Yankton Sioux at Portage des Sioux (1815)
On 19 July 1815 at Portage des Sioux, the Yankton Sioux made peace with the United States and accepted its protection.
- Signed
- July 19, 1815
- Senate
- Ratified
What happened
What happened
On 19 July 1815, at Portage des Sioux, William Clark, Ninian Edwards and Auguste Chouteau signed a treaty of peace and friendship for the United States with the chiefs and warriors of the Yancton (Yankton) tribe of Indians.
The preamble says both sides wanted to re-establish peace and friendship and to put the Yankton on the same footing as before "the late war between the United States and Great Britain." Article 1 forgives every injury or act of hostility committed by either side. Article 2 declares perpetual peace and friendship between all citizens of the United States and all individuals of the Yancton tribe, and renews the friendly relations that existed before the war.
In Article 3 the undersigned chiefs and warriors, for themselves and their tribe, acknowledge themselves to be under the protection of the United States, and of no other nation, power or sovereign.
The text is short and contains no cession of land, no boundary and no payment. The page lists ratification on 26 December 1815. The signature block names those who witnessed the signing, but the transcript does not describe the Yankton leaders or what they were offered.
Summarized with AI assistance from 4 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.
Every injury or act of hostility committed by one or either of the contracting parties against the other, shall be mutually forgiven and forgot.
Treaty with the Yankton Sioux, 1815, Tribal Treaties Databasethe late war between the United States and Great Britain
Treaty with the Yankton Sioux, 1815, Tribal Treaties Databasedo hereby acknowledge themselves to be under the protection of the United States of Ameriea, and of no other nation, power, or sovereign, whatsoever
Treaty with the Yankton Sioux, 1815, Tribal Treaties DatabaseRatified Dec. 26, 1815.
Treaty with the Yankton Sioux, 1815, Tribal Treaties Database
Research notes. The text spells the nation 'Yancton'. The transcript has an OCR-style typo ('Ameriea') that is quoted as printed.
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:
- 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
- Oglala Sioux Tribe
- Prairie Island Indian Community in the State of Minnesota
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
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.
Sources
Sources
- treaties.okstate.edu/treaties/treaty-with-the-yankton-sioux-1815-0115reference work
July 19, 1815. | 7 Stat., 128. / scan: TREATY WITH THE Me\KAH, 1815. 115
Shapes are approximate and are not legal descriptions of land, title or jurisdiction.