.
Two-page spread.
The massacre: we see fractured violence. Like looking through a kaleidoscope, you can’t quite make cohesive sense of what is happening except that it is violent and remorseless and leaves the reader with a sense of terror, unease, and sorrow.
No notes for these pages.
Three panels.
Similar to page 20 in reverse. The shadows recede, like smoke, as the village lays in ruins.
Panel One
Full black.
Panel Two
The shadows recede to show the village, still quiet as before, but there are elements of violence, small pieces, like a hand in a doorway or a mark of blood.
Panel Three
We see the village, still and dead. The wampum belt rests in the ashes.
WILL FENTON: There’s no record of wampum in ashes, but no record denying it either. I think we should keep it.
JACK BRUBAKER: The wampum belt in the ashes: this may or may not be true. We do know that wampum was among items the county sheriff collected from Conestogas who were not killed in the first massacre. Referencing a wampum belt here may undercut that historical fact.
April 19, 1764 – The Aftermath (Barracks)
Several of the Lenape are addressed by an associate of Benjamin Franklin who tells them about the efforts Franklin has taken to avert the violence. One of the Lenape (Anton), pulls out the Paxton (Declaration and Remonstrance). It is a bit of a row and ends with the associate patronizing the Lenape folks to “be grateful that you have your lives…”
Four panels.
Panel One
Samuel, a dandy of a Philadelphian, dismounts his horse. He clearly revels in his position.
Panel Two
Samuel brushes dirt off his riders and addresses the Lenape.
SAMUEL
Thank you for your patience. You will all be relieved to know that Dr. Franklin has personally intervened to avert further bloodshed. The Paxton Boys have dispersed and we can all celebrate the restoration of peace to our Peaceable Kingdom.
Panel Three
The Lenape stare at Samuel. There is anger and suspicion in their eyes.
Panel Four
Slightly uncomfortable, he tries to give the cheer.
SAMUEL
A cause for celebration, wouldn’t you agree? A cheer for Dr. Franklin!
SCOTT GORDON: Placement of these Moraivan Indians is problematic. But even in their confinement, which was in Barracks in the Northern Liberties. They were threatened by Philadelphians and visited by well- wishers—so, described differently, this scene is entirely plausible.
WILL FENTON: Edited art direction accordingly.
LEE FRANCIS: Combine into a single page of art.
Four panels.
Panel One
Finally Naemi bursts forward, no longer able to contain herself.
NAEMI
Have you seen what they are printing?
SAMUEL
Uh, yes, those. Well, there is certainly no merit to those cuttings.
Panel Two
Naemi, incensed, approaches Samuel. Joel looks on from behind her, alarmed.
NAEMI
We read, sir. Know our Bible well, sir. We know the words you speak and how you show who we are.
Panel Three
An image of Native people as depicted in a political cartoon (Indian Squaw). Naemi holds the cartoons in front of Samuel’s face. The reader can see the negative portrayals of Native folks.
NAEMI
This!
Panel Four
Naemi gets very close to Samuel’s face. She is angry and scared, but not wrong.
NAEMI
This is what you think of us? We are savages? Wanton women?
No notes for this page.
Four panels.
Panel One
Samuel gives Naemi a contemptuous look, which reveals his real thoughts about the Lenape and Native peoples more generally.
SAMUEL
Please control yourself, madam!
Panel Two
Joel takes Naemi by the shoulders to calm her down.
JOEL
We are very tired, sir. Deepest apologies for our outburst.
SAMUEL
I should say.
Panel Three
Samuel mounts his horse and speaks down to Naemi, Joel, and the remaining Lenape.
SAMUEL
I should remind you to show gratitude to those of us who have ensured that you may continue to live in our colony.
Panel Four
Samuel rides off, leaving the Lenape covered in dust.
No notes for this page.
August 13, 2018 – The Documents (The Library Company of Philadelphia)
Flash forward to the present with Lee, Weshoyot, and members of the advisory board looking at documents at the Library Company.
Four panels.
Panel One
Will beckons everyone to come close to the archive table.
WILL
Look at this!
These are the original documents colonists used to debate the massacre. Here is Franklin’s original pamphlet, Narrative of the Late Massacres.
