Ottawa (Ohio) at Lake Erie (1831)
In 1831 two Ottawa bands in Ohio ceded about 50,000 acres; one agreed to move west, the other was offered land if it chose.
- Signed
- August 30, 1831
- Senate
- Ratified
- Land given up
- about 69,000 acres
- Land set aside for the nations
- about 48,000 acres
What happened
What happened
On August 30, 1831, James B. Gardiner, special commissioner for the United States, signed articles with chiefs, head men and warriors of Ottoway bands in Ohio. The preamble says the band on Blanchard's Fork and at Oquanoxa's village had "expressed their consent" to the Act of Congress of May 28, 1830 and their "willingness to remove west of the Mississippi."
The first band ceded the reservations from the 1817 treaty, "twenty-one thousand seven hundred and sixty acres." A second band, at Roche de Boeuf and Wolf Rapids, wished to join the convention but was "not being willing, at this time, to stipulate for their removal west of the Mississippi." It ceded 28,157 acres reserved by the 1807 treaty of Detroit.
The United States agreed to remove the first band, "about two hundred souls," and grant them 34,000 acres west of the Mississippi. It would provide a year of food and advance $2,000 for improvements. It promised the second band 40,000 acres if they decided to go.
Article 16 lists claims by traders and others against the Ottawas, which the chiefs "acknowledge." These were to be paid from surplus land-sale proceeds, in equal shares. The sales would deduct seventy cents per acre first. The Statutes at Large record a proclamation on April 6, 1832.
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.
not being willing, at this time, to stipulate for their removal west of the Mississippi
Tribal Treaties Database (OSU)forty thousand acres of land, west of the Mississippi
Tribal Treaties Database (OSU)James B. Gardiner
Statutes at Large, vol. 7 (GovInfo)
Research notes. The page does not show the negotiating conditions, so whether consent was freely given cannot be judged from it. Total debts in Article 16 were not summed. Acreage: about 21,760 and 28,157 acres ceded, about 49,900 in all.
What the treaty did to the land
About 69,000 acres given up. about 48,000 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.
set aside as a reservationabout 48,000 acres
Land of the Ottawa of Blanchard's Fork and Roche de Boeuf in Kansas, ceded 1862 (area 435)
Given to the Ottawa of Blanchard's Fork and Roche de Boeuf as a Kansas reserve in 1831; the 1862 treaty divided it into allotments and sold the rest for the tribe.
ceded to the United Statesabout 23,000 acres
Land of the Ottawa (residing in Ohio) in Ohio, ceded 1831 (area 167)
Set aside for the Ottawa on Blanchard's Fork as 5 miles square in 1817, then ceded in August 1831.
ceded to the United Statesabout 23,000 acres
Land of the Ottawa (residing in Ohio) in Ohio, ceded 1831 (area 168)
Set aside for the Ottawa at Oquanoxa's village on the Little Auglaize as 3 miles square in 1817, then ceded in August 1831.
ceded to the United Statesabout 23,000 acres
Land of the Ottawa (residing in Ohio) in Ohio, ceded 1831 (area 169)
Kept for the Ottawa as a 6-mile-square tract above Roche de Boeuf, at Tondaganie's village, in the 1807 Treaty of Detroit, then ceded by the Ottawa of Ohio in August 1831.
ceded to the United States
Land of the Ottawa (residing in Ohio) in Ohio, ceded 1831 (area 170)
Kept for the Ottawa as a 3-mile-square tract in the 1807 Treaty of Detroit (first at Presque Isle, later moved to Wolf Rapids), then ceded by the Ottawa of Ohio in August 1831.
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.
- 1807
Land kept
About 23,000 acres set aside as a reservation for the Ottawa (residing in Ohio)
By Treaty of Detroit, 1807
- 1817
Land kept
About 46,000 acres set aside as a reservation for the Ottawa (residing in Ohio)
By Treaty of the Maumee Rapids (Rapids of the Miami of Lake Erie), 1817
- 1831
This treaty
About 48,000 acres set aside as a reservation for the Ottawa of Blanchard's Fork and Roche de Boeuf. About 69,000 acres ceded to the United States by the Ottawa (residing in Ohio)
In 1831 two Ottawa bands in Ohio ceded about 50,000 acres; one agreed to move west, the other was offered land if it chose.
- 1862
Land lost
About 48,000 acres ceded to the United States by the Ottawa of Blanchard's Fork and Roche de Boeuf
By United Ottawa of Blanchard's Fork and Roche de Boeuf at Washington, DC (1862)
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:
- Grand River Bands of Ottawa Indians
- Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, Michigan
- Little River Band of Ottawa Indians, Michigan
- Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, Michigan
- Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma
- Anishinaabe
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
- Native Land Conservancy (Massachusetts) Native-led Native-led land conservation 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 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-1831-0335reference work
Aug. 30, 1831. | 7 Stat., 359. / scan: TREATY WITH THE OTTAWA, 1831. 335
Shapes are approximate and are not legal descriptions of land, title or jurisdiction.