Land area
Land of the Seminole in Oklahoma, ceded 1866 (area 480)
- 1856
Set aside as a reservation
- 1866
Ceded to the United States
In the record
Given by the Creek to the Seminole in 1856, then ceded by the Seminole to the United States in the March 1866 treaty. The area covers about 800 thousand acres in what is now Oklahoma.
The 1899 record names Seminole as the people of this land.
How it was taken: a treaty made under documented pressure. The preamble says the Seminoles' Confederate treaty incurred liability of forfeiture of their lands, and the cession was made "in compliance with the desire of the United States.".
Today, Seminole Nation of Oklahoma and Seminole Tribe of Florida 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:
Land return and Native-led work nearby
- Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes Nation government Seeking return of about 6,700 acres at Fort Reno
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 3
- Seminoleas named in the 1899 recordsuggested
- Seminole Nation of Oklahomamatched by the Forest Service, under reviewsuggested
- Seminole Tribe of Floridamatched by the Forest Service, under reviewsuggested
Agreements recorded for this land 2
- Creeks and Seminole at Washington, DC (1856)1856suggested
- Reconstruction Treaty with the Seminole, 18661866suggested
Located in 1
Sources
- Royce, Indian Land Cessions (1899), Schedule entry dated 1856-08-07primary record
- Kappler, Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties, text for 1856-08-07primary record
- Royce, Indian Land Cessions (1899), Schedule entry dated 1866-03-21primary record
- Kappler, Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties, text for 1866-03-21primary record
- Royce’s map sheet: Indian Territory 2 (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
- 480
- Dates in the 1899 record
- 1856-08-07; 1866-03-21
- Kind of instrument
- Treaty or agreement
- Peoples as named in the 1899 record
- Seminole
- States
- OK
- Counties
- Cleveland; Oklahoma; Pottawattamie
- Map sheets in the 1899 record
- Indian Territory 2
- 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