Land area
Land of the Pawnee (four confederated bands) in Nebraska and South Dakota, ceded 1857 (area 408)
- 1857
Ceded to the United States
In the record
Ceded by the four Pawnee bands in the 1857 Table Creek treaty, all their claimed lands in Nebraska and South Dakota except a reserve on the Loup Fork. The area covers about 14 million acres in what is now Nebraska and South Dakota.
The 1899 record names Pawnee as the people of this land.
How it was taken: a treaty or agreement. The OSU treaty text records a cession for annuities; HistoryNet describes settler hostility and calls for removal before the treaty but does not describe coercion in the treaty council.
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.
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
- Rosebud Sioux Tribe (Sicangu Oyate) Nation government Pe' Sla (1,942 acres, Nov 30, 2012)
- 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
- Cheyenne River Youth Project (CRYP) Native-led Youth programs Website
- Native Governance Center Native-led Strengthening Native nation governance and capacity to exercise sovereignty 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
Located in 2
Agreements recorded for this land 1
- Treaty with the Pawnee (Table Creek), 18571857suggested
Sources
- Royce, Indian Land Cessions (1899), Schedule entry dated 1857-09-24primary record
- Kappler, Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties, text for 1857-09-24primary record
- Royce’s map sheet: Dakota 1 (Library of Congress)primary 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
- 408
- Dates in the 1899 record
- 1857-09-24
- Kind of instrument
- Treaty or agreement
- Peoples as named in the 1899 record
- Pawnee (four confederated bands)
- States
- NE; SD
- Counties
- Antelope; Boone; Brown; Buffalo; Cherry; Colfax; Custer; Dawson; Garfield; Greeley; Hall; Holt; Howard; Keya Paha; Knox; Lincoln; Logan; Loup; Madison; Merrick; Nance; Platte; Rock; Sherman; Thomas; Todd; Tripp; Valley
- Map sheets in the 1899 record
- Dakota 1; 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