IN 1828, A SENECA INDIAN WOMAN HAD A DREAM THAT BECAME A LEGEND AMONG HER PEOPLE.

A DREAM GUESSER TOLD HER SHE WOULD BEAR A SON WHO WOULD RISE TO BECOME A PEACEMAKER, A LEARNED MAN WHOSE FAME WOULD BE AS GREAT IN THE WHITE WORLD AS WITH HIS INDIAN FAMILY.

THE WOMAN'S SON, ELY PARKER, CAME OF AGE IN A TIME OF CULTURAL WARFARE, WHEN HIS PEOPLE STRUGGLED FOR SIMPLE SURVIVAL.

YET HE WOULD RISE TO HEIGHTS UNPRECEDENTED FOR A 19 CENTURY AMERICAN INDIAN.

HE LIVED OUT HIS MOTHER'S DREAM, AND BECAME A WARRIOR IN TWO WORLDS.

ELY PARKER WAS AN AMAZING MAN.

HE WAS A SENECA CHIEF, AN ACCOMPLISHED FEDERAL ENGINEER, CIVIL WAR SECRETARY TO ULYSSES S. GRANT, AND A CENTRAL FIGURE AT THE APPOMATTOX SURRENDER.

HE ACHIEVED ALL THOSE THINGS BEFORE THE AGE OF 41.

THEN, HE BECAME THE FIRST AMERICAN INDIAN TO SERVE AS COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS.

I'M WES STUDI.

FEW PEOPLE WILL DISPUTE PARKER'S MANY TALENTS, BUT THERE IS FIERCE DEBATE OVER HIS LEGACY.

WAS HE A HERO OR A TRAITOR?

ELY PARKER IS IMPORTANT IN AMERICAN HISTORY BECAUSE HE DEMONSTRATES TO NON-INDIANS WHAT CAN HAPPEN TO A WELL-INTENTIONED YOUNG PERN WHO TRIES TO DO HIS BEST AND IS CHANGED BY THE MAINSTREAM SOCIETY.

IN ORDER TO BE ACCEPTED, HE HAD TO MORE OR LESS ABANDON EVERY SINGLE ELEMENT OF HIS PREVIOUS IDENTITY.

IF YOU ABANDON ENOUGH OF THAT, YOU CAN BECOME ACCEPTED.

I WAS SURPRISED AT HOW LITTLE PEOPLE KNEW ABOUT HIM, BACK HOME, ANYWHERE ACROSS THE SIX NATIONS.

AND THOSE THAT DID KNOW ABOUT HIM DIDN'T HAVE MUCH GOOD TO SAY ABOUT HIM.

HE WAS CONSIDERED -- HE WAS CONSIDERED KIND OF A SELL-OUT.

STUDI: ELY PARKER WAS A PRODUCT OF 19TH CENTURY AMERICA, AND YOU COULD SAY, A TRAGIC VICTIM OF THAT CULTURE.

DESPITE HIS ACCOMPLISHMENTS, HE IS AN OBSCURE FIGURE IN HISTORY.

EVEN HIS OLD HOME HERE IN WESTERN NEW YORK HAS BEEN LEFT TO RUIN.

SOME SEE IT AS AN IRONIC SYMBOL OF HIS LIFE.

HILL: I SAW ALL OF THAT WHEN I LOOKED AT THIS OLD MAN.

I SAID, WHO IS THAT GU WITH THE BROKEN HEART?

I COULDN'T BELIEVE IT, ONE TTLE PICTURE AND I SAID, WHAT HAPPENED TO THIS MAN?

THIS GREAT MAN WHO WAS A GENERAL, YOU KNOW, THE SENECA CHIEF.

WHAT HAPPENS THAT HE BECOMES THIS OLD MAN?

THEN WHEN I READHE DETAILS OF HIS LATER LIFE, I'M GLAD I READ THAT WHEN I WAS THAT YOUNG, BECAUSE IT WAS A GOOD WARNING TO ME -- RICK, WATCH OUT, IT'S A MINEFIELD THAT YOU'RE WANDING THROUGH.

IF YOU'RE NOT CAREFUL, YOU'RE GOING TO BE LIKE THAT OLD MAN.

STUDI: ELY PARKER GREW UP IN A TIME OF CHANGE.

THROUGHOUT THE 19TH CENTURY, THE SENECAS' TRADITIONAL CULTURE WAS ADAPTING TO EUROPEAN IDEAS.

HIS PARENTS RAN A SAWMILL, WORE TOP HATS, AND DROVE A BUCKBOARD.

ONE DAY IN 1828, THEY WERE HEADING HOME FROM A TRADING POST WHEN ELY'S MOTHER WENT INTO LABOR AND GAVE BIRTH TO A SON.

THEY CALLED HIM HA-SA-NO-AN-DA, TRANSLATED AS "LEADING NAME."

HE WAS ONE OF SEVEN CHILDREN THEY RAISED ON THE WESTERN NEW YORK RESERVATION OF THE TONAWANDA BAND OF SENECAS.

HIS MOTHER, ELIZABETH, WAS A RESPECTED CLANMOTHER.

HER HUSBAND, WILLIAM, WAS A SENECA WAR CHIEF.

TOGETHER THEY WOULD RAISE HA-SA-NO-AN-DA IN THE TRADITION OF HIS ANCESTORS.

THE SENECAS WERE ONE OF SIX NATIONS IN THE IROQUOIS CONFEDERACY, A LEAGUE WHOSE HISTORIC STRENGTH WAS ITS UNITY.

THEY CALLED THEMSELVES "HAUDENOSAUNEE" -- PEOPLE OF THE LONGHOUSE.

DURING THE 17TH CENTURY, THEY EXPANDED THEIR ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL DOMAIN OVER NEARLY A QUARTER WHAT WE CALL COLONIAL AMERICA.

BUT THEIR UNITY AND STRENGTH WAS WEAKENED DURING THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.

THE SIX NATIONS SPLIT THEIR ALLEGIANCE BETWEEN THE BRITISH AND PATRIOTS.

AND THEY BECAME EASY PREY FOR SPECULATORS WHO SWARMED ON THEIR TERRITORIES DURING THE POST WAR LAND RUSH.

BY HA-SA-NO-AN-DA'S TIME, E SENECAS WERE REDUCED TO FIVE RESERVATIONS IN NEW YORK STATE.

THEY WERE SMALL ISLANDS IN A RISING SEA OF WHITE SETTLEMENT.

AND ELIZABETH PARKER BEGAN INSISTING THAT HER SON LEARN AS MUCH AS HE COULD ABOUT THE WHITE WORLD.

ONE MOTIVATION COULD HAVE BEEN HER EARLIER DREAM OF PROPHECY.

MAN: IF THE DREAM SAYS NOTHING ELSE, TO ME IT SAYS THAT PARKER HAD AN AMBITIOUS MOTHER WHO REALIZED THAT TIMES WERE CHANGING, THAT WHITE CULTURE WAS INVADING THEIR CULTURE, AND THAT HER CHILDREN WERE GOING TO HAVE TO DEAL WITH THIS.

STUDI: BEFORE AGE 10, HA-SA-NO-AN-DA BEGAN CLASSES AT A NEARBY MISSIONARY SCHOOL.

ALONG WITH AN ACADEMIC EDUCATION, HE GAINED A NEW IDENTITY.

HE ADOPTED THE FIRST NAME OF THE SCHOOL'S CLERGYMA AND FROM THEN ON WAS KNOWN ELY PARKER.

THOSE FIRST STEPS INTO WHITE CULTURE CAME AT A CRITICAL TIME -- JUST BEFORE A NEW WAVE OF SETTLEMENT WOULD ENDANGER THE SENECAS' FUTURE.

IN THE 1830S AND 1840S, THE STEAM LOCOMOTIVE AND TELEGRAPH FUELED AMERICA'S EXPANSION, AND THE FEDERAL POLICY OF INDIAN REMOVAL.

DURING THAT TIME, NEARLY 60,000 AMERICAN INDIANS WERE FORCED FROM THEIR EASTERN HOMELANDS TO TERRITORIES WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI.

THE TONAWANDAS BECAME TARGET FOR REMOVAL WHEN THE ERIE CAL WAS EXPANDED ACROSS NEW RK.

THE WATER ROUTE LINKED STATEWIDE COMMERCE AND MADE SENECA LANDS SUDDENLY MORE VALUABLE.

IN 1838, THE SENECAS' REMAINING FIVE RESERVATIONS WERE THREATENED WITH CONTROVERSIAL TREATY OF BUFFALO CREEK.

SPECULATORS FROM THE OGDEN LAND COMPANY CLAIMED PURCHASE OF THE TERRITORIES, BUT MOST SIX NATION CHIEFS REFUSED TO SIGN THE TREATY.

