Note: There are multiple treaties referred to as Treaty with the Potawatomi. See Treaty with the Potawatomi

Treaty with the Potawatomi

During the first half of the 19th century, several treaties were concluded between the United States of America and the Native American tribe of the Potawatomi...

 for others.

The Treaty of St. Joseph (formally titled A treaty between the United States and the Potawatamie Tribe of Indians) was a treaty

Treaty

A treaty is an express agreement under international law entered into by actors in international law, namely sovereign states and international organizations. A treaty may also be known as an agreement, protocol, covenant, convention or exchange of letters, among other terms...

 established between the United States of America and the Potawatomi

Potawatomi

The Potawatomi are a Native American people of the upper Mississippi River region. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a member of the Algonquian family. In the Potawatomi language, they generally call themselves Bodéwadmi, a name that means "keepers of the fire" and that was applied...

 tribe on September 19, 1827 in St. Joseph, Michigan

St. Joseph, Michigan

St. Joseph is a city in the US state of Michigan. It was incorporated as a village in 1834 and as a city in 1891. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 8,789. It lies on the shore of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the St. Joseph River, about east-northeast of Chicago. It is the county...

. The document, and many others like it, was created in service of the United States government's policy of Indian removal

Indian Removal

Indian removal was a nineteenth century policy of the government of the United States to relocate Native American tribes living east of the Mississippi River to lands west of the river...

.

Summary

Citing the need to "consolidate some of the dispersed bands of the Potawatamie Tribe in the Territory of Michigan

Michigan Territory

The Territory of Michigan was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from June 30, 1805, until January 26, 1837, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Michigan...

," the treaty lists several tracts of land "heretofore reserved for the use of the said Tribe" which were to be ceded

Cession

The act of Cession, or to cede, is the assignment of property to another entity. In international law it commonly refers to land transferred by treaty...

 to the United States. The treaty makes clear that these lands were being ceded in order to keep the Potawatomi "as far as practicable from the settlements of the Whites" and the territorial road leading from Detroit to Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

.

The cessions cover settlements in southeast Michigan, along the River Rouge

River Rouge (Michigan)

The River Rouge, also known as the Rouge River, is a river in the Metro Detroit area of southeastern Michigan. It flows into the Detroit River at Zug Island, which is the boundary between the cities of River Rouge and Detroit....

 and the River Raisin

River Raisin

The River Raisin is a river in southeastern Michigan, United States that flows through glacial sediments into Lake Erie. The area today is an agricultural and industrial center of Michigan. The river flows for almost , draining an area of in the Michigan counties of Lenawee, Monroe, Washtenaw,...

, as well as tracts in southwest Michigan around the Kalamazoo River

Kalamazoo River

The Kalamazoo River is a river in the U.S. state of Michigan. The river is long from the junction of its North and South branches to its mouth at Lake Michigan, with a total length extending to when one includes the South Branch...

. In exchange, the Potawatomi were to receive a consolidated reservation occupying large areas around the border between the modern-day Michigan counties of Kalamazoo

Kalamazoo County, Michigan

-Air Service:*The Kalamazoo & Battle Creek Metro Area is served by Kalamazoo/Battle Creek International Airport.-Interstates:* I-94* I-94 Business Loop-US highways:* US-131*  BUS US 131-Michigan State Trunklines:* M-43* M-89* M-96...

 and St. Joseph

St. Joseph County, Michigan

-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 62,422 people, 23,381 households, and 16,600 families residing in the county. The population density was 124 people per square mile . There were 26,503 housing units at an average density of 53 per square mile...

.

The treaty was formally proclaimed on February 23, 1829.

Signatories

Lewis Cass

Lewis Cass

Lewis Cass was an American military officer and politician. During his long political career, Cass served as a governor of the Michigan Territory, an American ambassador, a U.S. Senator representing Michigan, and co-founder as well as first Masonic Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Michigan...

, governor of the Michigan Territory, signed on behalf of the United States. On behalf of the Potawatomi tribe, marks were made by Mixs-a-bee, Shee-ko-maig, Pee-nai-sheish, Kne-o-suck-o-wah, Mais-ko-see, A-bee-ta-que-zic, Ko-jai-waince, Sa-kee-maus, Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish

Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish

Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish was the chief of a Potawatomi Indian group...

, Ma-tsai-bat-to, Ne-kee-quin-nish-ka, Wa-kai-she-maus, Peerish Moran, Mee-she-pe-she-wa-non, O-tuck-quen, Que-quan, Wai-sai-gau, O-kee-yau, and Me-shai-wais.