Expansion Era · 1815

Treaty with the Sioux of the Lakes, 1815

ID T-0056

Date 1815-07-19

Articles 1

Instrument Note

Parties

United States and the Sioux of the Lakes

Context

Executed July 19, 1815 at Portage des Sioux. Same date and location as T-0055. The 'Sioux of the Lakes' refers to the Dakota bands of present-day Minnesota — distinct from the Teton Lakota of the plains.

Significance

One article, same structure as T-0055. The instrument extended the U.S. protection framework to the Dakota of the Minnesota lake country. The distinction between the Sioux of the Lakes (Dakota), Sioux of St. Peter's (also Dakota), and Teton (Lakota) was maintained in these simultaneous instruments — the U.S. was executing separate instruments with distinct political communities rather than treating 'the Sioux' as a single entity.

Legal Observation

The U.S. commissioners at Portage des Sioux executed at least eight instruments in two days with nations across the upper Mississippi and Missouri valleys. The efficiency was the point: the U.S. was installing the legal framework of exclusive jurisdiction over the Louisiana Purchase territory as rapidly as possible, using the treaty instrument as the mechanism.

Indians ac- knowledge pro- tection of U. S. Sept. 30, 1809. Proclamation, Jan. 16, 1810. Cession of lands. Ante, p. 74. Equal right of the Delawares acknowledged. Compensation. ing annulües. Consent of the quired. Annuities, &c. to be considered full compensa- tion. Regulations to Drevent tres- passes, ment by U.S, TREATY WITH THE DELAWARES, ETC. 1809. the north-east corner of the Vincennes tract, as will leave the tract now ceded thirty miles wide at the narrowest place. And also all that tract - which shall be included between the following boundaries, viz: begin- ning at Fort Recovery, thence southwardly along the general boundary line, established by the treaty of Greenville, to its intersection with the boundary line established by the treaty of Grouseland; thence along said line to a point from which a line drawn parallel to the first men- tioned line will be twelve miles distant from the same, and along the said parallel line to its intersection with a line to be drawn from Fort Recovery, parallel to the line established by the said treaty of Grouse- land. Arr. 9d. The Miamies explicitly acknowledge the equal right of the Delawares with themselves to the country watered by the White river, But it is also to be clearly understood that neither party shall have the right of disposing of the same without the consent of the other: and any improvements which shall be made on the said land by the Dela- wares, or their friends the Mochecans, shall be theirs forever. Arr. 3d. The compensation to be given for the cession made in the first article shall be as follows, viz: to the Delawares a permanent annuity of five hundred dollars; to the Miamies a like annuity of five hundred dollars; to the Eel river tribe a like annuity of two hundred and fifty dollars; and to the Putawatimies a like annuity of five hun- dred dollars. Arr. 4th. All the stipulations made in the treaty of Greenville, rela- tively to the manner of paying the annuities, and the right of the In- dians to hunt upon the land, shall apply to the annuities granted and the land ceded by the present treaty. Arr. 5th. The consent of the Wea tribe shall be necessary to com- plete the title to the first tract of land here ceded; a separate conven- tion shall be entered into between them and the United States, and a reasonable allowance of goods given them in hand, and a permanent annis which shall not be less than three hundred dollars, settled upon them. Anr. 6th. The annuities promised by the third article, and the goods now delivered to the amount of five thousand two hundred dollars, shall be considered as a full compensation for the cession made in the first article. Anr. 7th. The tribes who are parties to this treaty being desirous of putting an end to the depredations which are committed by abandoned individuals of their own color, upon the cattle, horses, &c. of the more industrious and careful, agree to adopt the following regulations, viz: when any theft or othet depredation shall be committed by any indi- vidual or individuals of one of the tribes above mentioned, upon the property of any individual or individuals of another tribe, the chiefs of the party injured shall make application to the agent of the United States, who is charged with the delivery of the annuities of the tribe to which the offending party belongs, whose duty it shall be to hear the proofs and allegations on either side, and determine between them : and the amount of his award shall be immediately deducted from the an- nuity of the tribe to which the offending party belongs, and given to the person injured, or to the chief of his village for his use. Arr. 8th. The United States agree to relinquish their right to the reservation, at the old Ouroctenon towns, made by the treaty of Green- ville, so far at least as to make no further use of it than for the esta- blishment of a military post. TREATY WITH THE MIAMIS, ETC. 1809. Art. 9th. The tribes who are parties to this treaty, being desirous to show their attachment to their brothers the Kickapoos, agree to cede to the United States the lands on the north-west side of the Wabash, from the Vincennes tract to a northwardly extention of the line running from the mouth of the aforesaid Raccoon creek, and fifteen miles in width from the Wabash, on condition that the United States shall allow them an annuity of four hundred dollars. But this

article i

s to have no effect unless the Kickapoos will agree to it.

Source: U.S. Statutes at Large, Vol. VII. Edited by Richard Peters, Esq. Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1846. Reprinted by Dennis & Co., Inc., Buffalo, N.Y., 1962. Source lines 11451–11600.