THOSE WHO DID ACCEPTED BRIBES OF ALCOHOL, MONEY, AND LAND LEASES, AND THEY AGREED THEIR PEOPLE WOULD MOVE TO KANSAS.

MAN: THIS TREATY IS SO FRAUDULENT, SO EXPLOITATIVE, SO UNFAIR, THAT A GROWINGOF WHITE, WE WOULD CALL IT LIBERAL OPINION, LED BY QUAKER MISSIONARIES, RAISE A GROUNDSWELL OF PUBLIC OUTRAGE WHICH FORCED A COMPROMISE TREATY IN 1842, WHEREBY THE SENECA GET BACK THE THREE SMALL RESERVES -- AT CATTARAGUS AND ALLEGHENY ALONG THE GENESEE.

BUT THEY STILL HAVE LOST THE BIG RESERVES AT BUFFALO CREEK AND TONAWANDA.

SO THE SENECAS THOUGHT, BY LEAVING TONAWANDA, THEY WERE GOING INTO THIS DESOLATE AREA, BUT ALSO, THEY WERE GREATLY FEARFUL THAT THEY WERE GOING TO LOSE WHO THEY WERE AND THEIR TRADITIONS IF THEY MOVED AY FROM THEIR LAND.

[ SINGING IN NATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGE ] STUDI: ELY'S HAUDENOSAUNEE EDUCATION BECAME A PRIORITY, AND HIS PARENTS SENT HIM TO THE SIX NATION'S RESERVATION IN CANADA WHERE THE CULTURE WAS STILL STRONG.

FROM AGE 10 TO 13, ELY HONED HIS TRADITIONAL SKILLS AT GRAND RIVER.

BUT HE ALSO GAINED NEW INSIGHTS INTO WHITE CULTURE WHEN HE EAED POCKET MONEY DRIVING HORSES TO MILITARY POSTS.

CARDINAL: ONE OF THOSE JOURNEYS, HE WAS WITH TWO TO THREE BRITISH SOLDIERS WHO SPENT THEIR TIME MOCKING HIM BECAUSE OF HIS APPEARANCE AND BECAUSE OF HIS BROKEN ENGLISH.

ELY RKER, LATER ON IN HIS LIFE, DESCRIBED TO HIS NEPHEW ARTHUR PARKER THAT THAT WAS A TURNING POINT IN HIS LIFE.

HE DIDN'T LIKE BEING MOCKED.

AND HE WAS BOUND AND DETERMINED FROM TT POINT ON THAT HE WAS GOING TO LEARN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, NOT ONLY SO HE COU SPEAK IT, BUSO THAT HE COULD BE THE BEST AT WRITING AND SPEAKING.

STUDI: THAT BRUSH WITH THE ENGLISH SOLDIERS LIT A FIRE THAT FORGED ELY'S YOUNG CHARACTER.

THE 13EAR-OLD WHO RETURNED TO TAWANDA AND CLASSES AT THE MISSION SCHOOL WAS DIFFERENT, DRIVEN.

WITHIN A YEAR, HE QUALIFIED FOR ADVANCED STUDIES AT YATES ACADEMY.

HE WAS THE ONLY AMERICAN INDIAN AMONG SOME 250 STUDENTS.

ARMSTRON VERY QUICKLY, HE BECAME WELL VERSED IN WTE CULTURE.

HE STUDIED LATIN, HE STUDIED GREEK.

STUDI: ELY WAS A RISING STAR AT YATES.

WHEN HE SPOKE BEFORE THE SCHOOL'S LITERARY SOCIETY, STUDENTS AND LOCAL RESIDENTS FILLED THE AUDITORIUM, LEANING FORWARD TO CATCH HIS EVERY WORD.

SENECA ELDERS WERE PAYING CLOSE ATTENTN TO E'S TRANSFORMATION.

HE WAS MASTERING SKILLS THEY DESPERATELY NEEDED IN THE FIGHT FOR THEIR HOMENDS.

IN 1844, THE OGDEN LANDOMPANY MOVED TO ENFORCE THE BUFFALO CREEK TREATY WITH A PUBLIC AUCTION OF LOTS ON THE TONAWANDA RESERVATION.

THE SENECAS WANTED STATE AND FEDERAL LEADERS TO INTERVENE, AND THEY ASKED ELY PARKER TO ASSIST THE EFFORTS OF CHIEFS JOHN BLACKSMITH AND JIMMY JOHNSON.

WEBB: UNFORTUNATELY, BLACKSMITH AND JIMMY JOHNSON DON'T SPEAK ANY ENGLISH.

THEY DON'T WRITE ANY ENGLISH, AND THEY DON'T KNOW HOW ENGLISH INSTITUTIONS WORK.

ELY PARKER, AT THE AGE O14 BEGAN TO SIGN THE DOCUMENTS FOR THEM AND CERTIFY SIGNATURES AS THEY SENT TO ALBANY AND WASHINGTON.

HE IS 16 YEARS OLD WHEN THEY SEND HIM TO ALBANY AS AN INTERPRETER FOR THE DELEGATES.

THIS IS AN EXCEPTIONAL YOUNG MAN.

ELY PARKER HAD THE ENCOURAGEMENT OF SOME ELDERS TO PURSUE THIS CAREER OF BEING A BRIDGE TWEEN THE TWO CULTURES, ANTHINK HE WAS WILLING TO B INTO BECAUSE IT WAS ATTRACTIVE, IT WAS A WAY IN WHICH HE SAW THAT HIS PEOPLE COULD SURVIVE.

ELY PARKER WAS ORIGINALLY DETERMINED THAT HIS PEOPLE WOULD T BE REMOVED, THAT THEY WOULD STAY WHERE THEY WERE.

STUDI: RACISM WOULD MAKE HIS BATTLE MORE DIFFICULT.

WHEN ELY BEGAN HIS WORK, INDIANS WERE SEEN AS BARBARIANS -- OBSTACLES IN THE PATH OF PROGRESS.

IN THE 1840S, MANY AMERICANS BELIEVED THAT NOTHING SHOULD STAND IN THE WAY OF THE NATION'S DRIVE TO THE WEST COAST.

MOHAWK: WHAT THEY CALLED THE MOMENT WEST WAS, "MANIFEST DESTINY."

NOW THERE'S A UTOPIAN IDEOLOGY IF EVER THERE WAS ONE.

WHAT WAS UNDERLYING THAT WAS THE IDEA THAT GOD OR SOME POWER HAD DESIGNATED THIS GROUP OF PEOPLE TO SWEEP ACROSS THCONTINENT.

STUDI: YET EVEN AS THEY PUSHED INDIANS ASIDE, AMERICANS WERE DEVELOPING A FASCINATION WITH NATIVE CULTURES.

THE NOBLE SAVAGE EMERGED AS A SYMBOL OF THE ERA, AND OF THE NATION'S SEARCH FOR AN IDENTITY INDEPENDENT FROM ENGLAND.

HILL: SO I BELIE THAT, BY THE TIME PARKER IS BO, HE'S BORN INTO A WORLD THAT'S WRESTLING WITH THAT QUESTION.

WHO ARE WE, WHO ARE WE AS AMERICANS?

ARE WE "THE OTHER" TO THE EUROPEANS?

AND IF WE ARE, WHAT DO WE HAVE THAT NOBODY ELSE HAS IN THE WORLD?

AND GUESS WHAT?

INDIANS.

INDIANS ARE THE ONLY THING THAT MAKES AMERICA TRULY UNIQUE.

AND SO THERE WAS THIS STRANGE FASCINATION ABOUT TAKING CARE OF THE INDIANS, PATERNALISTICALLY, INDIANS ARWARDS OF THE GOVERNMENT.

AND THEN, THE OTHER THING ABOUT, LET'S CELEBRATE THE INDIAN THROUGH REMAKING THEIR IMAGE.

THE AMERICAN INDIAN HAD BECOME AN ICON -- AND ELY PARKER WOULD HAVE TO PROVE HIMSELF BEYOND THAT IMAGE.

THE MAN WHO ENGINEERED ELY'S MOVE INTO THE WHITE WORLD WAS LEWIS HENRY MORGAN.

MORGAN WAS AN INFLUENTIAL WHITE ATTORNEY WHO SUPPORTED MAINSTREAM BELIEFS ABOUT INDIANS.

BUT HE WAS ALSO FASCINATED WITH THE HAUDENOSAUNEE.

IN 1844, HE DISCOVERED ELY PARKER IN AN ALBANY, NEW YORK, BOOKSTORE.

