Ottawa and Chippewa at L'Arbre Croche and Michilimackinac (1820)
In 1820 the Ottawa and Chippewa ceded the Saint Martin Islands in Lake Huron, which contain plaster of Paris, for a quantity of goods.
- Signed
- July 6, 1820
- Senate
- Ratified
What happened
What happened
On July 6, 1820, Lewis Cass, the United States commissioner, signed a treaty at L'Arbre Croche and Michilimackinac in the territory of Michigan. The other parties were the Ottawa and Chippewa nations.
The treaty is only three articles long. In the first, the Ottawa and Chippewa ceded "the Saint Martin Islands in Lake Huron, containing plaster of Paris, and to be located under the direction of the United States." The text does not give the size of the islands. It says the land was to be located, or marked out, under the direction of the United States.
In the second article, the two nations acknowledged that they had "this day received a quantity of goods in full satisfaction of the above cession." The goods are not listed or priced. Chiefs of both nations signed, among them Ottawa chiefs named Chemogueman and Oninjuega and Chippewa chiefs named Weashe and Kenojekum.
The treaty became binding once the President and Senate ratified it. The Statutes at Large record a proclamation on March 8, 1821. The text gives plaster of Paris as the only hint of why the islands mattered to the United States.
Summarized with AI assistance from 3 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.
cede to the United States the Saint Martin Islands in Lake Huron, containing plaster of Paris
Tribal Treaties Database (OSU)Art . 1. The Ottawa and Chippewa nations of Indians cede to the
Statutes at Large, vol. 7 (GovInfo)Proclamation, Mar. 8, 1821
Tribal Treaties Database (OSU)
Research notes. The text does not state the islands' size or the goods' value. Why the United States wanted the islands is not explained beyond the mention of plaster of Paris.
What the treaty did to the land
Each shape is a numbered area in the federal government’s 1899 record of land cessions.
ceded to the United States
Land of the Chippewa and Ottawa in Michigan, ceded 1820 (area 113)
Ceded by the Ottawa and Chippewa to the United States in 1820, the St. Martin islands in Lake Huron, Michigan.
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:
- 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
- treaties.okstate.edu/treaties/treaty-with-the-ottawa-and-chippewa-1820-0188reference work
July 6, 1820. | 7 Stat., 207. / scan: 188 TREATY WITH THE OTTAWA AND CHIPPEWA, 1820.
Shapes are approximate and are not legal descriptions of land, title or jurisdiction.