Panel Two
A close-up on the Franklin pamphlet (Narrative) and the anti-Franklin political cartoon that shows the Quakers arming native peoples (Franklin and the Quakers). The Quakers arming the Natives.
WILL
It was printed at the very beginning of 1764 while the Paxton boys and their allies were marching towards Philadelphia. This little pamphlet launched a war for popular opinion.
Panel Three.
Medium on Lee and Weshoyot, looking over the documents and speaking to Will.
WILL
Franklin was among those who condemned the massacre, though not for entirely benevolent reasons. Others, like Thomas Barton, justified the actions of the Paxton Boys and blamed the feckless Quakers in the government for all of the recent violence.
LEE
The Native folks were essentially a proxy, for the frontier people to fight with the Quakers and the ideals that Penn and the other colonialists were trying to achieve.
Panel Four
Side shot of Will addressing Lee and Weshoyot.
WILL
In many ways, it was a useful fiction that helped the Paxtons and their allies used to seize power in the elections that fall.
LEE FRANCIS: One of the things about this whole work was that it felt like it couldn’t be told in a linear style. A few reasons for this:
Splash page.
Overhead shot of the library folks, creative team, and advisory board viewing documents at a large table.
No notes for this page.
Four panels.
Panel One
Close-up on Weshoyot examining a document (Franklin and the Quakers).
WESHOYOT
I feel like there is so much that explains how Native folks were viewed then…and now.
Panel Two
Close-up on her hands touching the document.
Panel Three
Shift to Lee looking at the document.
LEE
I mean, the way they present Native women…
Panel Four
Another hand on document, this time it’s Lee’s.
No notes for this page.
Four panels.
Panel One
Pull back to Lee and Weshoyot, over their shoulders as they speak. They are side by side looking at the documents.
LEE
What are you thinking?
WESHOYOT
Their story needs to be told.
Panel Two
Front shot, close-up of the two speaking.
LEE
Yes.
WESHOYOT
Not just the pamphlets or the cartoons or all of this. But what is their story? Where is their voice in all of this?
Panel Three
Fading shot from the side, pulling away from the group.
Panel Four
Shot outside the window, looking in. All the brick and such of the Library Company and Philadelphia are highlighted and will be echoed in the next panel of the workhouse.
No notes for this page.
December 14, 1763 – Into the Workhouse (Lancaster)
The Conestoga in and around Lancaster are gathered and brought into the workhouse. They look fearful and uncomfortable as they survey their surroundings, what is ostensibly a jail .
Two panels, horizontal.
Panel One
A framed window similar to the last panel on page 31: We can see two of prominent local figures, Edward Shippen and James Bickham, in heated discussion. Near the corners of the panel are a few of the Conestoga looking in through the window.
Panel Two
Pulls back and shows a few more of the Conestoga gathered around the window.
DAN RICHTER: They were being told it’s for their own good and protection. Any sense here that authorities might have actually been trying to protect them from the mob?
LEE FRANCIS: I think it was less well-meaning and more settler- colonial. They were like children in the eyes of the well-meaning folks. The “Good Indians,” if you will. And that is also problematic when we think of how they were portrayed throughout American history. Good Indians versus Bad Indians and the propaganda that did not allow for a people to be shown having agency.
JACK BRUBAKER: Panel one says Edward Shippen and John Elder are in heated discussion. This is ahistorical. No record suggested Elder was in Lancaster during this time. The two men might be Edward Shippen and Thomas Barton, the minister of St. James Episcopal Church of Lancaster. He would be a good choice. I suspect Shippen and Bickham talked regularly during this time.
WILL FENTON: I like Bickham as an alternative.
Seven panels.
Panel One
The older colonial government agent, Edward Shippen comes outside and holds up his hands to addresses the Conestoga.
SHIPPEN
Friends, we have received word of violence at your village.
We believe the assassins are headed this way. We will protect you and defend you from these lawless aggressors.
We would like to move you to the workhouse for your safety. There, you will be out of danger from those that seek to do you harm.