AND A MAGNIFICENT PERSONIFICATION OF THE PEOPLE HE WTS TO STUD IS STANDING THERE IN FRONT OF HIM, BUYING BOOKS IN ENGLISH, BUYING BOOKS ON HIS OWN PEOPLE IN ENGLISH.

ANHE GOES WI E BACK TO TONAWAA, AND CARRIES HIS NOTEBOOKS AND FILLS THEM WITH ALL THIS INFORMATION ABOUT TRADITION AND THE GOVERNMENT AND THE STORIES.

AND HE'S EXPOSED TO ALL THESE NEW, WONDERFUL THINGS ABOUT THE HAUDENOSAUNEE.

NOW, THERE WAS AN URGENCY TO MORGAN'S WORK, BECAUSE MORGAN REALLY BELIEVED THAT INDIAN NATIONS WERE DISAPPEARING.

THEY ARE GOING TO BECOME FARRS, AND GIVEN A MODEST LAND BASE, SUCCESSFUL FARMERS.

AND THEY WILL MELD INTO THE POPULATION, AND IN THAT SENSE, THEY ARE A DYING RACE.

THEY WILL BECOME ACCULTURATED.

STUDI: MORGAN WANTED TO DOCUMENT WHAT HE VIEWED AS A DYING CULTURE.

AND ELY WOULD SPEND THE NEXT SIX YEARS RECORDING CEREMONIES AND COLLECTING ARTIFACTS FOR MORGAN'S STUDY.

EVIDENCE OF THEIR PARTNERSHIP IS STILL INEW YORK MUSEUMS.

MORGAN ALSO GROOMED ELY FOR SUCCESS THE LARGER WOD -- URGING HIM TO SHED HIS TRADITIONAL WAYS AND TO ASSIMILATE.

WEBB: HIS PROGRAM IS A LITANY THAT WE'RE GOING TO HEAR A LOT OF IN THE NEXT -- AS ELY PARKER GROWS UP.

OF CIVILIZATION, OF CHRISTIANIZATION, OF, FORGIVE HIS WORD, "HUMANIZATION" OF THESE PEOPLE, AND HE DOESN'T DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THEM.

MORGAN'S FIRST STEP WAS ADVANCING ELY'S EDUCATION.

IN 1845, HE HAD HIM TRANSFERRED TO CAYUGA ACADEMY, AN ELITE SCHOOL IN WESTERN NEW YORK.

AND ELY CHANGED TO BLENDN -- SPENDING $22 FOR "FINE FROCK COAT."

HE HAD LEARNED THAT CLOTHES MAKE THE MAN.

BUT HE REMAINED AN OUTSIDER, FORCED TO DEFEND HIMSELF FISTFIGHTS AND HOSTILE SCHOOL DEBATES.

IN ONE MEMORABLE SPEECH, HE ASSERTED HIS RIGHT AS A "SAVAGE" TO SEEK HAPPINESS IN THE "CIVILIZED" LIFE.

"IF THEN, WE DO NOT FIND IT," HE SAID, "WE SHALL RESUME THE BLANKET, "THE TOMAHAWK, AND SCALPING KNIFE.

"AND THEN YOU MAY JUSTLY SAY, 'DO WHAT YOU WILL, AN INDIAN WILL STILL BE AN INDIAN.'"

ELY ATTENDED CAYUGA LESS THAN A YEAR, BUT HE EARNED HIS CLASSMATES' RESPECT AS A SCHOLAR AND A SPEAKER.

AND THAT BUILT HIS CONFIDENCE THAT HE COULD SUCCEED IN WHITE SOCIETY.

IN 1846, ELY TESTED HIS NEW ABILITIES IN THE NATION'S CAPITAL.

HE WAS 18 YEARS OLD WHEN THE TONAWANDAS CHOSE HIM TO LEAD THEIR LAND BATTLE TO THE WHITE HOUSE.

HE ASK PRESIDE JAMES POLK TO SUPPORT A REPEAL OF THE BUFFALO CREEK TREAT BUT POLK WAS EVASIVE.

HE SENT THEIR PETITION ON TO THE SENATE, WHERE IT SAT FOR WEEKS.

THE TONAWANDA CHIEFS ADVISED PATIENCE AND RETURNED HOME.

HE BOLD ENOUGH, AFTER THEYEAVE TO GO HOME, THATE DECIDES HE'S GOING TO GO TO THE WHITE HOUSE HIMSF AND TALK TO THE PRESIDEN POLK WAS SUPPORTIVE, AGREED THAT THE FEDERAL GOVERNME WOULD DO NOTHING TO TAKE THE RESERVATION AWAY FROM THEM, IN EFFECT, GIVING THEM TIME TPUUE THE MATTER IN THE SENATE, AND EVENTUALLY IN THE COURTS.

ELY'S TRIUMPH WAS SHORT-LIVED.

HE RETURNED TO A COMMUNITY GRIPPED BY A NEW WAVE OF FEAR.

THE TONAWANDAS HAD LEARNED THAT NEARLY A THIRD OF THEIR KINSMEN WHO HAD VOLUNTARILY COMPLIED WITH THE TREATY AND MOVED TO KANSAS HAD DIED.

SO THEY SENT ELY BACK TO WASHINGTON TO DEMAND CONGRESSIONAL ACTION.

HE ARRIVED IN THE CAPITAL ON NEW YEAR'S DAY 1847, CONFIDENT OF ANOTHER POLITICAL VICTORY.

INSTEAD, HE WOULD LEARN NEW LESSONS IN POLITICS AND POWER.

IT WAS A TOTALLY DIFFERENT EXPERIENCE FOR HIM.

HE WAS DENIED ACCESS TO PLACES THAT HE THOUGHT HAD OPENED TO HIM.

INSTEAD OF DOORS OPENING, THEY STARTED TO CLOSE A LITTLE BIT BECAUSE HE WAS AN INDIAN.

STUDI: REALITY FIRST STRK AT A PUBLIC RECEPTION AT THE WHITE HOUSE.

WHILE WANDERING THROUGH THE CROWDS, ELY NOTICED DISAPPROVING STARES.

HE WAS UNWELCOME, HE WROTE IN HIS DIARY, "A SAVAGE BRAVE, "WHO HAD THE AUDACITY AND IMPUDENCE TO MINGLE WITH NOBILITY."

HIS VIEW OF THE WORLD HAD A NEW FILTER OF CYNICISM, AND IT WAS REINFORCED THE NEXT DAY IN THE CAPITOL'S ROTUNDA.

HE SAW CARVINGS OF POCAHONTAS SAVING CAPTAIN SMITH AND OF INDIANS FEEDING STARVING PILGRIMS.

"WHO, TODAY," HE WROTE, "WOULD SAVE A DYING INDIAN?

OR PERMIT US TO LIVE IN PEACE?"

RDINAL: THIS WAS LIKE THE CROWNING PLACE OF THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT MORE OR LESS SAYING, HERE'S PEOPLE OF THE PAST, HERE ARE A DEFEATED GROUP OF PEOPLE.

AND I THINK ELY FELT THAT.

HE BECOMES DETERMINED THAT HE IS NOT GOING TO BE A PART OF TH IMAGE -- HE'S GOING TO MOVE ON.

STUDI: ELY RESOLVED THAT THE TONAWANDAS WOULD NOT BE A DEFEATED PEOP, AND HE SPENT SIX WEEKS CAMPAIGNING IN CONGRESS FOR A BUFFALO CREEK REPEAL.

HE THOUGHT HE HAD WON OVERWHELMING SUPPORT, BUT POLITICS PREVAILED WH SENATORS CAST THEIR VOTES IN FEBRUARY 1847.

WHILE ADMITTING THE TREATY WAS FRAUDULENT, MEMBERS SAID THAT OVERTURNING IT WOULD UNSETTLE THE WHOLE OF FEDERAL INDIAN POLICY.

THE SENECAS' PETITIO WAS VOTED DOWN.

CLOSED OUT OF CONGRESS, THEY TOOK THEIR CASE TO THE COURTS.

AND WHILE IT WAS ENTANGLED IN A SERIES OF APPEALS, THEY WOULD BE ALLOWED TO STAY ON THE LAND.

ELY PARKER WASN'T SATISFIED.

DETERMINED TO SPD THE SENECAS' CASE, HE PURSUED A CAREER AN ATTORNEY.

WITHIN MONTHS OF THE SENATDECISI, HE WAS HIRED AS A LEGAL APPRENTICE IN A WESTERN NEW YORK LAW FIRM.

BUT HE WAS STOPPED SHORT OF HIS GOAL BY ANOTHERACIAL BARRIER.

ARMSTRONG: IN NEW YORK STATE, ONLY NATURAL BORN OR NATURALIZED CITIZENS COULD BE ADMITTED TO THE BAR.

