Nemaha Half-Breed Reservation
Encyclopedia
The Nemaha Half-Breed Reservation was established by the Treaty of Prairie du Chien
of 1830, which set aside a tract of land
for the mixed-race, or Métis
descendants of French-Canadian trappers and women of the Oto, Iowa, and Omaha
, as well as the Yankton and Santee Sioux tribes. (In Canada such mixed-race people are known as Métis
; they were numerous enough to develop their own culture over the decades. In the twentieth century, they became organized politically and have gained recognition as a separate ethnic group.)
Located in part of the Indian Territory
, which was later in the Nebraska Territory
and then the state of Nebraska
, the tract's eastern border was the Missouri River
. The reservation extended west for 10 miles (16.1 km). The north/south borders were between the Little Nemaha River to the north and the Great Nemaha River, near Falls City
to the south.
In 1861 the Reservation was disbanded as a legal entity. The owners of plots were never required to live on the properties they had been allocated, and many eventually sold their lands to white settlers. Some white men married native women to get control of their property. One of the original survey lines has been followed (and identified) by the Half-Breed Road which runs in a southeast direction from here. The descendants of some pioneer fur traders and trappers still live in the area.
The Underground Railroad
, a route staffed by volunteers' helping slaves escaped to the North, ran through the Reservation toward John Brown's Cave. This was its last stop, located 35 miles (56.3 km) north of the Tract.
The Omaha and other tribes asked the government to set aside territory for their mixed-race descendants. Seeking to help mixed-blood Indian descendants get settled in society, the United States government designated allotments of land in western territory for their use. These were known as the Half-Breed Tract
s. Because of American Indian
tribes' rules of descent and membership, European-American society's discrimination, and the distance that such mixed-race families lived from most European Americans, the children of unions between European fathers and Indian mothers were often left outside the social networks of both societies. Generally Indian women and their French-Canadian trader husbands and children lived under the protection of the women's tribes, but their descendants were not considered members of the tribes unless they were officially adopted, as they had white fathers, so were considered "white".
The Omaha tribal structure was divided into two moitie, representing the Earth and the Sky. Each had five gentes
or clans, considered to have been descended from an ancestor representing an element of each moitie. Each gens had a hereditary chief from the male line. Each moitie was represented by a head chief, and the two kept balance in the tribe. The clans had specific responsibilities related to their moitie. Children belonged to their father's gens, so within this structure, there was no place for children whose father was outside the culture, unless they were officially adopted into the tribe.
At the same time, the European-American "tribe" of the majority of the United States considered the children to be Native American, because of their mothers, although the United States society was generally patriarchal, and patrilineal in terms of inheritance and descent.
The United States government selected an allotment of land along the Missouri River bluffs, an area described as "too steep and tree-covered for farming, fit only for hunting." It was described in the Treaty of Prairie du Chien of 1830, confirmed by the Otoe
, Omaha, Missouria
, and other tribes and the government, which established the rules for the half-breed tract. The government identified a tract of approximately 138000 acres (558.5 km²).
The tract was located between the Little and Great Nemaha rivers (spelled Ne-me-haw on the map) in what became Nemaha County
. By 1833 approximately 200 half-breeds lived on the designated land. It was not until 1854 that Congress authorized the reservation and the government established an eligibility list of potential landowners. By 1858 the list had 445 names of people eligible to receive 320 acres (1.3 km²) each. By then, however, non-Indian squatters occupied almost half the land and the government did not evict them. When allotments were finalized on September 10, 1860, each eligible person received 314 acres (1.3 km²). Louis Neal received the first patent to own land on the reservation.
Owners were never required to live on their properties, and many eventually sold their lands to non-Indian settlers. One of the original survey lines is now partly marked by the Half-Breed Road which runs in a southeast direction from the Missouri River. Some of the descendants of the Métis still live in the area.
Since the land belonged exclusively to the Otoe prior to the exchange, the government worked to secure agreement by the Omaha, Iowa, and Yankton and Santee bands of Sioux to pay the Otoe $3000 for the rights of their "half-breeds" to live on the reservation. Original plans were for land ownership to be held in common, as other American Indian land titles were held. However, legislation included a provision allowing the US President to assign individual tracts to individual owners. In 1860, thirty years after the creation of the Reservation, the government moved to allot tracts to individual households, in an effort to force assimilation to European-American practices. This was the first time in the history of American acts and treaties that American Indians were allotted land in severalty.
