Nez Perce Treaty of 1863
The 1863 Nez Perce treaty, signed by pro-treaty headmen, cut the 1855 reservation to a small Lapwai area; non-treaty bands objected.
- Signed
- June 9, 1863
- Senate
- Ratified April 17, 1867
- Land given up
- about 6.6 million acres
- Land set aside for the nations
- about 825,000 acres
What happened
What happened
On June 9, 1863, at Lapwai, the United States and Nez Perce headmen signed a treaty in which the tribe relinquished the lands reserved in 1855, except a smaller reservation near the Clearwater River and Lapwai. The Nez Perce were to move onto it within a year of ratification. The treaty was ratified in April 1867.
The National Park Service says miners were already in the Orofino area and Lewiston was growing. Congress chose to draft a new treaty so that the areas where settlers lived "were no longer a part of the reservation at all," rather than enforce the 1855 ban on white settlement. The Park Service adds that negotiators looked for one "head chief" to speak for all Nez Perce, though each band regarded itself as autonomous.
Lawyer and other pro-treaty headmen signed. The US government assumed this bound all Nez Perce. Chief Joseph, Chief White Bird and other "non-treaty" headmen thought they would not be held to an agreement they did not make. The Park Service says the treaty "planted the seeds of conflict" that grew into the 1877 war.
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
Supported by the sources below; some details rest on one source.
they decided to draft a new treaty so the areas where settlers were living were no longer a part of the reservation at all
Treaty of 1863 (Nez Perce National Historical Park, NPS)the 1863 treaty planted the seeds of conflict that would eventually grow to the 1877 Nez Perce War
Treaty of 1863 (Nez Perce National Historical Park, NPS)agree to relinquish, and do hereby relinquish, to the United States the lands heretofore reserved for the use and occupation of the said tribe
Tribal Treaties Database (Oklahoma State University): Treaty with the Nez Perces, 1863
Research notes. Neither the National Park Service page nor the treaty text gives a total acreage for the land given up, so none is stated here. The 1877 war is mentioned only as the Park Service frames it.
What the treaty did to the land
About 6.6 million acres given up. about 825,000 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.
ceded to the United Statesabout 6.6 million acres
Land of the Nez Percé in Idaho, Oregon and Washington, ceded 1863 (area 441)
Kept by the Nez Percé as a large reserve in Idaho, Oregon and Washington in 1855, then given up in the 1863 treaty, except a smaller new reserve.
set aside as a reservationabout 825,000 acres
Land of the Nez Percé in Idaho, ceded 1894 (area 442)
Kept by the Nez Percé as their smaller reserve in 1863; the land not allotted to individuals was ceded in a May 1893 agreement that Congress confirmed in 1894.
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.
- 1855
Land kept
About 7.4 million acres set aside as a reservation for the Nez Percé
By Nez Perce Treaty of 1855
- 1863
This treaty
About 6.6 million acres ceded to the United States by the Nez Percé. About 825,000 acres set aside as a reservation for the Nez Percé
The 1863 Nez Perce treaty, signed by pro-treaty headmen, cut the 1855 reservation to a small Lapwai area; non-treaty bands objected.
- 1863
Promise broken
Nez Perce: the 1855 reservation, the 1863 'thief treaty,' and 1877
An 1855 treaty gave the Nez Perce a large reservation; an 1863 treaty signed by some leaders shrank it, over others' objections.
- 1867
This treaty
Ratified by the Senate
- 1894
Land lost
About 825,000 acres ceded to the United States by the Nez Percé
The 1899 record: “Confirms agreement with these Indians made May 1, 1893, by which they cede to the U. S. all their title and interest in the unallotted lands of their reservation in Idaho”
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:
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
- digitreaties.org/treaties/treaty/178895210reference work
Research notes
Stat. page per Stat. vol. 14 OCR index; acreage and Kappler page. Ratification detail: 1867-04-17 (Senate consent; read from the Stat. margin by V2).
Shapes are approximate and are not legal descriptions of land, title or jurisdiction.