WELL, HE WAS NATURAL BORN, ALL RIGHT, BUT NOT A CITIZEN.

ELY WAS NEVER SATISFIED WITH ANYTHING.

AND WITH THIS NEW DOOR CLOSING IN HIS FACE, HE WAS BOUND AND DETERMINED, I'M GOING TO TRY SOMETHING ELS BECAUSE AT SOME POINT, A DOOR'S GOING TO OPEN THAT I CAN GO THROUGH.

MANY DOORS WOULD OPEN TO ELY PARKER IN THE NEXT DECADE.

AND HIS CHOICES WOULD IMPACT NOT JUST THE SENECAS, BUT 19TH CENTURY AMERICAN HISTORY.

IN 1850, LEWIS HENRY MORGAN RESURFACED TO STEER PARKER'S COURSE.

MORGAN NEEDED HELP WITH HIS HAUDENOSAUNEE STUDIES AND HE FOUND HIS FRIEND A NEW CAREER AS AN ENGINEER ON THE ERIE CANAL.

THAT JOB BROUGHT ELY TO ROCHESTER, NEW YORK -- MORGAN'S HOME AND A 19TH-CENTURY BOOM TOWN.

ARMSTRONG: THIS WAS A PLACE WITH MILLS AND FACTORIES AND STEAM BOATS AND THE CANALS.

HE'S NOT REALLY THAT FAR AWAY, GEOGRAPHICALLY, FROM THE RESERVATION, BUT HE'S FAR AWAY CULTURAL.

ROCHESTER WAS HOME TO FREDERICK DOUGLASS AND THE ABOLITIONIST MOVEMENT, SUSAN B. ANTHONY AND THE CAMPAIGN FOR WOMEN'S RIGHTS.

ELTHRIVED IN THAT SETTING.

AND IN 1851, HE EARNED A PLACE AMONG ROCHESTER'S NOTABLES WITH THE PUBLICATION OF LEWIS HENRY MORN'S "LEAGUE OF THE HAUDENOSAUNEE."

THE EXHAUSTIVE STUDY OF SIX NATIONS CULTURE EAED MORN CLM AS A FOUNDER OF AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGY.

ELY SHARED SOME OF THE CREDIT -- MORGAN DEDICATED THE BOO "TO HA-SA-NO-AN-DA", AND ACKNDGED IT WAS THE FRUIT OF THEIR JOINT RESEARCHES.

BUA HIGHER HONOR SOON FOLLOWED.

IN THE FALL OF 1851, AT THE AGE OF 23, ELY WAS MADE ONE OF THE 50 SACHEMS OF THE SIX NATIONS.

THE GRAND COUNCIL PRESENTED HIM WITH THE SILVER MEDAL, GIVEN TO THE SENECA RED JACKET BY GEORGE WASHINGTON IN 1792.

THEN HE WAS GIVEN THE NAME "DONEHOGAWA" AND THE TITLE OF CHIEF.

BUT HIS DUTIES WERE AS A SERVANT -- TO HONOR HIS ANCESTORS HIS PEOPLE, AND THE SEVEN GENERATIONS TO COME.

HILL: AND THEN, OUR JOB IN THE MIDDLE IS TO BRIDGE THAT GAP.

YOU TAKE THE INHERITANCE FROM THE PAST, YOU ADD TO IT YOUR IDEAS AND YOUR THINKING, YOU KIND OF BUNDLE THAT ALL UP AND THEN YOU SHOOT IT TO THE FUTURE.

AND THERE'S A DIFFERENT SENSE OF RESPONSIBILITY, IT IS NOT JUST ABOUT ME, MY PRIDE AND MY EGO, IT'S ABOUT ALL OF THAT OTHER STUFF.

SIX YEARS AFTER HE WAS NAMED CHIEF, DONEHOGAWA ACHIEVED WHAT IS STILL SEEN AS HIS MOST SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTION TO THE HAUDENOSAUNEE.

IN 1857, ELY LED A TONAWANDA DELEGATION TO WASHINGTON, WHERE HE WAS THE PRIMARY STRATEGIST IN A SUPREME COURT CASE AND SENATE NEGOTIATIONS THAT ENDED THE SENECAS' 20-YEAR FIGHT FOR THEIR HOMELANDS.

SUPREME COURT DECISION ON TRESPASS INSPIRED A SENATE TREATY WHICH PERMITTED THE TONAWANDA SENECA TO USE A SIGNIFICANT PART OF THE RESOURCES SET ASIDE FOR THEIR MOVE TO KANSAS TO BUY BACK OVER 7000 ACRES OFHE TONAWANDA RESERVE AND TO ESTABLISH A PERMANT HOME FOR THEMSELVES, AS IT TURNED OUT, A PEANENT HOME FOR THAT TRADITION THAT EVERYBODY THOUGHT WAS GOING TO DIE.

STUDI: BUT AFTER THAT VICTORY, ELY BEGAN SEPARATING HIMSELF FROM THE SENECAS.

HIS VISITS HOME GREW RARE, AND HE DELEGATED MORE OF HIS OFFICIAL DUTIES.

ITSOCIETY WAS OPENING NEW DOORS OF OORTUNITY, AND ELY WAS WALKING THROUGH THEM.

HE WAS PROMOTED AS AN ENGINEER, HE JOINED THE MANS, THE NEW YORK MILITIA, AND WAS BECOMING A CELEBRATED SPEAKER THROUGHOUT WESTERN NEW YORK.

ELY PARKER IS THE PRODUCT OF THE BEST INTENTIONS OF NON-INDIAN SOCIETY.

THE PEOPLE THAT ENCOURAGED HIM TO JOIN THEM DIDN'T HATE HIM THEY DIDN'T DESPISE HIM, THEY LOVED HIM, THEY ADMIRED HIM.

THEY EVEN ADMIRED THE CULTURE THAT HE CAME FROM.

THEY KEPT TELLING HIM HOW GREAT HE WAS.

THEY KNEW HE WAS GREAT AND THEY SAID HE WAS GREAT.

HIS WHOLE LIFE, PEOPLE CAME UP TO HIM AND SAID, YOU'RE A GREAT MAN.

THIS IS NOT A DIET WHICH LEADS TO HUMILITY OR MODESTY IN A PEOPLE IN WHICH LEADERS WERE SUPPOSED TO BE MODEST -- MORE MODEST THAN OTHER PEOPLE.

IN WHICH LEADERS WERE SUPPOSED TO BE POOR, POORER THAN OTHER PEOPLE.

IN ICH PEOPLE ARE NOT SUOSED TO GET ABOVE THEMSELVES.

WHEN YOU START PUTTING YOURSELF APART, AND THEY REALIZE THAT, YOU'RE THINKING, I'M BETTER THAN YOU, 'CAUSE I CAN READ OR I CAN DO THIS OR I DO THAT -- THAT'S WHEN THINGS FALL APART.

AND I THINK THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED TO PARKER.

BY 1857, ELY WAS A RESPECTED CIVIL ENGINEER AND HE WAS PURSUING HIS PERSONAL AMBITIONS.

HE MOVED TO GALENA, ILLINOIS, TO SUPERVISE CONSTRUCTION OF A FEDERAL CUSTOMHOUSE.

GALENA WAS THEN PART OF THE WESTERN FRONTIER -- A MISSISSIPPI PORT TOWN, WITH NONE OF ROCHESTER'S SOPHISTICATION.

AND ELY STOOD OUT AMONG THE LOCAL RESIDENTS -- WITH HIS FINE CLOTHES AND HIS COPPER-COLORED SKIN THAT ANNOUNCED HIS INDIAN HERITAGE.

WEBB: HE HAD A MASSIVE HEAD, POWERFUL FEATURES, EXTRAOINARILY POWERFUL TORSO.

HE WAS A MAN OF GIGANTIC PHYSICAL STRENGTH.

ARMSTRONG: HE WEIGHED 200 POUNDS.

HE WAS 5'8", STOCKY,TRONG.

SEVERAL STORIES ABOUHIS STRENGTH, WHICH I THINK ALSO REFLECT THE FACT THAT HE SOMETIMES HAD TO DENHIMSELF IN THIS NEW CULTURE OF HIS.

HE WAS IN E SOUTH ON AN ENGINEERING JOB, AND IT WAS IN NORFOLK.

AND A GROUP OF THEM WANTED TO GO TO A BALL.

AND THE PERSON IN CHARGE WAS NOT GOING TO ADMIT THEM, PERHAPS BECAUSE THERE WAS AN INDN PRESENT.

HE IS SA TO HAVE PICKED UP THE MAN BY THE COLLAR AND THE SEAT OF HIS PANTS, DROPD HIM OVER A BANTER ONTO A LANDING BELOW, ANTHERE WAS NO MORE QUESTION WHETHER HE CLD ENTER T BALL.

