Land area
Land of the Potawatomi in Oklahoma, ceded 1891 (area 506)
- 1867
Set aside as a reservation
- 1872
Named in the record
The 1899 record: “Home provided for Shawnees on 30 miles square tract of the Pottawatomies in Indian Territory”
- 1891
Ceded to the United States
The 1899 record: “Confirms agreement with said Indians whereby they cede to the U. S. the following lands: Beginning at a point on the right bank of the N. fork of the Canadian river”
- 1891
Ceded to the United States
The 1899 record: “Confirms agreement by which these Indians cede to the U. S. the following lands”
In the record
Set apart for the Potawatomi in Indian Territory as a 30-mile-square tract in 1867 and shared with the Absentee Shawnee from 1872; ceded in agreements Congress confirmed in March 1891. The area covers about 576 thousand acres in what is now Oklahoma.
The 1899 record names Potawatomi as the people of this land.
How it was taken: a treaty or agreement. The preamble records the tribe's belief that a southern home served its interest; the text describes federal planning of the relocation but states no coercion.
Today, Citizen Potawatomi Nation, Oklahoma, Forest County Potawatomi Community, Wisconsin, Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi, Hannahville Indian Community, Michigan, Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi, Michigan, Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, Michigan and Indiana and 1 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:
Working with these nations
- 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
- Honor the Earth Native-led Pipeline resistance, sovereignty, energy justice Give on their site Website
- Native Land Conservancy (Massachusetts) Native-led Native-led land conservation Give on their site Website
- White Earth Land Recovery Project (WELRP) Native-led Recover the original White Earth reservation land base Give on their site Website
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 9
- Citizen Potawatomi Nation, Oklahomamatched by the Forest Service, under reviewsuggested
- Forest County Potawatomi Community, Wisconsinmatched by the Forest Service, under reviewsuggested
- Hannahville Indian Community, Michiganmatched by the Forest Service, under reviewsuggested
- Kaw (Kanza)matched by the Forest Service, under reviewsuggested
- Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomimatched by the Forest Service, under reviewsuggested
- Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi, Michiganmatched by the Forest Service, under reviewsuggested
- Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, Michigan and Indianamatched by the Forest Service, under reviewsuggested
- Potawatomias named in the 1899 recordsuggested
- Prairie Band Potawatomi Nationmatched by the Forest Service, under reviewsuggested
Agreements recorded for this land 1
- Potawatomi at Washington, DC (1867)1867suggested
Located in 1
Sources
- Royce, Indian Land Cessions (1899), Schedule entry dated 1867-02-27primary record
- Kappler, Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties, text for 1867-02-27primary record
- Royce, Indian Land Cessions (1899), Schedule entry dated 1872-05-23primary record
- Royce, Indian Land Cessions (1899), Schedule entry dated 1891-03-03primary record
- Royce’s map sheet: Indian Territory 3 (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
- 506
- Dates in the 1899 record
- 1867-02-27; 1872-05-23; 1891-03-03; 1891-03-03
- Kind of instrument
- Treaty or agreement
- Peoples as named in the 1899 record
- Potawatomi
- States
- OK
- Counties
- Cleveland; Oklahoma; Pottawattamie
- Map sheets in the 1899 record
- Indian Territory 3
- 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