US TREATY SIGNERS
Challenging the mythology of US-Indian Treaties
Over the course of 90 years, the US acquired the resources of a continent. Treaties with indigenous nations were essential events in this remarkable growth. What motivated such aggressive expansion, and who benefitted from it most directly?
Men who signed US-Indian treaties for the federal government were on the spot when the resources of a continent entered the US property system. Until now, those men have never been examined as a group – but they were not on the spot by accident. They represented the powerful interests that drove westward expansion and shaped US-Indian policy, often for personal gain.
The US Treaty Signer Project, an initiative of the Indian Land Tenure Foundation, presents information on hundreds of US treaty signers and on the business, family and social networks that connected them. It opens a surprising new window on the assumptions, motivations and mechanisms on which the United States is built.
Visit the US Treaty Signers website HERE
INDIGENOUS TREATY SIGNERS
A window on indigenous political systems
Scores of indigenous nations signed treaties with the US between 1778 and 1870. Each pursued its own objectives in international diplomacy. These diverse nations have distinctive cultures, histories, and languages, and their own traditional political and social structures.
The US-Indian treaties bear more than 10,000 signatures of indigenous representatives. The personal stories of the men and women who provided these signatures are often powerful. What is more, their lives offer a window on the often-complex politics of their nations.
As an aid to researchers, information is provided here on each of the treaty signatures provided by indigenous representatives: the treaty on which the signature appears; names in both tribal and European naming conventions; national affiliation of the signer; and a first attempt to identify multiple signatures that were made by the same person.
Visit Indigenous Signers of Treaties with the US HERE
ILTF is a national, community-based organization serving American Indian nations and people in the recovery and control of their rightful homelands. We work to promote education, increase cultural awareness, create economic opportunity, and reform the legal and administrative systems that prevent Indian people from owning and controlling reservation lands.
Visit the Indian Land Tenure Foundation website HERE