Panels 2 – 7
The remaining Conestoga are gathered from various locations around the city. Two are selling baskets. Three are cleaning at a shop. A few were out on the streets seeking assistance. There is a sense of urgency in moving and escorting them to the Workhouse. This is condensed from the actual history which took place over several days.
JACK BRUBAKER: Shippen says, “No one seems to have survived” (the first massacre). This is not true and leaves out one of the most poignant parts of the story. Christy (or Chrisly), one of two young boys at Conestoga, somehow did escape, while 6 other Conestogas were killed. Christy survived and ran to spread the word. He later was held in the workhouse with other Conestogas who escaped the first massacre and was killed there.
Four panels.
There is chaos as the People are herded together. Confusion, anger, fear, sorrow, all mixed together and overwhelming for the People.
Panel One
A middle-aged woman from the village, Canu-kie-sung, is struggling near the edge of the group. Her hair is straggled, and she wears plain clothes and winter blankets. She is crying, hoping for news of her child.
CANU-KIE-SUNG
Tenseedaagua! What is happening? Where is my child?
Panel Two
Another woman, Koweenasee, grabs hold of Tenseedaagua’s arm.
KOWEENASEE
Why are they doing this?
Panel Three
Shea-e-kah is close to Tenseedaagua as they are jostled and herded toward the Workhouse.
SHAE-E-KAH
How could this happen to us?
Panel Four
Tenseedaagua
TENSEEDAAGUA
Be calm everyone. We’ll learn more soon.
SHIPPEN
Make haste. This is for your protection!
WILL FENTON: I’m not sure this works, because if they were all dead, no one would be brought to the workhouse for protection. Maybe we could tweak so that this quote simply highlights the sense of shock/betrayal at the current circumstances?
Three panels.
Panel One
The last of the group is ushered into the Workhouse.
Panel Two
From the doorway we can see their faces. Sad, frightened, this will be the last time they see the outside.
Panel Three
The door closes on them.
No notes for this page.
September 13, 2015 – William Penn’s Treaty
Benjamin West’s painting of William Penn’s Treaty. Native kiddos are taking a tour. The main hall is white and glistening like most museums. The students are listening to a Native museum historian, Chris.
Splash page.
Long shot of the art museum hallway with Chris and students walking toward the Treaty painting.
CHRIS
“We meet on the broad pathway of good faith and good-will; no advantage shall be taken on either side, but all shall be openness and love. We are the same as if one man’s body was to be divided into two parts; we are of one flesh and one blood.” That was William Penn, whom the Lenape affectionately called Brother Onas.
Tamanend, chief of the Lenape, replied: “We will live in love with William Penn and his children as long as the creeks and rivers run, and while the sun, moon, and stars endure.”
No notes for this page.
Four panels.
Panel One
Close on Chris next to the painting.
CHRIS
Of course, there is no actual record of the Great Treaty, at least as we see it in this painting. The speeches are suspect, as well. The artist Benjamin West painted it in the 1770s to glorify the Penn family and their supposedly peaceful relations with Native peoples.
Panel Two
Close on the painting of William Penn.
CHRIS
The lens of Western history has to be woven with traditional memory. We sort out historical records, and we measure them beside the stories of our elders and our ancestors.
Panel Three
Shift to a close on the Lenape and Native folks in the painting.
CHRIS
That’s what’s missing from these “historical” documents—the voices of our people.
Panel Four
Close on Chris, beside Penn’s Treaty.
CHRIS
The ones who lived, who carried the stories of their elders from generation to generation.
WILL FENTON: Changed names to align with Scott Gordon’s research on Lenapes at Barracks
Two panels.
Panel One (large)
Chris stands in front of the painting talking to the students. They are gathered around and listening intently. There are a few other patrons off to the sides also listening.
CHRIS
Among the ruins of the Conestoga Indiantown, there was, apparently, a document and a wampum belt that described the meeting between Sheehaes, one of the elders of the Village, and William Penn, who visited them in the early 1700s. We don’t know for certain when or where the meetings took place. But Benjamin West imagines it here.
Panel Two (small bottom corner)
Close on Chris, a hint of sadness in his eyes.
CHRIS
This painting portrays a moment when the Indigenous peoples felt safe and secure, even though many of the settlers had already begun to plot against them.
