Living Law,
Living LandSupport land rights
All treaties and agreements

Treaty

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

In September 1836 the Potawatomi of the Wabash ceded 42 reserved sections for $33,600 and agreed to move west of the Mississippi.

Signed
September 23, 1836
Senate
Ratified
Land given up
about 23,000 acres
The land in this treaty’s record. Open on the map

What happened

On September 23, 1836, Abel C. Pepper, commissioner for the United States, signed a treaty at Chippewanaung, Indiana, with the chiefs, warriors and headmen of the Potawatomi of the Wabash. In Article 1 they ceded all the land of the tribe in Indiana that the 1832 treaty had designated as reservations. The treaty lists six groups: the bands of Kin-krash (four sections), Che-chaw-kose (ten), Ash-kum and Wee-si-o-nas (sixteen), We-saw (four), Mo-ta (four) and Mi-no-quet (four). It totals the list at 42 sections and states no acreage.

In Article 2 the United States agreed to pay one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, or $33,600, in specie (coin), on or before May 1, 1837. At the chiefs' request, Article 4 had a commissioner pay the debts of the Wabash Potawatomi that he found just, deducted from that sum. A note after the signatures says the chiefs acknowledged owing Hamilton and Comperet $800 and asked that it be paid from the money. Article 5 had the United States pay the expenses of the treaty.

In Article 3 the chiefs, warriors and headmen 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 the negotiation, and the sources used here do not say 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. agree to remove to the country west of the Mississippi river, provided for the Potawattimie nation by the United States within two yearsTreaty with the Potawatomi, 1836 (OSU Tribal Treaties Database)
  2. one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre or thirty-three thousand six hundred dollarsTreaty with the Potawatomi, 1836 (OSU Tribal Treaties Database)
  3. agree to remove to the country west of theTreaty with the Potawatomi, 7 Stat. 515 (govinfo)

Research notes. The treaty names no acreage; it gives only the sections per band and a per-acre price. The cited sources do not describe the signing or what happened to the bands afterward.

What the treaty did to the land

About 23,000 acres given up. 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. 1832

    Land kept

    About 23,000 acres set aside as a reservation for the Potawatomi (Mota's band) and Potawatomi

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

    area 201 area 223 area 224 area 225

  2. 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

  3. 1836

    This treaty

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

    In September 1836 the Potawatomi of the Wabash ceded 42 reserved sections for $33,600 and agreed to move west of the Mississippi.

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-1836-0471areference work
    Treaty with the Potawatomi, 1836 Sept. 23, 1836. | 7 Stat., 515.

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