Creek (Muscogee) 1866: punitive cession of the western half of the Nation

What happened

The Creek treaty of June 14, 1866 (14 Stat. 785; ratified July 19, 1866; proclaimed August 11, 1866) was made in Washington with a Creek delegation after the Civil War. Its preamble says the Creeks made a treaty with the "so-called Confederate States" in 1861, which left them "liable to forfeit to the United States all benefits and advantages enjoyed by them in lands, annuities, protection, and immunities." In view of this, it says, "the United States require of the Creeks a portion of their land whereon to settle other Indians."

Article 3 then had the Creeks "cede and convey to the United States" the west half of their entire domain, "estimated to contain three millions two hundred and fifty thousand five hundred and sixty acres," at thirty cents an acre. The land was to be used for other Indians and freedmen as the United States chose. The eastern half, retained by the Creeks, was to "be forever set apart as a home for said Creek Nation." This was a treaty of cession, not a court-found violation. Its preamble gives the Confederate treaty as the reason for taking the land.

In McGirt v. Oklahoma (2020), the Supreme Court noted that the 1866 treaty "reduced the size of the land set aside for the Creek," compensating the Tribe at that price, but that Congress "explicitly restated its commitment" to the remaining land. The Court held that the reservation was never disestablished.

Good to know. The treaty presents the cession as an agreement with Creek delegates; it gives the Creek treaty with the Confederacy as the reason the land was required.

Summarized with AI assistance from 2 sources and checked against their words; not yet reviewed by historians or by the nations. Report an error