Kickapoo at Portage des Sioux (1815)
On 2 September 1815 at Portage des Sioux, Kickapoo chiefs and deputies made peace with the United States and agreed to return prisoners.
- Signed
- September 2, 1815
- Senate
- Ratified
What happened
What happened
On 2 September 1815, at Portage des Sioux, William Clark, Ninian Edwards and Auguste Chouteau, commissioners of the United States, signed a treaty of peace and friendship with the chiefs, warriors and deputies of the Kickapoo tribe or nation. It came about six weeks after the first Portage des Sioux treaties of July 1815.
The preamble says both sides wanted to re-establish peace and friendship, and to put the Kickapoo on the same footing as before the war. Article 1 forgives every injury or act of hostility by either side. Article 2 declares perpetual peace and friendship between all citizens of the United States and all individuals of the Kickapoo nation.
In Article 3 both sides promised to deliver up all prisoners in their hands to the officer commanding at Fort Clarke on the Illinois River, to be restored to their respective nations as soon as practicable. In Article 4 they recognized, re-established and confirmed every earlier treaty, contract and agreement between the United States and the Kickapoo.
The text cedes no land and sets no boundary. The page lists ratification on 26 December 1815. It does not say which Kickapoo bands sent deputies, or what was in the earlier treaties it confirms.
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 by one or either of the contracting parties towards the other, shall be mutually forgiven and forgot.
Treaty with the Kickapoo, 1815, Tribal Treaties Databaseto the officer commanding at Fort Clarke, on the Illinois river
Treaty with the Kickapoo, 1815, Tribal Treaties Databaserecognize, re-establish, and confirm, all and every treaty, contract, and agreement, heretofore concluded between the United States and the Kickapoo tribe or nation
Treaty with the Kickapoo, 1815, Tribal Treaties DatabaseRatified Dec. 26, 1815.
Treaty with the Kickapoo, 1815, Tribal Treaties Database
Research notes. Which Kickapoo bands were represented is not stated. The treaty does not restate the earlier treaties it confirms.
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:
- Kickapoo Tribe of Indians of the Kickapoo Reservation in Kansas
- Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma
- Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas
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-kickapoo-1815-0116reference work
Sept. 2, 1815. | 7 Stat., 130. / scan: 116 TREATY WITH THE KICKAPOO, 1815.
Shapes are approximate and are not legal descriptions of land, title or jurisdiction.