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Treaty

Potawatomi (St. Joseph, Cold Water, Wabash, and Elkhart Bands) at Tippecanoe River, Indiana (1832)

In 1832 Potawatomi bands ceded their title to land in Indiana, Illinois and southern Michigan Territory for annuities, goods and debt payments.

Signed
October 27, 1832
Senate
Ratified
Land given up
about 806,000 acres
Land set aside for the nations
about 46,000 acres
The land in this treaty’s record. Open on the map

What happened

On October 27, 1832, commissioners Jonathan Jennings, John W. Davis and Marks Crume signed a treaty on the Tippecanoe River, Indiana, for the United States. The other party was the chiefs and warriors of the Potowatomies of the State of Indiana and Michigan Territory.

In Article 1 they ceded "their title and interest to lands in the States of Indiana and Illinois, and in the Territory of Michigan, south of Grand river." The treaty states no acreage. Article 2 set aside reservations from the cession for named bands. These included ten sections for the band of Che-Chaw-kose, sixteen for the band of Ash-kum and Wee-si-o-nas, and four for each of several others. It also reserved the reservation at Po-ca-gan's village and one for Potowatomies at Notta-we-sipa under earlier treaties. Article 3 granted tracts to named individuals.

In Article 4 the United States agreed to pay $15,000 a year for twelve years, and $32,000 in goods soon after signing. It also agreed to pay $10,000 in goods the next spring at Notta-wa-si-pa, to be paid to that band and used to pay their just debts. Those debts, listed in a schedule, amounted to $20,721. It promised $2,000 a year for educating Indian youths for as long as Congress thought proper.

The Statutes at Large record a proclamation on January 21, 1833. The treaty does not describe the negotiation or what followed.

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.

  1. cede to the United States, their title and interest to lands in the States of Indiana and IllinoisTribal Treaties Database (OSU)
  2. will pay fifteen thousand dollars annually for twelve yearsTribal Treaties Database (OSU)
  3. PotowatomiesStatutes at Large, vol. 7 (GovInfo)

Research notes. No acreage is stated. The $10,000 in goods and the debts schedule read together in the text; the debts total is the treaty's own figure, and the schedule itself is not printed.

What the treaty did to the land

About 806,000 acres given up. about 46,000 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.

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.

  1. 1821

    Land kept

    Land set aside as a reservation for the Chippewa, Ottawa and others

    By Treaty of Chicago, 1821

    area 188

  2. 1832

    This treaty

    About 806,000 acres ceded to the United States by the Potawatomi of Indiana and Michigan. About 46,000 acres set aside as a reservation for the Chippewa, Ottawa and others

    In 1832 Potawatomi bands ceded their title to land in Indiana, Illinois and southern Michigan Territory for annuities, goods and debt payments.

  3. 1833

    Land lost

    About 23,000 acres ceded to the United States by the Chippewa, Ottawa and others

    The 1899 record: “cede to the U. S. the tract of land on St .Joseph river opposite the town of Niles, and extending to the line of the stale”

    area 190

  4. 1833

    Land lost

    Land ceded to the United States by the Chippewa, Ottawa and others

    The 1899 record: “at Notawasepe, of 4 miles siiuare, contained in thethiid clause of the second article of the treaty made at Chicago on Aug. 29, 1821”

    area 188

  5. 1834

    Land lost

    About 23,000 acres ceded to the United States by the Potawatomi (Mota's band)

    By Potawatomi (Mota's Band) at Indian Agency, Logansport, Indiana (1834)

    area 201

  6. 1836

    Land lost

    Land ceded to the United States by the Potawatomi (Mes-quaw-buck's band)

    By Potawatomi (Mesquawbuck's Band) at Turkey Creek Prairie, Indiana (1836)

    area 204

  7. 1836

    Land lost

    Land ceded to the United States by the Potawatomi (band of Wau-ke-wa, Chekose's only son)

    By Potawatomi (Waukewa's Band) at Tippecanoe River, Indiana (1836)

    area 208

  8. 1836

    Land lost

    About 23,000 acres ceded to the United States by the Potawatomi (Mota's band) and Potawatomi

    By Potawatomi (of the Wabash) at Chippewanaung, Indiana (1836)

    area 201 area 223 area 224 area 225

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.

This history belongs to living nations. Start with them:

Working with these nations

Native legal and land defense, nationally

Gifts go straight to each organization; this atlas takes nothing. Listing is not endorsement: how organizations are listed.

Sources

  1. treaties.okstate.edu/treaties/treaty-with-the-potawatomi-1832-0372reference work
    Oct. 27, 1832. | 7 Stat., 399. / scan: 372

Shapes are approximate and are not legal descriptions of land, title or jurisdiction.