, son of Ta-ing-the-hae, an Omaha woman, and Michael Barada, a French fur trapper and interpreter, went to Nebraska from St. Louis to settle on the newly designated land. He did not receive a patent on his 320 acres (1.3 km²) of land until 1860. It was in what is today Richardson County, Nebraska
. In doing so, he became the first settler of Nebraska's newly designated Half-Breed Tract. A town named after him
was established in that tract while Barada ran a fur-trading post there.
There is evidence the Underground Railroad ran through this tract up to John Brown's Cave, located 35 miles (56.3 km) north.
is located in the central section of the Nemaha tract. On its northern edge is the site of the town of St. Deroin
, founded by "half-breeds" to serve their reservation. Joseph Deroin was the son of a Métis French Canadian
trapper Amable De Rouins and his Oto wife. The De Rouins had traded along the Missouri River for decades; a trading post was already operating here when Lewis and Clark came through in 1804.
The younger Deroin operated a trading post along the river's edge starting in 1840. He was killed in 1858 in a dispute over money as white settlers moved in to the area and displaced Native residents. The town became predominantly European American, with settlers moving in around Deroin's trading post. They named the town St. Deroin. Since that time, most of the town has been washed away by floods, leaving only a cemetery and the St. Deroin School on the original location. Half Breed Creek, named after the tract, still flows through the area.
Other notable residents of the tract included French-Canadian fur traders who had married Native American women, such as Charles Rouleau. Henry Fontenelle, a mixed-race son of Lucien Fontenelle
, an ethnic French-American trader from New Orleans, and Me-um-bane, a daughter of the Omaha
principal chief Big Elk
(1770-1846/1853), also had a plot there.
Treaty of Prairie du Chien
The Treaty of Prairie du Chien may refer to any of several treaties made and signed in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin between the United States, representatives from the Sioux, Sac and Fox, Menominee, Ioway, Winnebago and the Anishinaabeg Native American peoples.-1825:The first treaty of Prairie du...
of 1830, which set aside a tract of land
Half-Breed Tract
A Half-Breed Tract was a segment of land designated in the western states by the United States government in the 19th century specifically for people of American Indian and European or European-American ancestry, known as mixed bloods. The government set aside such tracts in several U.S...
for the mixed-race, or Métis
Métis
A Métis is a person born to parents who belong to different groups defined by visible physical differences, regarded as racial, or the descendant of such persons. The term is of French origin, and also is a cognate of mestizo in Spanish, mestiço in Portuguese, and mestee in English...
descendants of French-Canadian trappers and women of the Oto, Iowa, and Omaha
Omaha (tribe)
The Omaha are a federally recognized Native American nation which lives on the Omaha Reservation in northeastern Nebraska and western Iowa, United States...
, as well as the Yankton and Santee Sioux tribes. (In Canada such mixed-race people are known as Métis
Métis people (Canada)
The Métis are one of the Aboriginal peoples in Canada who trace their descent to mixed First Nations parentage. The term was historically a catch-all describing the offspring of any such union, but within generations the culture syncretised into what is today a distinct aboriginal group, with...
; they were numerous enough to develop their own culture over the decades. In the twentieth century, they became organized politically and have gained recognition as a separate ethnic group.)
Located in part of the Indian Territory
Indian Territory
The Indian Territory, also known as the Indian Territories and the Indian Country, was land set aside within the United States for the settlement of American Indians...
, which was later in the Nebraska Territory
Nebraska Territory
The Territory of Nebraska was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 30, 1854, until March 1, 1867, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Nebraska. The Nebraska Territory was created by the Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854...
and then the state of Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
, the tract's eastern border was the Missouri River
Missouri River
The Missouri River flows through the central United States, and is a tributary of the Mississippi River. It is the longest river in North America and drains the third largest area, though only the thirteenth largest by discharge. The Missouri's watershed encompasses most of the American Great...
. The reservation extended west for 10 miles (16.1 km). The north/south borders were between the Little Nemaha River to the north and the Great Nemaha River, near Falls City
Falls City, Nebraska
Falls City is a city in Richardson County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 4,671 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Richardson County.-Geography:Falls City is located at ....
to the south.
