Treaty of Saginaw with the Chippewa, 1819
The Chippewa ceded a large part of central Michigan's Saginaw region, keeping reservations, for cash, annuities and services.
- Signed
- September 24, 1819
- Senate
- Ratified
- Land given up
- about 12 million acres
- Land set aside for the nations
- about 178,000 acres
What happened
What happened
On September 24, 1819, Lewis Cass, commissioner for the United States and governor of Michigan Territory, signed a treaty at Saginaw with the Chippewa nation. The Chippewa ceded a large area in Article 1. It starts at the Indian boundary line six miles south of the "base line," runs west sixty miles, then in a direct line to the head of the Thunder Bay River and down it to its mouth. From there it runs northeast to the boundary with Upper Canada and back along the 1807 Treaty of Detroit line.
Article 2 reserved about fifteen tracts for the Chippewa, such as 8,000 acres on the Au Sable River and 40,000 acres on the west side of the Saginaw River. Article 3 reserved 640 acres each for named individuals. Article 4 set an annuity of $1,000 in silver forever. Article 5 let the Chippewa hunt on the ceded land and make sugar there while it stayed U.S. property. Article 8 promised a blacksmith, farming tools and cattle.
A Michigan State University geography page, drawing on the Atlas of Michigan, says the push for the treaty came from people who wanted Saginaw Valley land "for settlement or speculation." They lobbied in Washington, and Cass was told to negotiate. It says between 1,500 and 4,000 Indians gathered, that ships brought provisions and liquor, and that soldiers came aboard to protect the negotiators. It says Cass proposed to buy "some six million acres," offered $3,000 in cash and $1,000 a year, and after the signing authorized five barrels of whiskey to be opened.
Good to know. The six million acre figure is the amount Lewis Cass proposed to buy, according to a 1977 Michigan State atlas; the treaty itself states no total.
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.
One tract, of forty thousand acres, on the west side of the Saginaw river, to be hereafter located.
Treaty with the Chippewas, 1819, 7 Stat. 203 (U.S. Statutes at Large, govinfo.gov)the sum of one thousand dollars in silver
Treaty with the Chippewas, 1819, 7 Stat. 203 (U.S. Statutes at Large, govinfo.gov)The tract Cass proposed to buy from the Indians consisted of some six million acres
Indian Cessions (Geography of Michigan, Michigan State University, from the Atlas of Michigan)ambitious to secure lands for settlement or speculation
Indian Cessions (Geography of Michigan, Michigan State University, from the Atlas of Michigan)
Research notes. The MSU page is a 1977 atlas text and its language is dated; only its factual statements were used. The six million acre figure is what MSU says Cass proposed to buy, not a figure in the treaty text. The treaty names only the Chippewa nation; MSU says the Ottawa and Chippewa were invited to the council. The treaty also gives $1,000 a year, while MSU adds that Cass offered 'whatever additional sum' the government might think proper.
What the treaty did to the land
About 12 million acres given up. about 178,000 acres recognized, kept or set aside for the nations. Each shape is a numbered area in the federal government’s 1899 record of land cessions.
ceded to the United Statesabout 12 million acres
Land of the Chippewa in Michigan, ceded 1819 (area 111)
Ceded by the Chippewa to the United States in the 1819 Treaty of Saginaw, giving up central Michigan.
set aside as a reservationabout 22,000 acres
Land of the Chippewa, Saginaw tribe in Michigan, ceded 1837 (area 228)
Kept by the Saginaw Chippewa as 2,000 acres on the Rifle River in the 1819 Treaty of Saginaw, then ceded to the United States in the 1837 Detroit treaty.
set aside as a reservationabout 22,000 acres
Land of the Chippewa, Saginaw tribe in Michigan, ceded 1837 (area 229)
Kept by the Saginaw Chippewa as 6,000 acres on the north side of the Kawkawlin River at their village in 1819, then ceded to the United States in the 1837 Detroit treaty.
set aside as a reservationabout 22,000 acres
Land of the Chippewa, Saginaw tribe in Michigan, ceded 1837 (area 230)
Kept by the Saginaw Chippewa as 5,760 acres on the Flint River, including Reaum's village, in 1819, then ceded to the United States in the 1837 Detroit treaty.
set aside as a reservationabout 22,000 acres
Land of the Chippewa, Saginaw tribe in Michigan, ceded 1837 (area 231)
Kept by the Saginaw Chippewa as 8,000 acres at the head of the Cass (once Huron) River in 1819, then ceded to the United States in the 1837 Detroit treaty.
