Land area

Land of the Pawnee (four confederated bands) in Nebraska, ceded 1848 (area 270)

Shape traced from the 1899 maps; approximate. Open on the map

1848
Ceded to the United States
By Pawnee (Grand Pawnee, Pawnee Loups, Pawnee Republicans, and Pawnee Tappage) at Fort Childs Near the Head of Grand Island on the South Side of the Nebraska or Great Platte River (1848)

In the record

Ceded by the four Pawnee bands in 1848, land on the Platte River near Fort Childs, Nebraska. The area covers about 162 thousand acres in what is now Nebraska.

The 1899 record names Pawnee as the people of this land.

How it was taken: a treaty or agreement. The OSU treaty text records an agreement signed with a military officer and paid in goods on the spot, with no coercion described.

Today, Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma carries the history of the people named here.

Written from the records linked here; open any of them for its sources.

See this cession on the map

Shapes come from C. C. Royce’s 1899 maps as georeferenced by the US Forest Service. They are approximate and are not legal descriptions of land. Royce recorded land the United States treated as ceded; the shape does not show a nation’s territory.

Who is doing the work

Land return and Native-led work nearby

Great Plains Action Society Native-led ReMatriation, land defense, Protect the Sacred, regenerative economy, civic engagement in Iowa and eastern Nebraska Give on their site Website

Native legal and land defense, nationally

Native American Rights Fund (NARF) Native-led Litigation and legal advocacy for tribal sovereignty, treaty rights, land and resources Give on their site Website
NDN Collective (LANDBACK Campaign) Native-led LANDBACK campaign (launched 2020; Mount Rushmore closure and return of Black Hills public lands), Indigenous… Give on their site Website
Indian Land Tenure Foundation (ILTF) Native-led Land recovery and control by tribes and individual Indian landowners Website
Decolonizing Wealth Project (Indigenous Earth Fund; California Tribal Land Return) Native-led Reparative philanthropy Give on their site Website

Gifts go straight to each organization; this atlas takes nothing. Listing is not endorsement: how organizations are listed.

Connections

Links marked “suggested” were matched automatically by name or date and have not yet been reviewed by a person.

Nations named for this land 2

Pawneeas named in the 1899 recordsuggested
Pawnee Nation of Oklahomamatched by the Forest Service, under reviewsuggested

Agreements recorded for this land 1

Pawnee (Grand Pawnee, Pawnee Loups, Pawnee Republicans, and Pawnee Tappage) at Fort Childs Near the Head of Grand Island on the South Side of the Nebraska or Great Platte River (1848)1848suggested

Located in 1

Nebraska

Sources

Royce, Indian Land Cessions (1899), Schedule entry dated 1848-08-06primary record
Kappler, Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties, text for 1848-08-06primary record
Royce’s map sheet: Nebraska (Library of Congress)primary record
USDA Forest Service, Tribal Lands Ceded to the United States (digitized Royce maps)reference work

The record’s fields

Area number in the 1899 record: 270
Dates in the 1899 record: 1848-08-06
Kind of instrument: Treaty or agreement
Peoples as named in the 1899 record: Pawnee (four confederated bands)
States: NE
Counties: Buffalo; Hall; Merrick
Map sheets in the 1899 record: Nebraska
Geometry: Approximate shape from Royce’s 1899 maps

Research notes

geometry_role is 'cession' for every USFS feature: no field in the source distinguishes cessions from reservations.

Kind: Land area
Confidence: Medium

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