The Treaty of Tippecanoe, 1832
A map showing movement of Native nations as a result of the Indian Removal Act. The green arrows show the westward movement of these groups into reservations. Source: Courtesy of the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi
The Treaty of Tippecanoe, signed in 1832, was an agreement between the Potawatomi nation and the U.S. government. This treaty concerned Potawatomi lands in the northwestern part of Indiana. The Potawatomi nation was granted $100,000 in goods, payment of over $60,000 in debts, and yearly $20,000 payments for the next 20 years. The treaty also offered the Potawatomi new lands west of the Mississippi River, assistance moving there, as well as farming tools and supplies to cultivate the land.
This treaty was also the first major Indiana treaty to be signed after the Indian Removal Act was made into law in 1830. The Indian Removal Act created an official U.S. federal policy of purchasing, trading, or exchanging Native lands east of the Mississippi River to the U.S. government. Native peoples living on these eastern lands would be moved further west. The most common locations for resettlement were in what is now Oklahoma, then called Indian Territory, and Kansas as well. Reservations were given as and used as ways to control these Native nations. Native peoples who had previously provided for themselves with a mix of farming and hunting instead were forced to convert to a fully western style of agriculture. The lands which were given in the west were often poor and unfertile lands, making this impossible.
Images
A map showing movement of Native nations as a result of the Indian Removal Act. The green arrows show the westward movement of these groups into reservations. Source: Courtesy of the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi
A map of Indian Territory showing different sections of what would eventually become the state of Oklahoma dividied between different Native nations. Look towards the middle in green to see the Potawatomi. Source: Courtesy of Wikimedia commons Creator: SteinsplitterBot
A map of Indian Territory from the U.S. Department of the Interior in 1879. This map shows the central parts of Oklahoma, labeling each section by the Native nations living there. The Potawatomi are in a small section in the direct middle Source: Courtesy of Wikimedia commons Creator: Michael Barera
The Indian Removal Act, signed May 28, 1830. Shown is the first page of the act from the National Archives. Source: Courtesy of the National Archives blog
Illustrated here is a color coded map of Indiana showing the names of treaties, the associated dates, as well as the lands those treaties were related to. Look in the top left corner of the map for the land related to the Treaty of Tippecanoe. Source: Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons Creator: ArnoldPlaton