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Treaty

Yankton Sioux at Washington, DC (1837)

In 1837 the Yankton Sioux released claims to the lands ceded in 1830 in return for $4,000 in horses, goods and moving costs.

Signed
October 21, 1837
Senate
Ratified
The land in this treaty’s record. Open on the map

What happened

On October 21, 1837, Carey A. Harris, authorized by the President, signed a treaty at Washington with the Yankton tribe of Sioux Indians, through their chiefs and delegates. In Article 1 the Yankton ceded to the United States all the right and interest in the land ceded by the July 15, 1830 treaty that they might be entitled to claim under the wording of that treaty's second article. The treaty states no acreage. It is a short release of a claim to land already ceded under the 1830 treaty.

In Article 2 the United States agreed to pay four thousand dollars. Of that, $1,500 was for horses and presents when the chiefs and delegates arrived at St. Louis, $2,000 was for goods at the next year's annuity delivery, and $500 was to move the agency building and blacksmith shop from their present site. Article 3 had the United States pay the expenses of the negotiation and of the delegates' trip to Washington and home again.

The treaty took effect for the United States on ratification and was proclaimed on February 21, 1838. The text does not describe how the council went, and the sources used here do not say how the Yankton understood or used the claim 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. cede to the United States all the right and interest in the land ceded by the treaty, concluded with them and other tribesTreaty with the Yankton Sioux, 1837 (OSU Tribal Treaties Database)
  2. the United States stipulate to pay them four thousand dollarsTreaty with the Yankton Sioux, 1837 (OSU Tribal Treaties Database)
  3. the United States stipulate to pay them four thousand dollarsTreaty with the Yankton Sioux, 7 Stat. 542 (govinfo)

Research notes. No acreage is stated. The words "short release of a claim" are a plain-English summary of Article 1, not the treaty's own wording. The cited sources do not describe what happened 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.

  1. 1830

    Land lost

    About 11 million acres ceded to the United States by the Iowa, Medewakanton and others

    By Treaty of Prairie du Chien (1830), Sauk, Fox, Sioux, Omaha, Iowa, Oto, Missouri

    area 151

  2. 1837

    Land record

    Earlier terms confirmed for the land of the Iowa, Medewakanton and others

    By Sauk and Fox (Confederated Tribes) at Washington, DC (1837)

    area 151

  3. 1837

    Land record

    Earlier terms confirmed for the land of the Iowa, Medewakanton and others

    By Sauk and Fox of Missouri at Washington, DC (1837)

    area 151

  4. 1837

    This treaty

    Earlier terms confirmed for the land of the Iowa, Medewakanton and others

    In 1837 the Yankton Sioux released claims to the lands ceded in 1830 in return for $4,000 in horses, goods and moving costs.

  5. 1837

    Land record

    Earlier terms confirmed for the land of the Iowa, Medewakanton and others

    By Iowa at St. Louis, Missouri (1837)

    area 151

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-yankton-sioux-1837-0496reference work
    Treaty with the Yankton Sioux, 1837 Oct. 21, 1837. | 7 Stat., 542.

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