set aside as a reservationabout 22,000 acres
Land of the Chippewa, Saginaw tribe in Michigan, ceded 1837 (area 233)
Kept by the Saginaw Chippewa as 2,000 acres at Nababish on the Saginaw River in 1819, then ceded to the United States in the 1837 Detroit treaty.
set aside as a reservationabout 22,000 acres
Land of the Chippewa, Saginaw tribe in Michigan, ceded 1837 (area 237)
Kept by the Saginaw Chippewa for their own use when they ceded land in the 1819 Treaty of Saginaw, then ceded to the United States in the 1837 Detroit treaty.
set aside as a reservationabout 22,000 acres
Land of the Chippewa, Saginaw tribe in Michigan, ceded 1837 (area 238)
Kept by the Saginaw Chippewa for their own use when they ceded land in the 1819 Treaty of Saginaw, then ceded to the United States in the 1837 Detroit treaty.
set aside as a reservationabout 22,000 acres
Land of the Chippewa, Saginaw tribe in Michigan, ceded 1837 (area 240)
Kept by the Saginaw Chippewa for their own use when they ceded land in the 1819 Treaty of Saginaw, then ceded to the United States in the 1837 Detroit treaty.
set aside as a reservation
Land of the Chippewa, Saginaw tribe in Michigan, ceded 1837 (area 227)
Kept by the Saginaw Chippewa as 8,000 acres on the Au Sable River in the 1819 Treaty of Saginaw, then ceded to the United States in the 1837 Detroit treaty.
set aside as a reservation
Land of the Chippewa, Saginaw tribe in Michigan, ceded 1837 (area 232)
Kept by the Saginaw Chippewa as an island in Saginaw Bay, about 1,000 acres, in 1819, then ceded to the United States in the 1837 Detroit treaty.
set aside as a reservation
Land of the Chippewa, Saginaw tribe in Michigan, ceded 1837 (area 234)
Kept by the Saginaw Chippewa for their own use when they ceded land in the 1819 Treaty of Saginaw, then ceded to the United States in the 1837 Detroit treaty.
set aside as a reservation
Land of the Chippewa, Saginaw tribe in Michigan, ceded 1837 (area 235)
Kept by the Saginaw Chippewa for their own use when they ceded land in the 1819 Treaty of Saginaw, then ceded to the United States in the 1837 Detroit treaty.
set aside as a reservation
Land of the Chippewa, Saginaw tribe in Michigan, ceded 1837 (area 236)
Kept by the Saginaw Chippewa for their own use when they ceded land in the 1819 Treaty of Saginaw, then ceded to the United States in the 1837 Detroit treaty.
set aside as a reservation
Land of the Chippewa, Saginaw tribe in Michigan, ceded 1837 (area 239)
Kept by the Saginaw Chippewa for their own use when they ceded land in the 1819 Treaty of Saginaw, then ceded to the United States in the 1837 Detroit treaty.
set aside as a reservation
Land of the Chippewa, Saginaw tribe in Michigan, ceded 1837 (area 241)
Kept by the Saginaw Chippewa for their own use when they ceded land in the 1819 Treaty of Saginaw, then ceded to the United States in the 1837 Detroit treaty.
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.
- 1819
This treaty
About 12 million acres ceded to the United States by the Chippewa. About 178,000 acres set aside as a reservation for the Chippewa, Saginaw tribe
The Chippewa ceded a large part of central Michigan's Saginaw region, keeping reservations, for cash, annuities and services.
- 1837
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:
- Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians of the Bad River Reservation, Wisconsin
- Bay Mills Indian Community
- Chippewa Cree Indians of the Rocky Boy's Reservation, Montana
- Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, Michigan
- Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin
- Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa
- Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of Michigan
- Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana
Working with these nations
- Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission (GLIFWC) Nation government Ojibwe treaty rights in ceded territories, natural resource stewardship, manoomin, and a Land Conservancy program… Give on their site Website
- Honor the Earth Native-led Pipeline resistance, sovereignty, energy justice Give on their site Website
- White Earth Land Recovery Project (WELRP) Native-led Recover the original White Earth reservation land base Give on their site Website
- Native Land Conservancy (Massachusetts) Native-led Native-led land conservation 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
- 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
- digitreaties.org/treaties/treaty/101784571reference work
Research notes
Acreage approx..
Shapes are approximate and are not legal descriptions of land, title or jurisdiction.