JACK BRUBAKER: Chris says a wampum belt was found among the ruins at Conestoga Indiantown. There is no evidence of this. Sheriff Hay did say wampum belts were among the belongings of the Conestogas when he checked them into the Lancaster workhouse. (See my book, page 30.)
WILL FENTON: I really like the symbol of the wampum belt in the ashes, so I think I’ll signpost this as an artistic liberty in my intro.
December 25, 1763 – Christmas Day in the Workhouse (Lancaster)
The remaining Conestoga are huddled in the basement of the workhouse. They are tired, scared, mourning. They have one small window and can hear the revels of Christmas Day in Lancaster and church bells and services. They discuss what is to become of them and their people.
Splash page.
The basement of the workhouse is lit by lanterns. There are cots and blankets spread around the corners of the room. Several Conestoga are huddled around a small stove for warmth. Light filters through the small window near the top of the wall.
No notes for this page.
Four panels.
Panel One
Conestoga singing can be heard from the small window at the top of the wall.
SAQUIES-HAT-TAH
We should have left when we had the chance. Like all the others.
TENSEEDAAGUA
And what of the home fire?
SAQUIES-HAT-TAH
What of it? It’s gone, and now we wait for Judgement.
CHEE-NA-WAN
Don’t talk like that. We are safe now.
SAQUIES-HAT-TAH
And then what? If we survive this winter, where do we go?
Panel Four
Focus on Tenseedaagua with Che-na-wan holding a child in her arms in the background.
TENSEEDAAGUA
Philadelphia. North. To our kin.
CHEE-NA-WAN
I don’t want to go. I want them to go and leave us be.
FROM OFF (SINGING)
Joy to the world, the lord is come.
Let earth receive her king.
Let every heart, prepare him room…
WILL FENTON: I hate to throw a wrench in this scene, but it’s pretty unlikely anyone would have been singing this. The only ones singing carols would have been the Germans!
LEE FRANCIS: Yeah, had to go back and look up what might have been written about this time. I felt that the scene needed to be broken up with something festive going on beyond the walls of the Workhouse as a counterpoint to what was happening inside with the Conestoga.
Four panels.
Panel One
Close on Chee-na-wan as she soothes the child, stroking her hair.
CHEE-NA-WAN
Sheehaes would have known what to do. He could have talked to them.
Panel Two
Saquies-hat-tah looks away from her toward Tenseedaagua, as if trying to engage him in conflict.
SAQUIES-HAT-TAH
Sheehaes is dead. There is no more talk.
Panel Three
Close on Saquies-hat-tah just over Tenseedaagua’s shoulder.
SAQUIES-HAT-TAH
They will leave us in here to rot.
Panel Four
Shift to Chee-na-wan with anger in her eyes.
CHEE-NA-WAN
Don’t speak like that anymore. You frighten the children.
FROM OFF (SINGING)
And heaven and nature sing…
No notes for this page.
Four panels.
Panel One
Kanianguas addresses a haggard looking Conestoga man standing near the stairs that lead out of the basement of the Workhouse.
KANIANGUAS
Brother, you are exhausted. You have been on guard for days. Why do you not lay down?
KYUNQUEAGOAH
I will die on my feet, not in my sleep.
Panel Two
Tenseedaagua finally takes control of the situation. He is strong a powerful in this moment, a leader for his people in their final hours. He quiets the room and brings order.
TENSEEDAAGUA
Enough of this talk! It is Christmas Day, so let us be glad. We raise our eyes to the Heavens and ask our Creator to smile upon us.
Panel Three
SAQUIES-HAT-TAH
(quietly)
We should pray.
TENSEEDAAGUA
…yes, we should.
Panel Four
Tenseedaagua and Saquies-Hat-Tah burn an offering and begin together to lead the others in prayer.
FROM OFF (SINGING)
And heaven and nature sing…
No notes for this page.
Splash page.
They all gather to pray as the singing continues.
FROM OFF (SINGING)
And heeeaaavveen and nature sing.
No notes for this page.
December 25, 1763 – Christmas Day in the Barracks
In Barracks, the Lenape are also in prayer. They gather around a fire to offer their thanks in their own language.