STUDI: ELY PARKER OVERMATCHED MOST PEOPLE HE MET, PHYSICALLY AND INTELLECTUALLY.

WHEN THE CUSTOMHOUSE WAS COMPLETED IN 1859, A REPORTER DECLARED IT "THE MOST PERFECT STRUCTURE NORTH OF ST.

LOUIS AND WEST OF CHICAGO."

WITH THAT, PARKER EARNED A NATIONAL REPUTATION AS A TOP-NOTCH PROFESSIONAL IN THE WHITE MAN'S WORLD.

IN ONE OF THE MOST REVEALING STORIES, AT ONE POINT HE WENT BACK HOME WHILE HE WAS OUT WEST, VISITED HIS FATHER, AND THEN WROTE A LETTER ANSAID HE HAD HAD SUCH CONFLICTING ETIONS.

HE WANTED TO BE BACK OUT WEST WITH S FRIENDS, BUT HERE HE WAS AT HOME WITH HIS FAMILY AND HIS PEOPLE.

AND HE REALLY DIDN'T QUITE KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH TSE CONFLICTING EMOTIONS- ONE OF THE FEW TIMES HE SPOKE ABOUT THAT.

STUDI: ELY WROTE, "MY VISIT ALMOST MADE ME WEEP TO THINK "THAT MY FATE S DOOMED ME TO WALK IN OTHER CHANNELS.

"WITH SUCH FEELINGS RAGING WITHIN ME, "I TURN MY FACE WESTWARD THAT I MIGHT DRIVE SUCH THOUGHTS FAR AWAY."

BUT A CHANCE ENCOUNTER WITH ULYSSES S. GRANT SEEMED TO END PARKER'S EMOTIONAL TURMOIL.

THE TWO MET IN 1860 IN GALENA.

GRANT WAS THEN A 38-YEAR-OLD FORMER ARMY OFFICER, LANGUISHING AS A CLERK IN HIS FATHER'S STORE.

CARDINAL: ELY LATER RECALLED THAT GRANT WAS A SHY, QUIET MAN.

IN FACT, WHENEVER A CUSTOMER CAME INTO THE STORE, GRANT WOULD GO INTO THE BACK ROOM IN ORDER TO AVOID ANY CONVERSATION.

HE SAID GRANT WAS A LOT LIKE SOME OF HIS INDIAN FRIENDS.

HE DIDN'T HAVE MUCH TO SAY, BUT WHEN YOUREW HIM OUT, THERE WAS A GOOD DEAL OF SUBSTANCE THERE.

ONE OF THE STORIES YOU HEAR ABOUT GRANT AND PARKER IN THE TIMES OF GALENA IS THAT PARKER WAS WALKING ALONG ONE OF THE STREETS AND WAS PASSING A BAR.

AND HE HEARD A VOICE CALLING OUT FROM THE BARROOM THAT HE RECOGNIZED AS BEING GRANT'S.

ARMSTRONG: A HIS FRIEND GRANT WAS INVOLVED IN A FIGHT.

AND HE WENT IN, AND THE TWO MILITARY MEN TOOK DEFENSIVE POSITIONS BACK TO BACK AND FOUGHT OFF THESE ATTACKERS.

STUDI: THEIR FIRST ACQUAINTANCE WAS BRIEF, BUT THE BOND THEY FORGED WOULD SURVIVE THE NEXT TUMULTUOUS DECADE OF AMERICAN HISTORY.

THE CIVIL WAR IGNITED IN THE SPRING OF 1861.

AMIDST THE RISING TIDE OF PATRIOTISM, GRANT LEFT GALENA TO JOIN UNION FORCES.

WHEN ELY TRIED TO FOLLOW, HE MET WITH A FAMILIAR BARRIER -- THE WAR DEPARTMENT REFUSED HIS SERVICES, AND SECRETARY OF STATE WILLIAM SEWARD ANSWERED HIS REQUEST WITH AN INSULT.

ARMSTRONG: THE STORY IS SEWARD TOLD HIM FLATLY, "THIS IS A WHITE MAN'S AFFAIR.

"YOU CAN GO BACK TO THE RM.

"WE WILL SETTLE THIS AMONG OURSELVES, WITHOUT ANY INDIAN AID."

HE HAD TRAINED TO BE AN ENGINEER.

HE WAS A CAPTAIN IN THE NEW YORK STATE MILITIA.

WHAT BETTER PERSON TO BECOME A COMMISSIONED OFFICER AND HELP LEAD PEOPLE AGAINST THE SOUTH?

BUT HE WAS TOTALLY DENIED THIS OPPORTUNITY.

INSTEAD WHAT HE DID IS HE WENT BACK HOME TO TONAWANDA AND HOPED THAT SOMETHING WOULD BREAK AND THAT HE WOULD BE ABLE TO ENTER THE WAR.

WAITING FOR THAT, HE TALKS WITH HIS FATHER, THE WARRIOR.

AND HE SHOWS HIM A PICTURE OF THE UNION GENERAL STAFF.

AND HIS FATHER POINTS TO THE PICTURE OF GRANT AND HE SAYS, "THAT MAN WILL BE THE GREAT CAPTAIN.

"IF YOU FOLLOW THAT MAN YOU TOO WILL BECOME A GREAT WAR CAPTAIN."

STUDI: IT IS A STORY ELY REPEATED OFTEN -- AND THOUGHT ABOUT DURING THE NEXT TWO YEARS WHILE HE FARMED HIS LAND AT TONAWANDA.

IN THE SPRING OF 1863, GENERAL GRANT EMERGED AS THE COMMANDER OF THE UNION ARMIES OF THE WEST, AND HE USED HIS INFLUENCE TO GET ELY A COMMISSION -- AS A CAPTAIN IN THE VOLUNTEER ARMY.

CAPTAIN PARKER ARRIVED IN VICKSBURG IN JULY, JUST AFTER THE CONFEDERATES SURRENDERED TO GRANT'S ION FORCES.

AND WITHIN WKS, ELY WAS RECRUITED INTO GRANT'S INNER CIRCLE.

WEBB: HE WAS THE BEST PENMAN, HE WAS THE BEST GRAMMARIAN ON GRANT'S STAFF.

NOW THAT'S NOT SAYING A LOT GIVEN THE EDUCATIONAL LEVEL OF GRANT'S STAFF, BUT IT WAS CLEAR THAT HE WAS USING HIS EDUCATION AND USING IT TO VAULT UP TO THE TOPMOST LEVELS OF COMMAND OF THE UNION ARMY.

STUDI: AS ADJUTANT, THEN MILITARY SECRETARY, PARKER WAS AT GRANT'S SIDE FOR THE LAST TWO YEARS OF THE CIVIL WAR.

DURING THE CHATTANOOGA CAMPAIGN, ELY SAID HE RODE WITH GRANT "A HALF MILE IN THE FACE OF THE ENEMY, UNDER AN INCESSANT FIRE OF CANNON AND MUSKETRY."

IN A LETTER HOME, PARKER BGGED THAT HE HAD GROWN USED TO DANGER, AND WOULD GO INTO REGULAR BATTLE AS CALMLY AS HE WOULD GO TO HIS MEAL WHEN HUNGRY.

THERE'S THIS GREAT STORY ABOUT HOW ELY PARKER SAVED GENERAL GRANT'S LIFE.

IT W PART OF THE WILDERSS CAMPAIGN IN864.

IT WAS AT NIGHT, AND GRANT WAS RIDING WITH HIS STAFF TO GET FROM ONE PART OF THE LINES TO ANOTHER.

STUDI: PARKER SUDDENLY REALIZED THAT GRANT WAS TAKING THE GROUP RIGHT INTO ENEMY LINES.

HE SHOUTED A WARNING THEN WHEELED HIS HORSE AND LED THEM SAFELY BACK INTO UNION TERRITORY.

ARMSTRONG: HE SAID THAT AFTER THE WAR, HE ENCOUNTERED A CONFEDERATE OFFICER AND THOFFICER SAID, WE SAW GRANT AND HIS STAFF COMING INTO THLINES.

AND PEOPLE WANTED TO SHOOT, AND I SAID, "NO, LET 'EM COME AND WE'LL CAPTURE THEM ALL."

AND THEN HE SAID, ALL OF A SUDDEN, THEY TOOK OFF IN ANOTHER DIRECTION, AND PARKER EXPLAINED WHAT HAD HAPPENED.

STUDI: IN JUNE OF 1864 GRANT'S FORCES GROUND TO A HALT IN PETERSBURG, VIRGINIA -- HELD AT BAY FOR NINE MONTHS BY GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AND HIS ARMIES OF VIRGINIA.

