Treaty of Detroit (1855) facts for kids

The Treaty of Detroit of 1855 was an important agreement between the United States government and the Ottawa and Chippewa Nations (also known as Ojibwe) in Michigan. This treaty set out how land would be shared with Native people. It gave individual plots of land: 40 acres (about 16 hectares) for single people and 80 acres (about 32 hectares) for families. The treaty also gave specific areas to different groups (called "bands"). It officially ended the government's idea of treating the Ottawa and Chippewa as one big group.

What the Treaty Said

The first parts of the treaty explained which specific areas of land were given to different groups of Native Americans. These groups included:

• The Sault Ste. Marie Chippewa
• Groups living north of the Straits of Mackinac
• Groups on Beaver Island, Garden Island, and High Island
• Groups in Bear Creek, Cross Village, L'Arbre Croche, and Middle Village
• The Grand Traverse Band
• Groups along the Grand River
• Groups at Cheboygan
• Groups around Thunder Bay

Land for Families

The treaty said that each single person would get 40 acres (about 16 hectares) of land. Each family, including those with widows and orphans, would receive 80 acres (about 32 hectares). To figure out who got land, a special list was made by the Indian agent (a government official).

The land ownership papers, called "patents," would be given in the person's name. However, people could not sell or transfer their land for 10 years. If the Indian agent thought someone couldn't manage their own affairs after 10 years, they might not be allowed to sell the land at all.

Other Important Rules

The treaty also made sure that missions, churches, schools, and settlers already living in these areas could stay. Any land that wasn't given out within five years would become public land.

The agreement also included plans for farming and education. It provided money to set up these facilities. While the Native groups had to agree to let the U.S. government off the hook for any past treaty promises, one important right remained: the "right of fishing and encampment" for the Chippewas of Sault Ste. Marie, which was promised in a treaty from 1820.

Another key part of the treaty was that the combined organization of Ottawa and Chippewa was broken up. This meant that in the future, each individual group (or "band") would talk directly with the United States government, instead of all of them together.

How the Treaty Changed Things

The Treaty of 1855 became the reason for many lawsuits against the U.S. government in the 1900s.

Lawsuits and Tribal Recognition

One of the first lawsuits was a land claim filed in 1948 by the Northern Michigan Ottawa Association (NMOA). Other lawsuits followed. A big problem was that if a lawsuit was won, the money couldn't be given out because the government said there were no official tribal governments to receive it.

Some government officials believed the treaty meant the tribes no longer existed as official groups. However, a scholar named Vine Deloria Jr. argued that the treaty simply meant the Ottawa and Chippewa would no longer be forced to act as one group. Instead, each distinct group could negotiate for itself. This showed that the government still recognized them as separate political groups.

Because some officials thought the treaty ended tribal governments, many tribes had to work hard to be recognized again as distinct, self-governing nations.

Tribes Regaining Recognition

Several groups that had been combined with other bands reorganized in the 1970s:

• The Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians was recognized again in 1972.
• The Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians reorganized in 1970 and was recognized again in 1988.

After the land claim was finally settled, six more bands were officially recognized:

• The Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians in 1980.
• The Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians and the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians in 1994.
• The Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians in 1994.
• The Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi in 1995.
• The Match-e-be-nash-she-wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians of Michigan (also known as the Gunlake band) in 1995.

Four of the groups whose members signed the treaty are still not recognized by the federal government. However, they are recognized by the state of Michigan. These include the Burt Lake Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, the Grand River Band of Ottawa Indians, the Mackinac Bands of Chippewa and Ottawa Indians, and the Swan Creek Black River Confederated Ojibwa Tribes of Michigan.

Ongoing Issues

In 1997, the federal government finally created a way to distribute the money from the land claim, which had been held since 1972.

However, disagreements over fishing rights and who owns the treaty lands continue. There are also questions about who has the right to tax these lands and which government sets the laws for people living on them.

In 2016, a case was filed by the Little Traverse Bay Band. They wanted to know if the treaty's assignment of specific areas to specific bands meant that a tribal reservation had been created. In August 2019, a judge ruled against the Little Traverse Bay Band's claims. The judge said that when looking at the history, the treaty did not create an Indian reservation. The judge also noted that the tribe's ancestors did not believe it did so either.