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Great Lakes / Old NorthwestTreaty

Treaty of Detroit (1855) with the Ottawa and Chippewa of Michigan

The 1855 Treaty of Detroit set aside Michigan land for Ottawa and Chippewa bands, guaranteeing they would not be removed.

Signed
July 31, 1855
Senate
Ratified April 15, 1856
Land set aside for the nations
about 952,000 acres
Promises
1 of 1 broken or only partly kept
The land in this treaty’s record. Open on the map

What happened

On July 31, 1855, at Detroit, commissioners George W. Manypenny and Henry C. Gilbert signed a treaty with the Ottawa and Chippewa of Michigan, parties to the 1836 treaty. The United States agreed to withdraw from sale unsold public lands for the bands at Sault Ste. Marie, Grand Traverse, Little Traverse, Mackinac and elsewhere, and to give allotments of 40 or 80 acres to members. Article 3 released the United States from liability under former treaties. Article 5 provided that the "tribal organization" would be dissolved except as needed to carry out the agreement.

A 1994 House committee report says the Ottawa pressed Washington for a new treaty that ended a removal threat that had hung over them since 1837. It says "the 1855 Treaty guaranteed that the United States would not force the Ottawa/Odawa to leave their Michigan homes."

The same report says it was among the earliest "allotment" treaties, and that the allotment provision was used "through mismanagement and fraud" to take most Ottawa/Odawa land. A federal court in 1979 held that the treaty did not terminate the bands' tribal status.

What was promised, and what happened

  • Broken

    Allotments of 40 or 80 acres to members, protected from sale for a period. (Art. 1)

    this allotment provision was used, through mismanagement and fraud, to take most Ottawa turtletalk.blog

Good to know. The House report quoted here supported federal recognition for the Little Traverse and Little River bands, so it reflects those bands' reading of history.

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. will withdraw from sale for the benefit of said Indians as hereinafter provided, all the unsold public lands within the State of MichiganTreaty with the Ottawa and Chippewa, 1855 (Oklahoma State University Tribal Treaties Database)
  2. The 1855 Treaty guaranteed that the United States would not force the Ottawa/Odawa to leave their Michigan homes.House Report 103-621, Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians and Little River Band of Ottawa Indians Act (1994)
  3. through mismanagement and fraud, to take most OttawaHouse Report 103-621, Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians and Little River Band of Ottawa Indians Act (1994)

Research notes. The House report is a committee document that supported federal recognition legislation for Little Traverse and Little River bands, so it reflects those bands' reading of history. The 'tribal status' point is the federal court's 1979 holding in United States v. Michigan, as the House report describes it. The treaty was signed July 31, 1855, ratified April 15, 1856, and proclaimed September 10, 1856.

What the treaty did to the land

About 952,000 acres recognized, kept or set aside for the nations. 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. 1855

    This treaty

    About 952,000 acres set aside as a reservation for the Chippewa of Michigan and Ottawa of Michigan

    The 1855 Treaty of Detroit set aside Michigan land for Ottawa and Chippewa bands, guaranteeing they would not be removed.

  2. 1856

    This treaty

    Ratified by the Senate

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-ottawa-and-chippewa-1855-0725reference work
    Ratified April 15, 1856. | Proclaimed Sept. 10, 1856.
  2. digitreaties.org/treaties/treaty/178331415reference work

Corrections to this record

  • date ratified was listed as “”; corrected from treaties.okstate.eduRatified April 15, 1856. | Proclaimed Sept. 10, 1856.
Research notes

Stat. page per Stat. vol. 11 OCR index; Kappler page.

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