In 1861 the Reservation was disbanded as a legal entity. The owners of plots were never required to live on the properties they had been allocated, and many eventually sold their lands to white settlers. Some white men married native women to get control of their property. One of the original survey lines has been followed (and identified) by the Half-Breed Road which runs in a southeast direction from here. The descendants of some pioneer fur traders and trappers still live in the area.
The Underground Railroad
Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was an informal network of secret routes and safe houses used by 19th-century black slaves in the United States to escape to free states and Canada with the aid of abolitionists and allies who were sympathetic to their cause. The term is also applied to the abolitionists,...
, a route staffed by volunteers' helping slaves escaped to the North, ran through the Reservation toward John Brown's Cave. This was its last stop, located 35 miles (56.3 km) north of the Tract.
History
Half-Breed Tract
A Half-Breed Tract was a segment of land designated in the western states by the United States government in the 19th century specifically for people of American Indian and European or European-American ancestry, known as mixed bloods. The government set aside such tracts in several U.S...
s. Because of American Indian
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
tribes' rules of descent and membership, European-American society's discrimination, and the distance that such mixed-race families lived from most European Americans, the children of unions between European fathers and Indian mothers were often left outside the social networks of both societies. Generally Indian women and their French-Canadian trader husbands and children lived under the protection of the women's tribes, but their descendants were not considered members of the tribes unless they were officially adopted, as they had white fathers, so were considered "white".
The Omaha tribal structure was divided into two moitie, representing the Earth and the Sky. Each had five gentes
Gentes
Gentes may refer to:* Gens , in Ancient Rome, a family of those sharing the same nomen and a common ancestor* Gens , in animal behavior, a host-specific lineage of a brood parasite species...
or clans, considered to have been descended from an ancestor representing an element of each moitie. Each gens had a hereditary chief from the male line. Each moitie was represented by a head chief, and the two kept balance in the tribe. The clans had specific responsibilities related to their moitie. Children belonged to their father's gens, so within this structure, there was no place for children whose father was outside the culture, unless they were officially adopted into the tribe.
At the same time, the European-American "tribe" of the majority of the United States considered the children to be Native American, because of their mothers, although the United States society was generally patriarchal, and patrilineal in terms of inheritance and descent.
The United States government selected an allotment of land along the Missouri River bluffs, an area described as "too steep and tree-covered for farming, fit only for hunting." It was described in the Treaty of Prairie du Chien of 1830, confirmed by the Otoe
Otoe
Otoe may refer to*Otoe tribe, a Native American people*Otoe-Missouria Tribe of Indians, a federally recognized tribe in Oklahoma*Otoe, Nebraska*Otoe County, Nebraska...
, Omaha, Missouria
Missouri tribe
The Missouria or Missouri are a Native American tribe that originated in the Great Lakes region of United States before European contact. The tribe belongs to the Chiwere division of the Siouan language family, together with the Iowa and Otoe...
, and other tribes and the government, which established the rules for the half-breed tract. The government identified a tract of approximately 138000 acres (558.5 km²).
The tract was located between the Little and Great Nemaha rivers (spelled Ne-me-haw on the map) in what became Nemaha County
Nemaha County, Nebraska
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 7,576 people, 3,047 households, and 1,980 families residing in the county. The population density was 18 people per square mile . There were 3,439 housing units at an average density of 8 per square mile...
. By 1833 approximately 200 half-breeds lived on the designated land. It was not until 1854 that Congress authorized the reservation and the government established an eligibility list of potential landowners. By 1858 the list had 445 names of people eligible to receive 320 acres (1.3 km²) each. By then, however, non-Indian squatters occupied almost half the land and the government did not evict them. When allotments were finalized on September 10, 1860, each eligible person received 314 acres (1.3 km²). Louis Neal received the first patent to own land on the reservation.
Owners were never required to live on their properties, and many eventually sold their lands to non-Indian settlers. One of the original survey lines is now partly marked by the Half-Breed Road which runs in a southeast direction from the Missouri River. Some of the descendants of the Métis still live in the area.
