In 1744, representatives from Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania and the Six Nation Iroquois gathered together in Lancaster Pennsylvania in order to strengthen positive and beneficial relations embodied by the Covenant Chain of treaties amongst the English and the Iroquois. The end result of this council satisfied both parties, however, the objectives and interpretations of the two cultures reflected a deeper misunderstanding and disconnect that plagued their relationship from the beginning. Iroquois chief Gachadodow recognized the disparity of roots and routines between the English and the Iroquois while attempting to rectify a miscommunication with Virginia, inadvertently highlighting the reasons the two could never recondition their relationship. If, as Gachadodow says, the two were never from the same source to start, how should they expect to ever be bound together? At the Treaty of Lancaster the English and the Iroquois were unable to transcend the gulf between them because the English were unwilling to recognize the Iroquois as their equals leading them to manipulate their cultural differences and the purpose of their meeting in order to further their own anti- French agenda.
The Iroquois and the English could never hope to breach the limits discussed by Gachadodow so long as the English believed themselves to be superior. Although each party addresses one another as Brother throughout the treaty document, Virginia and Maryland act more like the evil step sisters in Cinderella who think they are better than her because she is not from the same mother, or in this case, from the same mother country. From the beginning of their discussion, the English treat the Indians like children. The English contrast the "old and wise People of Maryland" with the Indians "rash expressions", scolding them for bringing into question the strength of their Covenant Chain which "had contracted some rust" (50, 47).