DURING THAT TIME UNION FORCES HEADQUARTERED AT NEARBY CITY POINT.

PRESIDENT ABRAHAM LINCOLN OFTEN CAME THERE TO MONITOR THE WAR'S PROGRESS.

ELY SAID HE AND THE PRESIDENT SPENT HOURS DISCUSSING INDIAN AFFAIRS.

AND AFTER THE WAR, HE WAS ONE OF THE LAST TO SEE LINCOLN ALIVE.

ARMSTRONG: AFTER APPOMATTOX, I FOUNONE NEWSPAPER CLIPPING THATAID THAT PARKER HAD GONE ON GOOD FRIDAY TO THE WHITE HOUSE TO SEE LINCOLN.

TO SHOW HIM THE RED JACKET MEDAL WHICH WAS SO IMPORTANT TO HIM.

IT HAD BEEN GIVEN RED ET BY GEORGE WASHINGTON IN 1792.

THAT'S THE SAME DAY THAT LINCOLN WENT TO FORD'S THEATER.

STUDI: THE CIVIL WAR ACHED ITS MBOLIC END JUST DAYS BEFORE LINCOLN'S ASSAINATION.

AFTER RICHMOND FELL TO THE UNION, LEE'S FLIGHT WAS HALTED AT APPOMATTOX.

ON APRIL 9TH, HE AGREED TO SURRENDER HIS ARMY.

ELY PARKER WAS ONE OF A SELECT GROUP OF OFFICERS OSEN TWIESS THE FOALITIES, LD IN THE HOMEF POMATT RESIDENT WILMER MCLEAN.

ARMSTRONG: THOSE WHO WERE PRESENT SAID WHEN PARKER WAS INTRODUCED TO LEE, LEE APPEARED STARTLED.

AND THE ASSUMPTION WAS LEE MISTOOK PARKER FOR A BLACK MAN, AND WAS INSULTED THAT GRANT WOULD BRING A BLACK PERSON TO THE SURRENDER.

WEBB: AND LEE TOOK A LONG LOOK AT THIS COPPER COLORED PERSON.

AND THEN SAID, "I'M GLAD," SHAKING COLONEL PARKER'S HAND, "I'M GLAD THERE'S ONE REAL AMERICAN HERE."

AND ELY PARKER SAID HE RESPONDED BY SAYING, "WE'RE ALL AMERICA."

WHICH WAS A VERY GRACIOUS THING TO SAY AT THE END OF FOUR YEARS OF BLOODED.

STUDI: OVER 600,000 PEOPLE DIED, AND NEARLY 400, 000 MORE WERE INJURED DURING THE CIVIL WAR.

YEIT ENDED WITH A SIMPLE GENTLEMEN'S AGREEMENT.

ELY PARKER TOOK CENT STAGE IN THE CEREMONY WHEN COLONEL JOE BOWERS PROVED INCAPABLE OF WRITING OUT THE SURRENDER DOCUMENT.

ARMSTRONG: BOWERS WAS SO NERVOUS, HE TRIED TO DO THIS, AND KEPT TEARING UP PAPERS, AND FINALLY SAID, ARKER, YOU'RE ING TO HAVE TO DO THIS."

AND THIMPERTURBABLE PARKER WRE OUT THE TERMS OF SURRENDER.

STUDI: WITH A STROKE OF HIS PEN AT APPOMATTOX, ELY PARKER BECAME AN INDELIBLE PART OF AMERICAN HISTORY.

JUST AS THE CIVIL WAR HAD DIVIDED THE NATION, ELY'S EXPERIENCES WITH GRANT WOULD SEPARATE HIM FROM THE HAUDENOSAUNEE.

AFTER THE WAR, HE FOLLOWED GRANT TO WASHINGTON.

FROM 1865 TO 1869 HE WORKED FOR THE WAR DEPARTMENT AND WAS PROMOTED TO BRIGADIER GENERAL.

ONCE HE BECAME ACTIVE, YOU KNOW, ONCE HE BECAME A GENERAL, AND THEN WENT ON, HE DIDN'T COME BACK, HE DIDN'T CARRY ON ANY DUTIES, HE DIDN'T PARTICIPATE IN MEETINGS, HE DIDN'T DO ANY OF THAT.

HE WAS SIMPLY SOMEPLACE ELSE.

HE WAS AMBITIOUS.

HE WANTED TO BE IN THE WORLD, AND TO BE A PLAYER IN THE WORLD, AND WENT OFF TO DO THAT.

I THINK WHAT IT COST HIM, IN A SENSE, WAS HIS IDENTITY.

HE HAS REJECTED TOTALLY HIS SENE COMMUNITY.

INSTEAD, HE'S IDENTIFYING WITH A NEW COMMUNITY -- THAT OF THE PEOPLE HE FOUGHT WITH DURING THE WAR, AND ALSO NOW, MORE AND MORE WITH WASHINGTON SOCIETY.

STUDI: IN 1867, ELY SHOCKED THE SENECAS AND WASHINGTON SOCIETY WHEN HE ANNOUNCED HIS INTENT TO MARRY.

HE WAS 39.

HIS FIANCEE, MINNIE SACKETT, WAS AN 18-YEAR-OLD WHITE, CAPITOL BELLE.

BUT WHEN EVERYONE GATHERED FOR THE WEDDG, PARKER DIDN'T APPEAR.

STI: NATIONAL NEWSPAPERS JUMPED ON THE SCANDAL.

THE NEW YORK TIMES REPOED THAT PARKER HAD EITHER DROWNED IN THE POTOMAC OR HAD RUN OFF WITH ANOTHER WOMAN.

BUT NONE OF THE RUMORS WERE TRUE.

DAYS LATER, THE PARKERS WERE MARRIED IN PRIVATE.

AND ELY NEVER OFFERED A PUBLIC EXPLANATION FOR HIS MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE.

I THINK ELY PARKER DIDN'T SHOW UP TO HIS MARRIAGE BECAUSE HE WAS AFRAID.

I THINK THAT HE SAW BY MARRYING THIS WOMAN OF SOCIETY THAT HE REALLYASIVING UP THAT LAST CONNECTION WITH WHO HE WAS -- A TONAWANDA SENECA -- AND HE WAS REALLY WAS STEPPING ACROSS INTO THIS NEW COMMITMENT THAT I AM PART OF WHITEOCIETY THE HAUDENOSAUNEE CLAN SYSTEM IS MATRILINEAL.

AND BECAUSE HE MARRIED A WHITE WOMAN, NONE OF PARKER'S CHILDREN COULD BE SENECA.

AND THE MIXED MARRIAGE HAD VOCAL CRITICS IN WASHINGTON.

ONE SOCIETY MAVEN WAS SAID TO BE "RELIEVED" THAT MINNIE PARKER HAD YET TO PRODUCE ANY "HALF BREEDS."

[SINGING IN NATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGE] STUDI: WHEN THE PARKERS MARRIED, ANTI-INDIAN SENTIMENT WAS NEARING ITS HEIGHT IN AMERICA.

THE HOMESTEAD ACT AND TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROAD HAD CREASED WESTERN SETTLEMENT, AND WHEN INDIAN NATIONS DEFENDED THE HOMELANDS, IT ESCALATED INTO WAR.

MILITARY FORCES WERE OVERWHELMED.

BY 1868, THE CMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS ESTIMATED THAT THE WARS COST THE GOVERNMENT $1 MILLION PER INDIAN KILLED.

A FEDERAL DELEGATION WAS SENT TO TALK POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS WITH WESTERN INDIAN NATIONS -- AND ELY WAS ASKED TO LEND HIS EXPERTISE.

HE CONCLUDED THAT THE ENTIRE INDIAN AFFAIRS SYSTEM WAFLED BY LACK OF JUDGMENT AND INEFFICIENCIES.

IN 1869, ULYSSES S. GRANT BECAME PRESIDENT, AND ONE OF HIS FIRST ACTS WAS TO APPOINT ELY PARKER COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS.

ARMSTRONG: NO NATIVE AMERICAN HAEVER HELD THAT POSITION BEFORE.

IT WAS BRAND-NEW, BUT IT WAS WELL-RECEIVED.

THE SENATE, WITHOUT HESITATION, CONFIRMED IT.

WEBB: AS AOMMISSIONER OFNDIAN AFFAIRS, FIRST OF ALL HE CONTINUED THE PROGRAM HE HAD LAID OUT TO GRANT AND TO LINCOLN AT THE ARMY HEADQUARTERS AT CITY INT IN 1864 AND 18.

FIRST OF ALL, PEACE POLICY -- A POLICY OF MOVING FROM MILITARY EXTERMINATION OF NATIVE PEOPLES, TO ESTABLISHING PEACE WITH THEM.

