Land area
Land of the Sioux (Sisseton, Wahpeton, Medewakanton, and Wahpekute bands) in Minnesota and South Dakota, ceded 1863 (area 440)
- 1851
Set aside as a reservation
By Treaty of Traverse des Sioux (Sisseton and Wahpeton), 1851
- 1851
Set aside as a reservation
- 1858
Set aside as a reservation
By Sioux (Mdewakanton and Wahpekuta [Wahpekute]) at Washington, DC (1858)
- 1863
Ceded to the United States
The 1899 record: “Their reserve in Minnesota to be sold by U. S. for their benefit”
In the record
Set apart in 1851 along the Minnesota River for the Sioux and kept south of the river in 1858; after the 1862 outbreak, an 1863 act took it and ordered it sold. The area covers about 738 thousand acres in what is now Minnesota and South Dakota.
The 1899 record names Sioux (as named in treaty records), Sisseton, Wahpekute and Wahpeton as the people of this land.
How it was taken: a treaty made under documented pressure. MNopedia says the Dakota were in a weak bargaining position and that traders' debts shaped the negotiations; Why Treaties Matter says traders pushed the negotiations.
Today, Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, Crow Creek Sioux Tribe, Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe of South Dakota, Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, Montana, Lower Brule Sioux Tribe, Lower Sioux Indian Community in the State of Minnesota and 10 more 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:
- Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe
- Crow Creek Sioux Tribe
- Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe of South Dakota
- Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, Montana
- Lower Brule Sioux Tribe
- Oglala Sioux Tribe
- Rosebud Sioux Tribe (Sicangu Oyate)
- Santee Sioux Nation, Nebraska
Working with these nations
- Rosebud Sioux Tribe (Sicangu Oyate) Nation government Pe' Sla (1,942 acres, Nov 30, 2012)
- Indian Land Tenure Foundation (ILTF) Native-led Land recovery and control by tribes and individual Indian landowners Website
- Lakota People's Law Project (program of Sacred Defense Fund) Native-led Legal advocacy 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
- Cheyenne River Youth Project (CRYP) Native-led Youth programs Website
- Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation (Lakota Land Systems) Native-led Lakota-led regenerative community development on Pine Ridge: Lakota Land Systems Give on their site Website
Land return and Native-led work nearby
- Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission (GLIFWC) Nation government Ojibwe treaty rights in ceded territories, natural resource stewardship, manoomin, and a Land Conservancy program… Give on their site Website
- Dream of Wild Health Native-led Owns a 30-acre farm in Hugo MN Give on their site Website
- Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN) Native-led Environmental and climate justice Give on their site 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
- Decolonizing Wealth Project (Indigenous Earth Fund; California Tribal Land Return) Native-led Reparative philanthropy Give on their site Website
- Honor the Earth Native-led Pipeline resistance, sovereignty, energy justice Give on their site Website
- Indian Law Resource Center Native-led Legal assistance to Indigenous nations to protect lands, resources, treaty and human rights 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 8
- Lower Sioux Indian Community in the State of Minnesotamatched by the Forest Service, under reviewsuggested
- Prairie Island Indian Community in the State of Minnesotamatched by the Forest Service, under reviewsuggested
- Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community of Minnesotamatched by the Forest Service, under reviewsuggested
- Sioux (as named in treaty records)as named in the 1899 recordsuggested
- Sissetonas named in the 1899 recordsuggested
- Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyatematched by the Forest Service, under reviewsuggested
- Wahpekuteas named in the 1899 recordsuggested
- Wahpetonas named in the 1899 recordsuggested
Agreements recorded for this land 4
Located in 2
Sources
- Royce, Indian Land Cessions (1899), Schedule entry dated 1851-07-23primary record
- Kappler, Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties, text for 1851-07-23primary record
- Kappler, Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties, text for 1851-08-05primary record
- Kappler, Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties, text for 1858-06-19primary record
- Royce, Indian Land Cessions (1899), Schedule entry dated 1858-06-19primary record
- Kappler, Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties, text for 1858-06-19primary record
- Royce’s map sheet: Dakota 1 (Library of Congress)primary record
- Royce’s map sheet: Minnesota 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
- 440
- Dates in the 1899 record
- 1851-07-23; 1851-08-05; 1858-06-19; 1858-06-19; 1863-03-03
- Kind of instrument
- Treaty or agreement
- Peoples as named in the 1899 record
- Sioux (Sisseton, Wahpeton, Medewakanton, and Wahpekute bands)
- States
- MN; SD
- Counties
- Brown; Grant; Lac Qui Parle; Redwood; Roberts; Yellow Medicine
- Map sheets in the 1899 record
- Dakota 1; Minnesota 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