Chippewa, Ottawa, Potawatomi, Wyandot, and Shawnee at Brownstown, Michigan Territory (1808)
At Brownstown five nations ceded a road corridor from the Maumee rapids toward Ohio, with a mile of land on each side.
- Signed
- November 25, 1808
- Senate
- Ratified
- Land given up
- about 69,000 acres
What happened
What happened
On November 25, 1808, William Hull, governor of Michigan Territory, signed a treaty at Brownstown with the sachems, chiefs and warriors of the Chippewa, Ottawa, Potawatomi, Wyandot and Shawnee nations.
The preamble gives the United States' reason. The 1807 Treaty of Detroit had ceded land on the west and north side of the Maumee River. But the land on the southeast side, between the river and the Greenville and Fort Industry lines, still belonged to the nations. So the United States "cannot, of right, open and maintain a convenient road from the settlements in the state of Ohio" to the settlements in Michigan, or connect them.
In Article II the nations "give, grant, and cede" a road 120 feet wide from the foot of the Maumee rapids to the western line of the Connecticut Reserve, along with "all the land within one mile of the said road, on each side thereof, for the purpose of establishing settlements." They also ceded a second 120-foot road running south from Lower Sandusky to the Greenville line. The United States could take timber and other materials from adjacent lands to build and repair the roads.
The nations kept the right to hunt and fish on these lands while the United States owned them (Article IV), and again acknowledged U.S. protection (Article V). The text says the road was meant to benefit the nations "as well as" the United States. No payment for the cession appears in the text, which the OSU record shows was ratified March 1, 1809.
Summarized with AI assistance from 3 sources and checked against their words; not yet reviewed by historians or by the nations. Report an error
What the sources say, and how this was checked
Well supported by the sources below.
cannot, of right, open and maintain a convenient road from the settlements in the state of Ohio
Treaty with the Chippewa, etc., 1808 (Oklahoma State University Tribal Treaties Database)all the land within one mile of the said road, on each side thereof, for the purpose of establishing settlements along the same
Treaty with the Chippewa, etc., 1808 (Oklahoma State University Tribal Treaties Database)retain the privilege of hunting and fishing on the lands given and ceded
Treaty with the Chippewa, etc., 1808 (Oklahoma State University Tribal Treaties Database)
Research notes. The treaty text states no payment for the cession. The statement that the road benefits the nations is the treaty's own framing. No acreage is stated.
What the treaty did to the land
About 69,000 acres given up. Each shape is a numbered area in the federal government’s 1899 record of land cessions.
ceded to the United Statesabout 69,000 acres
Land of the Chippewa, Ottawa and others in Ohio, ceded 1808 (area 70)
Ceded by the Wyandot, Shawnee, Chippewa, Ottawa and Potawatomi in 1808, a strip for a road with a mile of land on each side, from the Miami rapids to the Connecticut Reserve line in Ohio.
What happened next
Everything the record holds about this land and this treaty, in order: what earlier agreements said, what this one did, and what the United States, the courts and the nations did afterwards.
Who is doing the work today
The nations connected to this treaty come first, then groups returning land and defending treaty rights. Support goes directly to them.
Who is doing the work
This history belongs to living nations. Start with them:
- Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians of the Bad River Reservation, Wisconsin
- Bay Mills Indian Community
- Chippewa Cree Indians of the Rocky Boy's Reservation, Montana
- Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, Michigan
- Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin
- Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa
- Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of Michigan
- Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana
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
- White Earth Land Recovery Project (WELRP) Native-led Recover the original White Earth reservation land base Give on their site Website
- Native Land Conservancy (Massachusetts) Native-led Native-led land conservation 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.
Sources
Sources
- treaties.okstate.edu/treaties/treaty-with-the-chippewa-etc-1808-0099reference work
Nov. 25, 1808. | 7 Stat., 112. / scan: 99
Shapes are approximate and are not legal descriptions of land, title or jurisdiction.