Tribes of the Illinois Nation (Peoria, Kaskaskia, Michigamea, Tamaroa, and Chahokia) at Edwardsville, Illinois Territory (1818)
In 1818 the Peoria, Kaskaskia, Mitchigamia, Cahokia and Tamarois confirmed the 1803 cession and extended it to cover the Peoria claim.
- Signed
- September 25, 1818
- Senate
- Ratified
- Land given up
- about 16 million acres
What happened
What happened
On September 25, 1818, Ninian Edwards and Auguste Chouteau signed a treaty at Edwardsville with the principal chiefs and warriors of the Peoria, Kaskaskia, Mitchigamia, Cahokia and Tamarois tribes of the Illinois nation.
The preamble explains the reason. The 1803 treaty at Vincennes had ceded land "supposed to include all the land claimed" by the Kaskaskia, Mitchigamia, Cahokia and Tamarois. It did not include land rightfully claimed by the Peoria, who lived apart, "were not represented," and never received any part of the payment. The Peoria were now "disposed to cede all their land." To avoid disputes over the boundary, they agreed to join the other tribes in confirming the 1803 cession and extending it to cover all their claims.
Article 1 describes the area: from the junction of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers up the Ohio to Saline Creek, along the dividing ridges to the Illinois River waters, to the junction of the Kankakee and Maple rivers, then down the Illinois to the Mississippi. The 1803 stipulations stayed binding.
In Article 3 the United States took the Peoria under its "immediate care and patronage." In Article 4 it paid $2,000 in merchandise and promised the Peoria $300 a year for twelve years. Article 5 promised them 640 acres, including their village on Black-water River in Missouri Territory.
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.
who were not represented in the treaty referred to above, nor ever received any part of the consideration
Treaty with the Peoria, etc., 1818 (Oklahoma State University Tribal Treaties Database)now also disposed to cede all their land to the United States
Treaty with the Peoria, etc., 1818 (Oklahoma State University Tribal Treaties Database)an annuity of three hundred dollars
Treaty with the Peoria, etc., 1818 (Oklahoma State University Tribal Treaties Database)six hundred and forty acres of land, including their village on Black-water river
Treaty with the Peoria, etc., 1818 (Oklahoma State University Tribal Treaties Database)
Research notes. Single source (treaty text). The text does not name states for the described area.
What the treaty did to the land
About 16 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 16 million acres
Land of the Cahokia, Kaskaskia and others in Illinois, ceded 1818 (area 96a)
Ceded and confirmed by the Peoria, Kaskaskia, Mitchigamia, Tamaroa and Cahokia in 1818, a large tract in Illinois, enlarging the 1803 Kaskaskia cession.
earlier terms confirmedabout 9.5 million acres
Land of the Kaskaskia in Illinois, ceded 1803 (area 48)
Ceded by the Kaskaskia at Vincennes in August 1803; the Piankishaw recognized their right to sell it in 1804, and the 1818 Edwardsville treaty confirmed and enlarged the cession.
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.
- 1803
Land lost
About 9.5 million acres ceded to the United States by the Kaskaskia
By Kaskaskia at Vincennes (1803)
- 1804
Land kept
About 9.5 million acres recognized as land of the Kaskaskia
By Piankashaw at Vincennes, Indiana Territory (1804)
- 1818
This treaty
About 16 million acres ceded to the United States by the Cahokia, Kaskaskia and others. Earlier terms confirmed for the land of the Kaskaskia
In 1818 the Peoria, Kaskaskia, Mitchigamia, Cahokia and Tamarois confirmed the 1803 cession and extended it to cover the Peoria claim.
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-peoria-etc-1818-0165reference work
Sept. 25, 1818. | 7 Stat., 181. / scan: TREATY WITH THE PEORIA, ETC., 1818. 165
Shapes are approximate and are not legal descriptions of land, title or jurisdiction.