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Treaty

Sioux (Sisseton and Wahpeton) at Washington, DC (1867)

In 1867 the Sisseton and Wahpeton ceded rights of way and received two reservations after Congress confiscated their annuities and reservations.

Signed
February 19, 1867
Senate
Ratified
Land set aside for the nations
about 7.3 million acres
The land in this treaty’s record. Open on the map

What happened

On February 19, 1867, in Washington, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Lewis V. Bogy and special commissioner William H. Watson signed a treaty with chiefs and headmen of the Sisseton and Wahpeton bands of Dakota. The preamble says some 1,200 to 1,500 of these people kept their obligations to the United States during and after what the treaty calls the 1862 "outbreak" of other Sioux bands. It says that "Congress, in confiscating the Sioux annuities and reservations, made no provision" for these "friendly" bands, who were left "homeless wanderers."

In Article 2 the bands ceded the right to build wagon roads, railroads, mail stations, telegraph lines and other public improvements across the lands they claimed. In return, Article 3 set apart a permanent reservation at Lake Traverse for members who had surrendered and had not been sent to the Crow Creek reservation. Article 4 set apart a second reservation around Devil's Lake for other band members and the Cut-Head Yanktonais. Article 3 names the reasons: the cession, the bands' services, and "the confiscation of all their annuities, reservations, and improvements."

In DeCoteau v. District County Court (1975), the Supreme Court held that an 1891 Act, ratifying an 1889 agreement, terminated the Lake Traverse reservation created by the 1867 treaty and returned it to the public domain. The Court held that South Dakota's courts therefore have jurisdiction over members' conduct on the non-Indian, unallotted lands within the 1867 borders.

Summarized with AI assistance from 4 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. Congress, in confiscating the Sioux annuities and reservations, made no provision forTribal Treaties Database (Oklahoma State University): Treaty with the Sioux-Sisseton and Wahpeton Bands, 1867
  2. The said bands hereby cede to the United States the right to construct wagon-roads, railroads, mail stations, telegraph linesTribal Treaties Database (Oklahoma State University): Treaty with the Sioux-Sisseton and Wahpeton Bands, 1867
  3. also in consideration of the confiscation of all their annuities, reservations, and improvementsTribal Treaties Database (Oklahoma State University): Treaty with the Sioux-Sisseton and Wahpeton Bands, 1867
  4. held terminated and returned to the public domain by an 1891 ActDeCoteau v. District County Court, 420 U.S. 425 (1975)

Research notes. The DeCoteau holding is taken from the Supreme Court's syllabus and opinion. No Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate source is cited, so the Oyate's view of the 1889 agreement and 1891 Act is not described. The word 'outbreak' for the 1862 events is the treaty's own.

What the treaty did to the land

About 7.3 million 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. 1867

    This treaty

    About 6.3 million acres recognized as land of the Sioux, Sisseton. About 1.2 million acres set aside as a reservation for the Sioux (Wahpeton and Sisseton Bands)

    In 1867 the Sisseton and Wahpeton ceded rights of way and received two reservations after Congress confiscated their annuities and reservations.

  2. 1872

    Land lost

    About 6.3 million acres ceded to the United States by the Sioux, Sisseton

    The 1899 record: “Cede claim to all lands outside of permanent reserves established by articles 3 and 4, treaty of Feb. 19, 1867”

    area 538

  3. 1873

    Land record

    Earlier terms confirmed for the land of the Sioux, Sisseton

    The 1899 record: “Agreement of Sept. 20, 1872, continued with amendments”

    area 538

  4. 1874

    Land record

    Earlier terms confirmed for the land of the Sioux, Sisseton

    The 1899 record: “Ratifies agreement of Sept. 20, 1872, for cession of lands”

    area 538

  5. 1889

    Promise broken

    Lake Traverse Reservation (Sisseton-Wahpeton) and DeCoteau v. District County Court (1975)

    An 1867 treaty set aside the Lake Traverse Reservation; an 1891 Act opened it, and in 1975 the Court held it terminated.

  6. 1891

    Land lost

    About 963,000 acres ceded to the United States by the Sioux (Wahpeton and Sisseton Bands)

    The 1899 record: “Confirms agreement with these Indians by which they cede to the U. S. all the unallotted lands of their (Lake Traverse) reservation”

    area 496

  7. 1975

    In court

    DeCoteau v. District County Court

    An 1891 act ended the Lake Traverse Reservation, so South Dakota courts had jurisdiction over tribal members on the opened lands.

The law behind it

The legal ideas behind the decisions, and related records without a date. Court cases and laws with a date are in what happened next, above.

  • Legal doctrine

    allotment

    Allotment divided tribal reservations into individual parcels under the 1887 Dawes Act and opened the unallotted remainder to purchase.

  • Legal doctrine

    diminishment

    Only Congress can shrink a reservation, and courts require a clear statement; Solem, Hagen and Parker show how that test works.

  • Legal doctrine

    disestablishment

    Disestablishment means Congress ended a reservation entirely; courts require clear intent from Congress, and McGirt (2020) held the Creek Reservation was never disestablished.

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-sioux-sisseton-and-wahpeton-bands-1867-0956reference work
    Treaty with the Sioux-Sisseton and Wahpeton Bands, 1867 Feb. 19, 1867. | 15 Stat., 505.

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