Treaty of Butte des Morts, 1827
At Butte des Morts in 1827 the Chippewa, Menominee and Winnebago fixed a boundary and referred New York Indian claims to the President.
- Signed
- August 11, 1827
- Senate
- Ratified
- Land given up
- about 22,000 acres
What happened
What happened
On August 11, 1827, Lewis Cass and Thomas L. McKenney signed a treaty at Butte des Morts, on the Fox River in the Territory of Michigan. The other parties were the Chippewa, Menomonie and Winebago tribes.
Article 1 says the southern boundary of the Chippewa country "was left undefined by the treaty concluded at Prairie du Chien" in 1825, because some principal Menomonie chiefs had not attended. The tribes now agreed a line running northeast from the Plover Portage of the Ouisconsin River to Wolf River, and on to Green Bay.
Article 2 records "much difficulty" over the dealings of the Menomonie and Winebago with the tribes of New York. It refers the whole matter to the President, whose decision "shall be final." Article 3 has the Menomonie and the United States agree on the boundaries of a tract at Green Bay, "the jurisdiction and title of which are hereby acknowledged to be in the United States." The President could adjust the lines if they interfered with just claims of the New York Indians.
The commissioners distributed goods worth $15,682 "in consideration of the liberal establishment of the boundaries." Article 6 reserved the right of the United States to punish those responsible for "the recent outrages at Prairie du Chien, and upon the Mississippi." The Statutes at Large record a proclamation on February 23, 1829.
Summarized with AI assistance from 2 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
Supported by the sources below; some details rest on one source.
on a northeasterly course, to a point on Wolf river, equidistant
Statutes at Large, vol. 7 (GovInfo)the jurisdiction and title of which are hereby acknowledged to be in the United States
Statutes at Large, vol. 7 (GovInfo)
Research notes. The Green Bay tract's acreage is not stated. The text does not explain the outrages at Prairie du Chien.
What the treaty did to the land
About 22,000 acres given up. Each shape is a numbered area in the federal government’s 1899 record of land cessions.
kept by the United States for itselfabout 22,000 acres
Land kept by the United States in Wisconsin, 1827 (area 134)
Not a new cession: the 1827 Treaty of Butte des Morts only set the boundaries of the Green Bay tracts once claimed by France and Britain, already held by the United States.
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
- Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin Nation government Restoration of about 200,000 acres to reservation status (1975)
- 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/102226473reference work
Research notes
Land description from memory.
Shapes are approximate and are not legal descriptions of land, title or jurisdiction.