ALL
Our Father who created us, truly thank (You)
that I can still stand in this place, and that
I can still use my own language,
because I know well that all good things come from You
That is all I can do, to come and just beg
so that you take pity on us, all of us, these
our friends here.
Give us good health, (and) happiness,
so that they can walk around here on this earth.
Father who created us, Creator, have pity on us, all of us,
watch over us day by day so that we can walk
here on this earth. Pity me dear Father
Father who created us, accept from me (this) pleading,
when I stand here pitifully, Father.
Accept it from me when I talk humbly, dear Father.
That is all I can do, just talk humbly.
Thank You Father who created us. Amen.
Kuxëna Kishelëmienk, kehëla wanìshi
tìli nkàski kwiakwi yushè nipain, òk tìli
nkàski kwiakwi nakatàmën nihëlàchi èlixsia,
èli nuli watun weltëk wèmi kèku Ki wënchixën.
Nal në shùk nkàski lìsin, pèchi may shùk winëwe
tìlìch tëmakelëminèn, wèmi èntxienkw, yuki
kitisënanàk yushè.
Milinèn wëlamàlsëwakàn, wëlatenamëwakàn,
wënchìch kàski ahpamskaneyo yushè ènta xkwithakamika.
Nuxa Kishelëmienkw, tëmakelëminèn wèmi èntxienkw,
kenahkihinèn kwëni kishukw tìlìch kàski ahpamskanèn
yushè ènta xkwithakamika. Tëmakelëmi nuxati
Kishelëmienkw, wètënëmai winëweokàn,
ènta yushè nkëktëmaki nipain, Nuxa.
Wètënëmai ènta këktëmaktunhea, Nuxati.
Nal në shùk nkàski lìsin, pèchi may shùk nkëktëmaktunhè.
Wanìshi nuxa Kishelëmienkw. Na në lekèch.
LEE FRANCIS: From Watch Over Us Every Day (Prayer). This is a prayer given by Nora Thompson Dean at the dedication of the Delaware Room at the Bartlesville Public Library History Room on 20 November 1974. (http://talk-lenape.org/stories?id=107)
WILL FENTON: Interesting find—hadn’t seen this before!
LEE FRANCIS: Took a bit of searching online. I always try and include traditional language in the work. This is a modern representation, as obviously the language has certainly changed through the centuries. However, I think there is ample evidence of the Native people translating prayers and hymns into traditional language. I think it fits well and adds to the emotion of the last scene.
SCOTT GORDON: These Moravian Indians would be in the Barracks.
WILL FENTON: Edited art direction accordingly.
December 28, 1763 – The Final Stand (Lancaster)
There is noise from outside of the Lancaster Workhouse, shouting. The Paxton Murderers have returned. The Conestoga realize what is about to happen. A few of the children begin to cry, but they are comforted by the elders.
The door to main workhouse entrance opens. The shadows emerge again. Light illuminates their blades and hatchets.
The Conestoga stand to face their murderers. They do not cry out.
They are massacred in the courtyard.
Four panels.
Panel One
SLOUGH (FROM OUTSIDE)
We hold them for their protection. You defy the authority of your governor and your king!
Panel Two
Close on main entrance opening.
Panel Three
At first the door is bright…
Panel Four
…then the shadows slowly creep in to block the light.
WILL FENTON: I feel like it’s worth really hitting the point that this is a contest over authority, law, and order. That said, if this is too much, feel free to revert back to what you had, which works well.
JACK BRUBAKER: They were not massacred in the basement. They were massacred in the yard behind the workhouse. That yard was later enclosed as part of the expanded county prison on that site. According to the only account we have, the Indians fled out into the yard from the workhouse when the Paxton murderers broke in. They were slaughtered there in the snow. (When a Fulton tour guide shows the current basement and says the Indians were killed there, he or she should say that area was an open yard in 1763.)
Four panels.
Panel One
The Conestoga people are surrounded by blinding white. This backdrop will mimic the white beads on the wampum belt.
TENSEEDAAGUA
May the Lord in his kindness watch over us. May his grace descend upon us all. In His Holy Name. Amen.
