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Treaty

Potawatomi (Mematway's and Chequawrako's [Chequawkako's] Bands) at Chippewanaung, Indiana (1836)

In September 1836 two Potawatomi chiefs and their band ceded ten reserved sections for $8,000 and agreed to move west within two years.

Signed
September 20, 1836
Senate
Ratified
The land in this treaty’s record. Open on the map

What happened

On September 20, 1836, Abel C. Pepper, commissioner for the United States, signed a treaty at Chippewanaung, Indiana. The other parties were To-i-sa's brother Me-mat-way and Che-quaw-ka-ko, chiefs and headmen of the Potawatomi (spelled Patawattimie in the text), and their band.

In Article 1 they ceded ten sections of land reserved for them by the second article of the October 1832 treaty with the Potawatomi on the Tippecanoe River. The treaty states no acreage. Article 2 has the United States pay $8,000 on or before the first of May following. At the band's request, Article 4 has a commissioner appointed by the United States pay debts of the band that he found just, deducted from that sum. Article 5 has the United States pay the expenses of making the treaty.

In Article 3 the chiefs, headmen and their band agreed to remove to the country west of the Mississippi River provided for the Potawatomi nation by the United States, within two years. The treaty was proclaimed on February 18, 1837. The text does not describe how the negotiation went, and the sources used here do not say what happened to the band afterward.

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. agree to remove to the country west of the Mississippi river, provided for the Patawattimie nation by the United States, within two yearsTreaty with the Potawatomi, 1836 (OSU Tribal Treaties Database)
  2. the sum of eight thousand dollars on or before the first day of May nextTreaty with the Potawatomi, 1836 (OSU Tribal Treaties Database)
  3. on or before the first day of May nextTreaty with the Potawatomi, 7 Stat. 513 (govinfo)

Research notes. Acreage not stated (ten sections). The cited sources do not describe the signing or what happened to the band afterward.

What the treaty did to the land

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.

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.

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Sources

  1. treaties.okstate.edu/treaties/treaty-with-the-potawatomi-1836-0470reference work
    Treaty with the Potawatomi, 1836 Sept. 20, 1836. | 7 Stat., 513.

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