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Treaty

Oneida (First Christian and Orchard Parties) at Washington, DC (1838)

In 1838 the First Christian and Orchard parties of the Oneida ceded their Green Bay lands and kept 100 acres for each person.

Signed
February 3, 1838
Senate
Ratified
Land given up
about 436,000 acres
The land in this treaty’s record. Open on the map

What happened

On February 3, 1838, Carey A. Harris, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, signed a treaty at Washington with the First Christian and Orchard parties of the Oneida residing at Green Bay, through their chiefs and representatives. In Article 1 they ceded to the United States all their title and interest in the land set apart for them in the February 8, 1831 and October 27, 1832 treaties with the Menominee. These are the Wisconsin Oneida, not the New York Oneida who signed other treaties that year.

From that land the United States reserved a tract of 100 acres for each individual, laid out to include all their settlements and improvements near Green Bay (Article 2). The treaty gives no total acreage. Under Article 3 the United States agreed to pay the Orchard party $3,000 and the First Christian party $30,500, of which $3,000 could pay for a church and parsonage. The text says the total of $33,500 was to reimburse money the Oneida had spent and to pay their chiefs and agents for buying and securing title to the land.

The treaty turned a larger shared tract into per-person reserves. It was proclaimed on May 17, 1838. The treaty text does not describe the council, and the sources used here do not say what followed for the Oneida in Wisconsin.

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. a tract of land containing one hundred (100) acres, for each individualTreaty with the Oneida, 1838 (OSU Tribal Treaties Database)
  2. cede to the United States all their title and interest in the land set apart for themTreaty with the Oneida, 1838 (OSU Tribal Treaties Database)
  3. one hundred (100) acres, for each individualTreaty with the Oneida, 7 Stat. 566 (govinfo)

Research notes. Acreage: 100 acres for each individual; no total stated. The cited sources do not describe what happened afterward.

What the treaty did to the land

About 436,000 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. 1838

    Land lost

    About 436,000 acres ceded to the United States by the The several tribes of New York Indians

    By Treaty of Buffalo Creek with the New York Indians, 1838

    area 246

  2. 1838

    This treaty

    Part of the land ceded by the The several tribes of New York Indians

    In 1838 the First Christian and Orchard parties of the Oneida ceded their Green Bay lands and kept 100 acres for each person.

  3. 1854

    Land record

    About 436,000 acres named in the record

    By Menominee at Falls of Wolf River, Wisconsin (1854)

    area 246

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-oneida-1838-0517reference work
    Treaty with the Oneida, 1838 Feb. 3, 1838. | 7 Stat., 566.

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