Cherokee at Chickasaw Council House (1816)
In 1816 the Cherokee delegates agreed to a western boundary and ceded land beyond it for a $6,000 annuity and $5,000 for improvements.
- Signed
- September 14, 1816
- Senate
- Ratified
- Land given up
- about 2.2 million acres
What happened
What happened
On September 14, 1816, Andrew Jackson, David Meriwether and Jesse Franklin, commissioners for the United States, signed a treaty with Cherokee delegates at the Chickasaw council house. The treaty says its aim was "to perpetuate peace and friendship" and "to remove all future causes of dissension which may arise from indefinite territorial boundaries." It would bind the parties once approved by the Cherokee nation and ratified by the United States.
In Article 2 the Cherokee nation acknowledged a western boundary south of the Tennessee River. It starts at Camp Coffee, opposite Chickasaw Island, runs south to the dividing ridge between the Tennessee and Tombigbee waters, then east along that ridge to Well's Creek and the Coosa River. In Article 3 the Cherokee relinquished all claim to lands south and west of the line. The commissioners agreed to an annuity of $6,000 for ten years and $5,000 within sixty days after ratification as compensation for improvements on the surrendered land.
Article 5 set a council at Turkey's Town on September 28. If the Cherokee did not assemble, the commissioners could report that as "a tacit ratification." A note at the end records that the treaty was "ratified at Turkey Town, by the whole Cherokee nation in council assembled," with a signing date of October 4, 1816.
The sources here give no acreage and do not describe the council or later events.
Good to know. The treaty allowed a failure to appear to count as Cherokee ratification, but the text records an actual council ratification on October 4, 1816.
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.
To perpetuate peace and friendship between the United States and Cherokee tribe, or nation, of Indians, and to remove all future causes of dissension
Treaty with the Cherokee, 1816 (Sept. 14) (Oklahoma State University Tribal Treaties Database)the Cherokee nation relinquish to the United States all claim, and cede all title to lands laying south and west of the line
Treaty with the Cherokee, 1816 (Sept. 14) (Oklahoma State University Tribal Treaties Database)it is understood that the said commissioners may report the same as a tacit ratification
Treaty with the Cherokee, 1816 (Sept. 14) (Oklahoma State University Tribal Treaties Database)ratified at Turkey Town, by the whole Cherokee nation in council assembled
Treaty with the Cherokee, 1816 (Sept. 14) (Oklahoma State University Tribal Treaties Database)
Research notes. This summary rests on the treaty text alone. The tacit-ratification clause let the commissioners report a non-appearance as ratification; the text records an actual council ratification on October 4, 1816. No acreage is stated.
What the treaty did to the land
About 2.2 million acres given up. Each shape is a numbered area in the federal government’s 1899 record of land cessions.
ceded to the United Statesabout 2.2 million acres
Land of the Cherokee in Alabama, ceded 1816 (area 79)
Ceded by the Cherokee in 1816, their claim to land in Alabama south and west of their recognized western boundary.
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:
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-cherokee-1816-0133reference work
Sept. 14, 1816. | 7 Stat., 148. / scan: 133
Shapes are approximate and are not legal descriptions of land, title or jurisdiction.