Since the land belonged exclusively to the Otoe prior to the exchange, the government worked to secure agreement by the Omaha, Iowa, and Yankton and Santee bands of Sioux to pay the Otoe $3000 for the rights of their "half-breeds" to live on the reservation. Original plans were for land ownership to be held in common, as other American Indian land titles were held. However, legislation included a provision allowing the US President to assign individual tracts to individual owners. In 1860, thirty years after the creation of the Reservation, the government moved to allot tracts to individual households, in an effort to force assimilation to European-American practices. This was the first time in the history of American acts and treaties that American Indians were allotted land in severalty.
Barada
In 1856 Antonine BaradaAntonine Barada
Antonine Barada , alternatively spelled Antoine Barada, was an American folk hero in the state of Nebraska; son of an Omaha mother, he was also called Mo shi-no pazhi in the tribal language...
, son of Ta-ing-the-hae, an Omaha woman, and Michael Barada, a French fur trapper and interpreter, went to Nebraska from St. Louis to settle on the newly designated land. He did not receive a patent on his 320 acres (1.3 km²) of land until 1860. It was in what is today Richardson County, Nebraska
Richardson County, Nebraska
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 9,531 people, 3,993 households, and 2,567 families residing in the county. The population density was 17 people per square mile . There were 4,560 housing units at an average density of 8 per square mile...
. In doing so, he became the first settler of Nebraska's newly designated Half-Breed Tract. A town named after him
Barada, Nebraska
Barada is a village in Richardson County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 28 at the 2000 census. The village was named in honor of folk hero Antonine Barada, and was located within the former Nemaha Half-Breed Reservation.-Geography:...
was established in that tract while Barada ran a fur-trading post there.
There is evidence the Underground Railroad ran through this tract up to John Brown's Cave, located 35 miles (56.3 km) north.
St. Deroin
Indian Cave State ParkIndian Cave State Park
Indian Cave State Park is a state park of Nebraska, USA, preserving a cave with prehistoric petroglyphs and the partially reconstructed village of St. Deroin established in 1853. The park is along the Missouri River on the county line between Nemaha and Richardson counties...
is located in the central section of the Nemaha tract. On its northern edge is the site of the town of St. Deroin
St. Deroin, Nebraska
St. Deroin is a ghost town in Nemaha County, originally located below the river bluffs on the Missouri River. Formally chartered in 1854, the town had a popular ferry crossing over the Missouri River for more than three decades. The river changed course, ending the ferry. After a railroad spur...
, founded by "half-breeds" to serve their reservation. Joseph Deroin was the son of a Métis French Canadian
French Canadian
French Canadian or Francophone Canadian, , generally refers to the descendents of French colonists who arrived in New France in the 17th and 18th centuries...
trapper Amable De Rouins and his Oto wife. The De Rouins had traded along the Missouri River for decades; a trading post was already operating here when Lewis and Clark came through in 1804.
The younger Deroin operated a trading post along the river's edge starting in 1840. He was killed in 1858 in a dispute over money as white settlers moved in to the area and displaced Native residents. The town became predominantly European American, with settlers moving in around Deroin's trading post. They named the town St. Deroin. Since that time, most of the town has been washed away by floods, leaving only a cemetery and the St. Deroin School on the original location. Half Breed Creek, named after the tract, still flows through the area.
Other notable residents of the tract included French-Canadian fur traders who had married Native American women, such as Charles Rouleau. Henry Fontenelle, a mixed-race son of Lucien Fontenelle
Fontenelle's Post
Fontenelle's Post, first known as Pilcher's Post, and the site of the later city of Bellevue, was built in 1822 in the Nebraska Territory by Joshua Pilcher, then president of the Missouri Fur Company. Located on the Missouri River, it developed as one of the first European-American settlements in...
, an ethnic French-American trader from New Orleans, and Me-um-bane, a daughter of the Omaha
Omaha
Omaha may refer to:*Omaha , a Native American tribe that currently resides in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Nebraska-Places:United States* Omaha, Nebraska* Omaha, Arkansas* Omaha, Georgia* Omaha, Illinois* Omaha, Texas...
principal chief Big Elk
Big Elk
Big Elk, also known as Ontopanga , was a principal chief of the Omaha tribe for many years on the upper Missouri River. He is notable for his oration delivered at the funeral of Black Buffalo in 1813....
(1770-1846/1853), also had a plot there.