Land area
Land of the Arapaho of Upper Arkansas and Cheyenne of Upper Arkansas in several states, ceded 1861 (area 426)
- 1851
Recognized as Native land
- 1861
Ceded to the United States
By Treaty of Fort Wise (Arapaho and Cheyenne of the Upper Arkansas), 1861
- 1865
Partly ceded to the United States
In the record
Defined as Cheyenne and Arapaho territory by the 1851 Fort Laramie treaty (noted in the 1899 federal record as never ratified), ceded except a reserve at Fort Wise in 1861, with more claims given up in 1865. The area covers about 48 million acres in what is now Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska and Wyoming.
The 1899 record names Arapaho and Cheyenne as the people of this land.
How it was taken: a treaty made under documented pressure. The National Archives article says many Cheyennes and Arapahos did not recognize the treaty, and the treaty text lists only ten named signers.
Today, Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, Northern Arapaho Tribe of the Wind River Reservation, Wyoming and Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation, Montana carry 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
This history belongs to living nations. Start with them:
Working with these nations
- Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes Nation government Seeking return of about 6,700 acres at Fort Reno
- Right Relationship Boulder (Land Group) Native-led Funds tribal youth camps and gatherings, plant-gathering access, trail content with tribes, pushes for tribal… Give on their site Website
Land return and Native-led work nearby
- Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition Nation government Tribal co-management and protection of Bears Ears National Monument Give on their site Website
- Colorado Plateau Foundation Native-led Grants to Native-led organizations protecting Colorado Plateau lands, waters and cultures Give on their site Website
- 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 4
- Arapahomatched by the Forest Service, under reviewsuggested
- Cheyenneas named in the 1899 recordsuggested
- Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribesmatched by the Forest Service, under reviewsuggested
- Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation, Montanamatched by the Forest Service, under reviewsuggested
Located in 4
Agreements recorded for this land 3
Sources
- Royce, Indian Land Cessions (1899), Schedule entry dated 1851-09-17primary record
- Kappler, Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties, text for 1851-09-17primary record
- Royce, Indian Land Cessions (1899), Schedule entry dated 1861-02-18primary record
- Kappler, Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties, text for 1861-02-18primary record
- Kappler, Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties, text for 1865-10-14primary record
- Royce’s map sheet: Nebraska (Library of Congress)primary record
- Royce’s map sheet: Kansas 1 (Library of Congress)primary record
- Royce’s map sheet: Colorado 1 (Library of Congress)primary record
- Royce’s map sheet: Wyoming 1 (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
- 426
- Dates in the 1899 record
- 1851-09-17; 1861-02-18; 1865-10-14
- Kind of instrument
- Treaty or agreement
- Peoples as named in the 1899 record
- Arapaho of Upper Arkansas; Cheyenne of Upper Arkansas
- States
- CO; KS; NE; WY
- Counties
- Adams; Albany; Arapahoe; Banner; Bent; Boulder; Carbon; Chaffee; Chase; Cheyenne; Converse; Custer; Denver; Deuel; Douglas; Dundy; El Paso; Elbert; Finney; Fremont; Garden; Goshen; Greeley; Hamilton; Hayes; Hitchcock; Huerfano; Jackson; Jefferson; Kearny; Keith; Kimball; Kiowa; Kit Carson; Lake; Laramie; Larimer; Las Animas; Lincoln; Logan; Morgan; Morrill; Natrona; Park; Perkins; Phillips; Platte; Prowers; Pueblo; Scotts Bluff; Sedgwick; Sherman; Teller; Wallace; Washington; Weld; Wichita; Yuma
- Map sheets in the 1899 record
- Nebraska; Kansas 1; Colorado 1; Wyoming 1
- 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