Panel Two
In the background we see the door to the courtyard flung open. The expanse of horizontal workhouse cobblestone wall/door/Paxton boys is a line of darkness against the white snow-covered expanse of the courtyard. The people are gathered in the snow, backs to their murders, but stopped by the sounds of the intruders. The panel is more white than black.
ALL
Amen.
Panel Three
One by one they begin to stand up. They address the intruders with glances and stature. The background is white snow.
Panel Four
More of them stand.
DAN RICHTER: Hate to throw another wrench, but here it goes: I don’t know that I buy this. He speaks Latin and quotes Roman Catholic liturgy?
Four panels.
Panels 1 – 4
In each panel a different group of the people stands—young and old. They will die on their feet. The last panel is Tenseedaagua.
WESHOYOT ALVITRE: The only change in this page is the setting being outside in the courtyard, instead of inside the workhouse. I feel the tribal members, placed against white, can not only mimic the beading on the wampum belts for continuity in the visuals, but also create an interesting dynamic that light/goodness/and the afterlife (using the color white, through the snow as a storytelling device) as the backdrop here. The murderers do not win. Death is not the end. They literally become the story, the beads, the white and black here. But they are not overcome in darkness.
JACK BRUBAKER: The workhouse was constructed in early 1763, not long before the Conestogas were killed there. I know of no blueprints. If there is a description, it would be in the state archives in Harrisburg, but I really doubt it. It certainly was a simple little building without any special design. By the time Fulton Hall was built, the prison had been constructed around the workhouse. So blueprints, if they exist, would show the outlines of the entire prison, not necessarily the addition that included the workhouse. I’ll check with the theater and the author of a theater history and get back to you soon.
JACK BRUBAKER: There are no blueprints of Fulton Hall. However, my friend Leslie Stainton, author of “Staging Ground,” a history of the Fulton Theater (or Opera House) published by Penn State Press several years ago, provides some interesting details about its construction, using the old jail’s stone walls. Here are her detailed notes, most of which would not be of value, but there are a few nuggets. (I suggest first reading my explanatory endnote 45 on page 177 of Massacre of the Conestogas to make sure everyone is clear on the structures built at this location. The 1763 workhouse referenced in the endnote is described on page 27 of the text, is a substantial brick workhouse at the northern end of the jail. The illustration on page 29 suggests that the workhouse was two stories tall, although I have no documentation of that height. That building was incorporated into the two-story stone addition to the jail in 1775.) In 1852, Fulton Hall retained the two-story stone walls for reasons stated by a local architect in Leslie’s notes. There are other notes in there (esp. about kids peering down into the “dungeon” during construction and log “piers” being used to stabilize the stone walls) that might be of some use even if only to convey a sense of atmosphere. The stone walls of the first floor of the old prison remain uncovered and the logs are still down there beneath the main Fulton stage. It’s a dark and eerie place. In that space, which once encompassed the outside “yard” of the old workhouse, the Conestogas were killed in 1763. The yard was enclosed and incorporated into the jail only 12 years later and has been left intact since. I have heard that most visitors can get a sense of the massacre site even in its highly altered current state. I certainly had that feeling the first time I went down there.
Four panels.
Panel One
All of the Conestoga are silent as they stand to face their deaths, resolved, unafraid. Tenseedaagua is in the center with the rest of everyone around him.
Panel Two
The shadows close in around them. Black shapes on white snow. Like dark colored beads on the wampum. The belt breaks as the first blow is brought down.
Panel Three
Murderous shapes move in on the group from an aerial above shot. The Conestoga below look like small shapes on a white backdrop, mimicking the wampum belt. A grid. Black beads on white beads with small specks of red. The beads scatter.
Panel Four
Reverse from Panel Three. Mainly white. A full zoom out showing aerial view of bodies (tiny shapes/nondescript), murderous footprints, the jailhouse, the walls, mimicking a flat show of a wampum belt which has broken and the beads have scattered and created chaos on the right side of the panel. Order and chaos. Bodies are black beads on white snow.
No notes for this page.
Four panels.
Panels 1 – 4
We pull back in each frame. Back up the stairs, out the door, back out from front of the workhouse. The courtyard and zooming out from there, up the stairs, bloody footprints, a hatchet left, the workhouse…again, a black geometric shape on white, referencing the wampum belts. The dark rectangle of the workhouse engulfed in white snow.
