Seneca and Shawnee at Seneca Agency, Headwaters, Cowskin River (1832)
In 1832 the Sandusky Seneca and the Lewistown Seneca-Shawnee united on about 60,000 acres east of the Neosho River.
- Signed
- December 29, 1832
- Senate
- Ratified
- Land set aside for the nations
- about 147,000 acres
What happened
What happened
On December 29, 1832, commissioners Henry L. Ellsworth and John F. Schermerhorn signed an agreement at the Seneca agency on the head waters of the Cowskin River, for the United States. The other party was the chiefs and headmen of the "United Nation" of the Senecas and Shawnee. The preamble recalls the Lewistown treaty of July 20, 1831, and says the mixed band of Senecas and Shawnees "removed from their homes in Ohio" to the lands assigned west of the Mississippi.
It says the two groups "have lately formed a confederacy" and were "anxious to unite as one Tribe or Nation." They wanted all their land on the east side of the Neosho, or Grand, River, which divided it.
In Article 1 the United Tribe ceded the land granted to them on the west side of the Neosho River by the 1831 treaties. In Article 2 the United States agreed to grant a tract east of the river, bounded on the east by Missouri's west line and on the south by the Cherokee line. It would contain sixty thousand acres, not counting the land the Sandusky Senecas already held. It would be split into two patents, north for the Ohio mixed band and south for the Sandusky Senecas. The patents would be in fee simple, but "the lands shall not be sold or ceded without the consent of the United States."
The United States also agreed to build a grist mill, saw mill and blacksmith shop, and to pay $1,000 for losses on the journey west. The Statutes at Large record a proclamation on March 22, 1833.
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.
have lately formed a confederacy, and have expressed their anxiety to unite as one Tribe or Nation
Tribal Treaties Database (OSU)the lands shall not be sold or ceded without the consent of the United States
Tribal Treaties Database (OSU)Seneca and Shawnee
Statutes at Large, vol. 7 (GovInfo)
Research notes. The treaty states sixty thousand acres exclusive of the Sandusky Senecas' existing land. The page describes no coercion.
What the treaty did to the land
About 147,000 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 98,000 acres
Land of the Kaskaskia, Mixed Seneka and others in Oklahoma, recorded 1832 (area 499)
Granted to the Seneka in Indian Territory in 1832 and kept as their home in 1867 after they ceded a strip; an 1889 act only provided for allotments, and no cession is recorded.
set aside as a reservationabout 49,000 acres
Land of the Kaskaskia, Mixed Seneka and others in Oklahoma, ceded 1867 (area 501)
Part of the 1832 Seneka and Shawnee grant; the Shawnee ceded these 12,000 acres in 1867, and the United States sold them to the Ottawa as their home.
named in the recordabout 24,000 acres
Land of the Kaskaskia, Mixed Seneka and others in Oklahoma, ceded 1867 (area 504)
The west end of the Quapaw reserve granted in 1833, ceded by the Quapaw in 1867 and granted to the Peoria and associated tribes.
set aside as a reservation
Land of the Kaskaskia, Mixed Seneka and others in Oklahoma, ceded 1867 (area 498)
Granted to the Seneka in 1832; in the 1867 treaty they ceded this strip off its north side, which was then set apart as the Wyandot's home.
set aside as a reservation
Land of the Kaskaskia, Mixed Seneka and others in Oklahoma, ceded 1867 (area 500)
Part of the 1832 grant to the mixed Seneka and Shawnee; the Seneka ceded the north half in 1867, and it was granted to the Peoria, Kaskaskia, Piankishaw and Wea.
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.
- 1832
This treaty
About 147,000 acres set aside as a reservation for the Kaskaskia, Mixed Seneka and others. About 24,000 acres named in the record
In 1832 the Sandusky Seneca and the Lewistown Seneca-Shawnee united on about 60,000 acres east of the Neosho River.
- 1833
Land kept
About 24,000 acres set aside as a reservation for the Kaskaskia, Mixed Seneka and others
By Quapaw at New Gascony, Arkansas Territory (1833)
- 1867
Land record
Earlier terms confirmed for the land of the Kaskaskia, Mixed Seneka and others
By Seneca; Mixed Seneca and Shawnee; Quapaw; Confederated Peoria, Kaskaskia, Wea, and Piankashaw; Miami; Ottawa; and Wyandot at Washington, DC (1867)
- 1867
Land lost
About 73,000 acres ceded to the United States by the Kaskaskia, Mixed Seneka and others
By Seneca; Mixed Seneca and Shawnee; Quapaw; Confederated Peoria, Kaskaskia, Wea, and Piankashaw; Miami; Ottawa; and Wyandot at Washington, DC (1867)
- 1867
Land kept
About 73,000 acres set aside as a reservation for the Kaskaskia, Mixed Seneka and others
By Seneca; Mixed Seneca and Shawnee; Quapaw; Confederated Peoria, Kaskaskia, Wea, and Piankashaw; Miami; Ottawa; and Wyandot at Washington, DC (1867)
- 1889
Land record
About 98,000 acres named in the record
The 1899 record: “Provides for allotment of lands in severalty, etc”
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:
- Seneca-Cayuga Nation
- Seneca Nation of Indians
- Tonawanda Band of Seneca
- Absentee-Shawnee Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma
- Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma
- Shawnee Tribe
- Haudenosaunee (Six Nations)
Working with these nations
- Oneida Indian Nation Nation government About 18,000 acres in trust (2022 est.), 25,000-acre cap under 2013 agreement
- Rematriation Native-led Indigenous women-led media, education, community advocacy Give on their site Website
- The Nature Conservancy (TNC) Allied land trust Funder/partner in several tribal land returns 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-seneca-and-shawnee-1832-0383reference work
Dec. 29, 1832. | 7 Stat., 411. / scan: 384 TREATY. WITH THE SENECA AND SHAWNEE, 1832.
Shapes are approximate and are not legal descriptions of land, title or jurisdiction.