Potawatomi at Washington, DC (1837)
In 1837 Potawatomi chiefs ceded their Indiana reserves and agreed to move southwest of the Missouri River within two years.
- Signed
- February 11, 1837
- Senate
- Ratified
What happened
What happened
On February 11, 1837, in Washington, commissioner John T. Douglass signed articles with several Potawatomie chiefs, including Chee-chaw-kose and Quiquito. The chiefs spoke for their bands, who had held land in Indiana.
Article 1 has the chiefs approve two 1836 treaties, dated August 5 and September 23, that ceded certain Indiana lands. Those lands had been reserved to these bands in October 1832 treaties. The chiefs ceded their interest and agreed "to remove to a country that may be provided for them by the President of the United States, southwest of the Missouri river, within two years from the ratification of this treaty."
The United States made promises in return. Article 3 says it would convey by patent a tract on the Osage River southwest of the Missouri, remove the Potawatomi there, give them one year's subsistence after arrival, and pay the expenses of the treaty and the delegation in Washington. Article 4 has the United States buy the "five sections in the prairie, near Rock Village" reserved for Quiquito for $4,000.
The treaty was proclaimed on February 18, 1837. The page does not show whether or when the promised land was patented.
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.
agree to remove to a country that may be provided for them by the President of the United States, southwest of the Missouri river
Tribal Treaties Database (Oklahoma State University): Potawatomi at Washington, DC (1837)convey by patent to the Potawatomies of Indiana, a tract of country, on the Osage river south-west of the Missouri river
Tribal Treaties Database (Oklahoma State University): Potawatomi at Washington, DC (1837)will purchase the "five sections in the prairie, near Rock Village" reserved for Qui-qui-to
Tribal Treaties Database (Oklahoma State University): Treaty with the Potawatomi, 1837
Research notes. The treaty text does not say what happened to the land or the people afterward, or whether the promised patent, subsistence and payments were delivered.
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.
Who is doing the work
This history belongs to living nations. Start with them:
- Citizen Potawatomi Nation, Oklahoma
- Forest County Potawatomi Community, Wisconsin
- Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi
- Hannahville Indian Community, Michigan
- Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi, Michigan
- Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, Michigan and Indiana
- Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation
- 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-potawatomi-1837-0488reference work
Treaty with the Potawatomi, 1837 Feb. 11, 1837. | 7 Stat., 532.
Shapes are approximate and are not legal descriptions of land, title or jurisdiction.