No notes for this page.
Three panels.
Panel One
Pan back to snow falling gently outside the workhouse, as if nothing is happening inside. There are shadows on the edges, though. Enough to remind us what is happening.
Panel Two
Pull back farther. More snow.
Panel Three
Even farther from the workhouse. The snow is very heavy.
No notes for this page.
Splash page.
The snow comes grows heavier and heavier until it obliterates the page.
No notes for this page.
Splash page.
White.
V.O.
History is complicated. Violence is simple.
No notes for this page.
August 14, 2018 – Viewing the Land (Conestoga)
Flash to Lee and Weshoyot and the Advisory Board visiting the site of the Conestoga Indiantown. The bugs, the memorial, the reflection and a silent prayer for our kin.
Splash page.
The river in early morning light. A little fog lifts off of the river, shrouding everything in that early morning blue haze.
VO.
History is like the river. It meanders, wanders, shows us where we came from and where we can go. It can rise and overwhelm wiping away everything in its path. The stories we tell of the Conestoga are the stories of the river and the wind, of the fire and the sky. They are stories that give us understanding of how a People lived and endured.
No notes for this page.
For pages 55-57, the illustrations can begin to blend. There doesn’t need to be a strict panel separation as we move into 58-59, which are more abstract like the opening Creation Story pages. The images/illustrations can be like a collage or a mural. They need to be more defined than the abstraction of 58-59, but they don’t need to conform in any linear way.
V.O.
Perhaps, like Penn’s Treaty, history blends fact and fiction, memory and mythology. Sometimes we only have echoes that lead us back toward our ancestors, our elders, our lost kin.
The current view of Conestoga Indiantown.
Passing a house with the Confederate flag in the front yard.
The monument.
WILL FENTON: I think we need to push against this a bit: West’s painting is a sanitized piece of Anglo mythology; our narrative serves as a kind of corrective, offering an account that can’t be traced in systematically-biased colonial records.
V.O.
History is like the river and violence is simply…a moment in the journey of the river. Our ancestors knew this from the long ago time. From the time of the first People who emerged from the waters. They knew of the twists and turns ahead, of the celebrations and sorrows to follow.
The drive by the river.
The Longhouse.
The suburbs and the Ancient Site.
No notes for this page.
V.O.
How do we honor our ancestors long after they’ve journeyed on; long after the Earth has reclaimed the structures and the stones, long after the river has emptied into the sea?
Offering of tobacco beneath the ring of trees.
Then the walk back to the bus.
No notes for this page.
Present Day – A Eulogy, A Blessing, A Weaving (Menonite Church, Lancaster)
The close of the narrative. We show the folks from Legacy Circle: feeding, eating, talking, and celebrating. We show echoes of past events, tragic events, and yet the People continue. They tell stories and hold dances. The final page is a scene of Native people smiling, facing forward while their Conestoga ancestors watch over them.
Splash page.
This page and the next echo the Creation Story from the beginning with images swirling around of present day Native folks laughing, eating, and enjoying one another’s presence. It can be abstract and ephemeral.
V.O.
Perhaps it is in the blood memory. The laughter medicine. The silence of remembering. Perhaps it is in the food we share, the air we breathe, the water we hold. Perhaps it is all of these things that we do together as we hold the stories of our ancient peoples close in our hearts.
No notes for this page.
Splash page.
The final page is a scene of Native people smiling facing forward while their Conestoga and Lenape ancestors watch over them. They are carrying the wampum. The river is in the background.
V.O.
Their legacy endures, winding along like an endless river. And there are still stories to be told. And we will tell them.
LEE FRANCIS: In all of my writings and work, I try to portray Native and Indigenous People as resilient and dynamic. My original intent in this last image was one that drew from a previous page Weshoyot drew for a mini-comic in our Deer Woman: An Anthology. It’s a striking image of Native women looking directly at the reader. I wanted something similar but with more of the elements we included in previous pages. Although the final page was different than my initial concept, what Weshoyot does absolutely captures the spirit of the entire work and process.