Living Law,
Living LandSupport land rights
All treaties and agreements

Treaty

Maha (Omaha) at Portage des Sioux (1815)

On 20 July 1815, the Mahas (Omaha) made peace with the United States and accepted its protection.

Signed
July 20, 1815
Senate
Ratified

What happened

On 20 July 1815, William Clark, Ninian Edwards and Auguste Chouteau, commissioners of the United States, signed a treaty of peace and friendship with the chiefs and warriors of a tribe or nation the text calls the Mahas. The Oklahoma State database files it as a treaty with the Makah, but the text says Mahas, that is, the Omaha. The Makah are not named.

The preamble says both sides wanted to re-establish peace and friendship and to put the tribe 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 tribe or nation of the Mahas, and renews the friendly relations that existed before the war.

In Article 3 the chiefs and warriors acknowledge themselves and their tribe to be under the protection of the United States and of no other nation, power or sovereign.

The treaty cedes no land and sets no boundary. The page lists ratification on 26 December 1815. Among the signers was Oupaatanga, or the big elk, a principal chief of the Omaha.

Good to know. Kappler and the Oklahoma State database title this a treaty with the Makah, but the text names the Mahas, that is, the Omaha. Big Elk, an Omaha chief, signed it.

Summarized with AI assistance from 6 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

Supported by the sources below; some details rest on one source.

  1. and the Chiefs and Warriors of the Mahas, on the part and behalf of said Tribe or Nation, of the other partTreaty with the Makah, 1815 (text names the Mahas), Tribal Treaties Database
  2. the late war between the United States and Great BritainTreaty with the Makah, 1815 (text names the Mahas), Tribal Treaties Database
  3. to be under the protection of the United States, and of no other nation, power, or sovereign, whatsoeverTreaty with the Makah, 1815 (text names the Mahas), Tribal Treaties Database
  4. Ratified Dec. 26, 1815.Treaty with the Makah, 1815 (text names the Mahas), Tribal Treaties Database
  5. Treaty with the Maha (Omaha), 1815https://lewisandclarkresearch.org/treaties/treaty-with-the-makah-1815/
  6. Big Elk , also known as Ontopanga (1765/75–1846/1848), was a principal chief of the Omaha tribe for many years on the upper Missouri Riverhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Elk

Research notes. Kappler, the Oklahoma State database and the National Archives title this a treaty with the 'Makah', but the text names the 'Mahas'. The Lewis & Clark Trust lists it as the treaty with the Maha (Omaha), and the signers include Oupaatanga, or the big elk, a principal chief of the Omaha.

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.

This history belongs to living nations. Start with them:

Native legal and land defense, nationally

Gifts go straight to each organization; this atlas takes nothing. Listing is not endorsement: how organizations are listed.

Sources

  1. treaties.okstate.edu/treaties/treaty-with-the-makah-1815-0115reference work
    July 20, 1815. | 7 Stat., 129. / scan: TREATY WITH THE Me\KAH, 1815. 115

Shapes are approximate and are not legal descriptions of land, title or jurisdiction.