HILL: I BELIEVE HIS POLITICS ARE RIGHT -- THAT IYOU FULFIL YO PMIS TO INDIA, YOU DELIVER THE TREATY GOODS YOU DELIVER THE FOOD YOU DELIVER THE SERVICES YOU PROMISE, YOU WON'T HAVE A WAR WITH INDIANS.

A LOT OF PEOPLE DON'T REALIZE THAT'S WHAT WAS ABOUT BACK THEN.

CARDINAL: HIS IDEA WAS, LET'S PUT THESE PEOPLE ON RESERVATIONS, THEY'RE IN A CONTROLLED SPACE.

WHAT IS IMPORTANT, NOT ONLY TO PUT THEM IN THAT CONTROLLED SPACE, BUT LET'S EDUCATE THEM.

LET'S TEACH THEM THE THINGS THAT THEY NEED TO KNOW IN ORDER TO SURVIVE AND MOVE FORWARD INTO THE NEXT CENTURY.

HILL: HE SAYS, "WE HAVE TO HUMANIZE, CIVILIZE, AND CHRISTIANIZE THE INDIANS."

AND THAT WAS NO DIFFERENT THAN WHAT EVERYBODY ELSE WAS SAYING AT THE TIME.

AND I BELIEVE THAT'S WHERE THE SEDUCTION TOOK PLACE.

THAT HE REALLY BELIEVED THAT TRADITION WOULD NO LONGER SAVE THE INDIANS FROM THEIR FATE.

BECAUSE THEIR FATE WAS NOW BEING DETERMINED BY THOSE WHO WERE HUMANIZED, CIVILIZED, AND CHRISTIANIZED.

STUDI: ELY HADECOME PRESIDENT GRANT'S EXAMPLE OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN IDE -- A SENECA CHIEF WHO WAS SIMILATED AND HAD THE POWER TO MAKE WHITE MEN OBEY HIS ORDERS.

AND HE WOULD USE THAT POWER AGAINST ANY INDIAN NATION THAT DISTURBED THE PEACE.

IN 1870, HE AROUSED CONTROVERSY WHEN A PIEGAN BAND OF BLACKFEET INDIANS REBELLED.

COMMISSIONER PARKER REQUESTED MILITARY INTERVENTION -- AND TROOPS ADVANCED TO MONTANA LED BY AN ARMY COLONEL AND CIVIL WAR VETERAN NAD EUGENE BAKER.

VENABLES: ANABOUT 170 MEN, WON, AND CHILDREN WERE KILLED A TIME WHEN THIS PARTICULAR TOWN OFIEGAN PEOPLE HAD TRIED TO SIGNAL TO THE ATTKING UNITED STATES FORCES THAT THEY WERE NEUTRAL, THEY WERE PRO-UNITED STATES, EY WERE NOT ENEMIES.

BUT BAKER CONTINUED TO FIRE INTO THEIR TOWN AND HE SLAUGHTERED ALL OF THESE PEOPLE.

IT WAS SUCH AN ATROCITY THAT CONGRESS INVESTIGATED IT.

AND DURING THAT INVESTIGATION, BECAUSE OF THIS LOYALTY THAT HAD DEVELOPED DURING THE CIVIL WAR, ELY PARKER SIDED WITH COLONEL BAKER.

HE SAID THAT IT WAS THE INDIANS' FAULT.

THEY HAD BROUGHT IT ON THEMSELVES.

HE WAS NLONGER A CULTURAL BRIDGE.

HE WAS SOMEONE WHO HAD ACCEPTED WHITE SOCIETY AND THE VALUES OF WHITE SOCIY BEING ALL IMPORTANT, ALL ENCOMPASSING AND HE HAD FORGOTTEN WHO HE WAS.

BY AGE 41, PARKER'S METAMORPHOSIS WAS COMPLETE.

SO IT'S IRONIC THAT AT THE POINT WHEN HE HAD TOTALLY EMBRACED WHITE SOCIETY, THAT IT WOULD REJECT HIM.

HIS POLITICAL CAREER BEGAN TO UNRAVEL WHEN HE TRIED TO RID HIS OFFICE OF AGENTS NOTORIOUS FOR THEIR THEFTS FROM INDIAN NATIONS.

HE KNEW IT WAS A CORRUPT SYSTEM GOING IN.

HIS PRIDE AND HIS EGO SAID, I CAN CHANGE THIS.

IN REALITY, THAT CORRUPTION WAS SO DEEP, WAS SO INGRAINED WITHIN THE FABRIC OF THE INSTITUTION AND THOSE THAT ARE RUNNING IT, THAT YÇ COULDN'T CHANGE IT.

STUDI: EVENTUALLY ELY PARKER BECAME THE FOCUS FOR THE SCANDAL.

THAT WAS THE WORK OF WILLIAM WELSH.

HE CHAIRED THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS CHARGED WITH OVERSIGHT OF THE REFORM.

ARMSTRONG: WELSH WAS A VERY PECULIAR PERSON.

A VERY SUSPICIOUS PERSON.

SAW CORRUPTION EVERYWHERE AND BECAME CONVINCED THAT PARKER WAS PART OF THE SO-CALLED INDIAN RING THAT WAS CORRUPTING E GOVEMENT, AND MADE ACCUSATIONS ABOUT HIM.

WELSH'S CHARS OF MISPROPRIATION WERE FIRST PRINTED IN WASHINGTON NEWSPAPERS.

THAT SPARKED A FEDERAL INVESTIGATION, WITH ELY ON TRIAL BEFORE THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES THE WINTER OF 1871.

CARDINAL: THE IDEA THAT HE WAS BEING THREATED, THAT HIS GOODNESS AND S INTELLIGENCE AND HIS ROLE AS A COMMISSIONER WAS BEING CHALLENGED, UPSET ELY GREATLY.

IT UPSET HIM SO MUCH THAT INSTEAD OF ATTENDING THE TRIAL, HE TOOK TO HIS BED.

STUDI: ALTHOUGH CLEARED OF ALL CHARGES OF FRAUD, HE WAS FOUND GUILTY OF ERRORS IN JUDGMENT.

CONGRESS RECOMMENDED HIS POWERS BE LIMITED, THAT HIS EVERY ACTION BE REVIEWED BY THE BOARD OF INDIAN COMMISSIONERS.

ARMSTRONG: AND THAT ACT -- TAKING AWAY PARKER'S OWN RESPONSIBILITY, AND THE HURT OF THOSE CHARGES, LED PARK TO GIVE IT ALL UP.

STUDI: HE RESIGNED IN AUGUST 1871.

PRESIDENT GRANT OFFERED HIM A LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION, BUT THEIR 11-YEAR FRIENDSHIP ENDED WHEN ELY LEFT WASHINGTON.

CARDINAL: HIS WIFE, MINNIE, SEEING THE DISAPPOINTMENT IN ELY'S FACE, KNOWING THAT HE HAD BEEN DISGRACED IN FRONT OF HIS FRIENDS, SAW AN OPPORTUNITY TO TAKE HIM AWAY FROM ALL THAT.

AND SHE TOOK HIM AND THEY WENT TO FAIRFIELD, CONNECTICUT, WHERE SHE HAD FAMILY AND FRIENDS, THINKING THIS WOULD BE AN OPPORTUNITY FOR A NEW START.

STUD T PARKERS BEGAN A NEW LIFE IN A FAIRFIELD HOME THEY CALLED ROBIN'S NEST.

THEIR ONLY CHI, MAUDE, WAS BORN WHEN ELY WAS 50.

HE CALLED HER "AH-WEH-AHWA-EE-YO" WHICH IN SENECA MEANS "BEAUTIFUL FLOWER," BUT THERE WAS NOTHING SENECA ABOUT HER UPBRINGING.

ON OCCASION, ELY WOULD VISIT TONAWANDA.

BUT HE WAS CONSUMED WITH HIS LIFE AS A BUSINESSMAN -- WITH WALL STREET INVESTMENTS, AND WEEKLY COMMUTES FROM FAIRFIELD TO NEW YORK CITY.

CARDINAL: IT WAS A TIME WHERE ERE WAS AN OPPORTUNITY TO SPEND A LITTLE MONEY AND GET A LOT IN RETURN.

HE SPECULATED IN STANDARD OIL AND MADE TONS OF MONEY.

BUT THEN, LIKE IN MOST STOCK MARKET ENTERPRISES AT THAT POINT, HE LOST LOT, TOO.

[ SINGING IN NATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGE ] STUDI: BY 1876, ELY WAS ALMOST PENNILESS.

HE DCOVERED THAT HIS ENGINEERING SKILLS WERE OUT OF DATE.

