1. Indian Treaties of the 1800s
By Mrs. Sue Wallin
While this slide show will not cover all the treaties of the 1800s, it will cover several that may seem particularly relevant to 4th graders in the northwest part of Wisconsin.

2. What is a Treaty? a legal contract
a binding agreement between two groups of people
made when the U.S. was being settled
most signed in early and mid 1800’s
Students will need to know what the word treaty means. We will discuss its definition and use examples from their lives that could help explain the word. One activity that may aid in this understanding is taken from Classroom Activities on Chippewa Treaty Rights (lessons 3 and 4).

3. Treaty of 1825 held in September at Prairie du Chien
1st of grand intertribal treaties
defined Indian land and boundaries
helped stop wars between Indian tribes
laid groundwork for future land cessions
When introducing this treaty, we will discuss these main points: 1. the location because of its importance as central and easy to get to for all parties; 2. Intertribal - so the students understand that many tribes were present; 3. the government wanted this treaty to help stop wars between the tribes; 4. government thought boundaries would help stop the fighting; 5. cession – so students understand the term means to give up.

4. Prairie du Chien 1825
The students will examine this photo and then discuss the show of U.S. power.

5. Indian Tribes in the Wisconsin, 1825
We will discuss the land area for each tribe as defined by the 1825 treaty.

6. Treaty of 1837 known as the Pine Tree Treaty
held at St. Peter’s Agency in Minnesota
1st of several treaties that sold land areas
provided government legal access to the land for lumbering
secured hunting and fishing rights
As we discuss this treaty, we will talk about where this treaty was held, how it is different from the Treaty of 1825, and the Indian view of ‘sharing’ the land with the white settlers.

7. Treaty of 1842 known as the Copper Treaty
held in La Pointe on Madeline Island
provided government legal access to the land along Lake Superior for mining copper
secured hunting and fishing rights
While this may seem like just another treaty to the students, we will talk about how the Indians are now realizing that when they sign this treaty they are ceding the last of their land. While nothing is mentioned about reservations, there was a hint of removal in the future.

8. Land Cessions in 1837 and 1842 Treaties
We will discuss this map with relation to the previous two treaties. Then it will be compared to the map of present day reservations in the state. (next slide)

9. Present Day Indian Reservations in Wisconsin
This map will be used to compare with the previous map.