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Treaty

Chippewa of Swan Creek and Black River, and Munsee or Christian at Sauk and Fox Agency, Kansas Territory (1859)

In 1859 the Swan Creek and Black River Chippewa and the Munsee united on an 8,320-acre Franklin County, Kansas reservation.

Signed
July 16, 1859
Senate
Ratified
The land in this treaty’s record. Open on the map

What happened

On July 16, 1859, at the Sac and Fox agency, Commissioner David Crawford signed a treaty with delegates of the Swan Creek and Black River Chippewas and the Munsee or Christian Indians. The preamble says the Swan Creek band had claimed a share of the benefits of the 1855 Detroit treaty "under a misapprehension" of its terms, which covered only Chippewa still in Michigan. The United States agreed that the reservation of 8,320 acres, or thirteen sections, in Franklin County, Kansas Territory would benefit the part of the band living there.

The Munsee, who "have expressed a desire to unite with said band of Chippewas," were united with them on the reservation. Members would receive lands in severalty, not more than 40 acres to a head of family or child and 80 to an unmarried adult. Article 2 provided for the sale of the residue of the land.

The Munsee Tribe in Kansas says the Munsee confederated with the Swan Creek and Black River bands through the treaty, and that the two peoples created a joint tribal council to track annuity payments.

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. have expressed a desire to unite with said band of ChippewasTreaty with the Chippewa, etc., 1859 (Oklahoma State University Tribal Treaties Database)
  2. a reservation of eight thousand three hundred and twenty acres, or thirteen sections of landTreaty with the Chippewa, etc., 1859 (Oklahoma State University Tribal Treaties Database)
  3. the Munsee confederated with the Swan Creek and Black River bands of Chippewa through a treaty on July 16th, 1859Governance, The Munsee Tribe in Kansas

Research notes. The Munsee Tribe in Kansas page gives a community narrative, not a full account of the later sale of the Kansas lands. The treaty states a reservation of 8,320 acres, or thirteen sections, in Franklin County, Kansas Territory. It was ratified April 19, 1860, and proclaimed July 9, 1860.

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. 1836

    Land kept

    Land set aside as a reservation for the Chippewa of Swan creek and Black River

    By Chippewa (Swan Creek and Black River Bands in Michigan) at Washington, DC (1836)

    area 418

  2. 1859

    This treaty

    Land ceded to the United States by the Chippewa of Swan creek and Black River

    In 1859 the Swan Creek and Black River Chippewa and the Munsee united on an 8,320-acre Franklin County, Kansas reservation.

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-chippewa-etc-1859-0792reference work
    Treaty with the Chippewa, etc., 1859 July 16, 1859. | 12 Stat., 1105.

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