THE FORMER CMISSIONER WAS REDUCED TO ACCEPTING A POSITION AS A DESK CLERK IN THE NEW YORK CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT.

ARMSTRONG: A CLERK TO THE SUPPLY AND REPAIR COMMITTEE, A JOB THAT KEPT FOOD ON THE TABLE, BUTHAT HAD LITTLE RESPONSIBILIT AND LITTLE SATFACTION.

PARKER SERVED IN THAT JOB FOR THE LAST 19 YEARS OF HIS LIFE, WORKING ON REQUISITIONS FOR BROOMS AHOVELS AND PENCILS AND ERASERS -- QUE A COMEDOWN.

STUDI: ALTHOUGH ELY SAID MINNIE WAS THE LOVE OF HIS LIFE, HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH ANOTHER WOMAN DOMINATED HIS LATER YEARS.

HARRIET MAXWELL CONVERSE WAS A POET AND STUDENT OF THE HAUDENOSAUNEE.

THE TWO MET IN 1881.

THROUGH LETTERS THEY ESTABLISHED A FRIENDSHIP THAT SUSTAINED ELYARR UNTIL THDAY HE DIED.

CARDINAL: BECAUSE THEY CORRESPONDED SO CLOSELY, WE'RE ABLE TO STEP INTO THAT WORLD AND SEE THEIR THOUGHTS AND UNDERSTAND WHERE THEY WERE GOING WI EACH OTHER.

THIS IS A GREAT OPPORTUNITY TO REALLY LOOK AT ELY AS THIS MAN OF REFLECTION.

IT'S A GREAT WAY TO LOOK AT HARRIET MAXWELL CONVERSE AS THIS WOMAN WHO SUPPORTS WHO HE WAS, WHO BUILDS HIS EGO.

I THINK, IN THE LONG RUN, WHEN HE WROTE BACK TO HER, HE SHOWED THAT HE WAS STILL DISAPPOINTED IN HIMSELF.

AND HE WAS REALLY STARTING TO THINK, DID I DO THE RIGHT THING?

SHOU I HAVE STAYED IN TONAWANDA?

SHOULD I HAVE RFORMED MY DUTIES AS A CHIEF IN SENECA SOCIETY?

HAD I MADE MISTAKES IN MY LIFE THAT I REALLY REGRET?

WEBB: AND HE NEVER ABANDOD HIS PRE IN HAVING BEEN A GENERAL, OR HAVING BEEN GRANT'S AIDE, OR HAVING MADE SO MANY SUCCESSES -- SIX OR SEVEN CAREERS IN THE EUROPEAN WORLD.

BUT WHAT MADE HIM HIMSELF, HE BEGAN TO REALIZE, WAS HIS CLAN, HIS POSITION AA WOLF, HIS OFFICE AS A SACHEM, HIS POST AS THE KEEPER OF THE WESTERN DOOR.

AND SO, IN THAT SENSE, HE COMES FULL CIRCLE.

HE WENT RIGHT BACK TO HIS FIRST CONTACTS WITH MORGAN AND BEGAN TO SHED SOME OF THOSE IDEAS.

"SO LONG," HE SAID, "AS INDIAN PEOPLES CAN RETAIN "SOME OF THEIR PLACE AND SOME OF THEIR RELIGION "AND SOME OF THEIR TRADITION, "THEY CAN RETAIN THEIR IDENTITY.

"BUT THE MOMENT THEY TRADE THIS FOR A MESS OF CHRISTIAN POTTAGE, THEY WILL LOSE EVERYTHING."

BUT PARKER'S REALIZATION CAME WHEN HE WAS TOO FRAGILE IN MIND AND BODY TO MAKE SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES.

HE WAS SLOWED BY DIABETES, AND HIS PRIDE WAS WOUNDED BY HIS POVERTY.

HE HAD EVEN CONSIDERED PAWNING HIS SILVER RED JACKET MEDAL.

IN ONE LETTER, HE TOLD CONVERSE THAT HE WAS HAUNTED BY THE ACCOLADES OF HIS YOUTH.

"I AM CREDITED WITH BEING GREAT, POWERFUL, AND GOOD," HE WROTE.

"I AM AN IDEAL OR MYTH.

"I HAVE LOST MY IDENTITY AND LOOK ABOUT ME IN VAIN "FOR MY ORIGINAL BEING.

"I AM PURSUED BY A STILL, SMALL VOICE CONSTANTLY ECHOING, 'THOU ART A GENIUS, GREAT AND POWERF.'"

I THINK ON ONE HAND, IT'S LEGITIMATE.

YOU CAN SAY, YES, HE WAS A TRAITOR.

BECAUSE THERE WAS A BETRAYAL TO HIS PEOPLE.

AND NOT ONLY ABOUT TRADITION AND CUSTOM, BUT THIS WHOLE IDEA ABOUT WHAT VISION DID HE HAVE FOR THE FUTURE.

ON THE OTHER HAND, I THINK THOSE WHO SAY, WELL, AT LEAST HE WAS TRYING.

HE TRIED TO BLEND THESE TWO WORLDS TOGETHER, AND ISN'T THERE A LESSON IN THERE THAT WE SHOULD PURSUE?

I'M SAYING YES, BOTH ARE TRUE.

YES, WE HAVE TO UNDERSTAND WHAT ARE WE FIGHTING FOR, 'CAUSE GUESS WHAT, WE'VE STILL GOT TO GO TO WASHINGTON, WE'VE STILL GOT TO DEAL WITH THE BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS.

WE'VE STILL GOT TO DEAL WITH SCHOOLS.

ALL OF THOSE SAME ISSUES THAT FACED PARKER, WE STILL FACE.

GIVEN THAT IT'S INESCAPABLE THAT INDIANS WILL BE SURROUNDED AND IMMERSED BY A CULTURE WHICH IS REALLY GLOBAL.

I MEAN IT'S NOT EVEN JUST A CASE, OH, IT'S AMERICAN CULTURE, ANGLO CULTURE, WHATEVER, YOU KNOW, YOU GO ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD, AND THERE IS THAT CULTURE RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU, EVERYWHERE YOU GO.

AND ARE THEY GOING TO BE ABLE TO MAINTAIN THEMSELVES AS A SPECIFIC GROUP?

WELL, A LOT OF PEOPLE HAVEN'T ONLY FORGOTTEN ELY PARKER, THEY'VE FORGOTTEN WHO THEY ARE, AND WHAT THEIR INSTITUTIONS ARE, AND HOW THEY WORK, AND THEY'VE FORGOTTEN HOW TO BE SENECAS.

IS THAT GOING TO BE REVERSED?

I THINK NOT.

I THINK IT'S GOING TO GET MORE PERVASIVE RATH THAN LESSERSIVE.

AND WE SHALL SEE, WHETHER ELY PARKER IS JUST AHEAD OF HIS TIME, TRAGICALLY JUST AHEAD OF HIS TIME, OR WHETHER HE'S AN EXAMPLE WHICH YOUNG PEOPLE CAN USE TO SAY, WELL I'M NOT GOING TO GO THAT FAR.

I'M GOING TO USE THE MAINSTREAM SKILLS TO FIGHT FOR MY PEOPLE'S RIGHTS, BUT I'M NOT GOING GO SO FAR AS TO THINK THAT SCE I'M SO SUCCESSFUL IN USING THOSE SKILLS, I WILL BE ACCEPTED INTO THAT MAINSTREAM -- BECAUSE THEY WON'T BE.

[ SINGING IN NATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGE ] STUDI: DURING HIS LAST DAYS, ELY PARKER DREAMED OF RETURNING TO DARST AND SECRET WILDS, AND THERE, TO EXPIREILENTLY, HAPPILY, AND FORGOTTEN, AS DO BIRDS OF THE AIR AND BEASTS OF THE FIELD.

HE LIVED 67 YEARS, AND HAD WALKED IN TWO WORLDS.

DONEHOGAWA WAS LAID TO REST IN FORMER SENECA LANDS IN WESTERN NEW YORK.

AND WITH THAT, THE LAST OF HIS MOTHER'S PROPHETIC DREAM WAS FULFILLED.

HIS SUN ROSE ON INDIAN LANDS AND SET ON THE WHITE MAN'S LAND, BUT THE ANCIENT EARTH OF HIS PEOPLE ENLDED HIM IN DEATH.

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS PROGRAM AND ELY PARKER, VISIT PBS ONLINE AT... TO ORDER A VHS COPY OF "WARRIOR IN TWO WORLDS," CALL... THIS PROGRAM WAS MADE POSSIBLE BY THE LENNOX FOUNDATION, A FAMILY FOUNDATION PROVIDING FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS NCE 1951.

AND BY...