The Shawnee Tribe is a federally recognized Native American tribe in

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

. Formerly known as the Loyal Shawnee, they are one of three federally recognized

Shawnee The Shawnee are an Algonquian-speaking indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands. In the 17th century they lived in Pennsylvania, and in the 18th century they were in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, with some bands in Kentucky a ...

tribes. The others are the Absentee-Shawnee Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma and the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma.

Government

The headquarters of the Shawnee Tribe is

Miami, Oklahoma Miami ( ) is a city in and county seat of Ottawa County, Oklahoma, United States, founded in 1891. Lead and zinc mining were established by 1918, causing the area's economy to boom. This area was part of Indian Territory. Miami is the capita ...

. Currently, there are about 10,000 enrolled tribal members, with 1,070 of them living within the state of Oklahoma. Ben Barnes is the current elected Chief. Previously, Ron Sparkman was the elected chairman, serving a four-year term.

Economic development

The Shawnee Tribe issues its own tribal vehicle tags. They operate their own housing authority as well as a tribal smoke shop, the Shawnee Trails Gift Shop and Gallery, Shawnee Development LLC, and Shawnee Heritage Government Solutions. Their annual economic impact is estimated by the Oklahoma Indian Affairs Commissions to be $3 million. Shawnee Development LLC is an economic development corporation established in 2001, owned by the tribe but conducting business separately from the general government functions. ''The Shawnee Journal'' is a newspaper published by the tribe and distributed at no cost to all tribal members.

Culture

Some traditional ceremonies, such as the Spring and Fall Bread Dance, the Green Corn ceremony, and stomp dances are still held. These take place in

White Oak, Oklahoma White Oak is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Craig County, Oklahoma, United States, along State Highway 66, approximately one mile (1.6 km) west of that road's eastern terminus with U.S. Route 60 U.S. R ...

. Some Shawnees are also members of the

Native American Church The Native American Church (NAC), also known as Peyotism and Peyote Religion, is a Native American religion that teaches a combination of traditional Native American beliefs and Christianity, with sacramental use of the entheogen peyote. Th ...

peyote ceremonies, with most attending in the winter outside of the traditional Shawnee ceremonial cycle.

History

The Shawnee Tribe is an Eastern Woodland tribe. They originally came from

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

and Pennsylvania, and were the last of the Shawnee to leave their traditional homelands there. In the late 18th century, European American encroachment crowded Shawnee lands in the East, and one band migrated to Missouri — eventually becoming the Absentee Shawnee. Three reservations were granted to the Shawnee in Ohio by the 1817

Treaty of Fort Meigs The Treaty of Fort Meigs, also called the Treaty of the Maumee Rapids, formally titled, "Treaty with the Wyandots, etc., 1817", was the most significant Indian treaty by the United States in Ohio since the Treaty of Greenville in 1795. It resulte ...

: Wapakoneta, Lewistown, and Hog Creek.The Shawnee in History.
''The Official Website of the Shawnee Tribe.'' (retrieved 6 Feb 2009) After the

Indian Removal Act The Indian Removal Act was signed into law on May 28, 1830, by United States President Andrew Jackson. The law, as described by Congress, provided "for an exchange of lands with the Indians residing in any of the states or territories, and for ...

of 1830 passed, another Shawnee band, which would become the Eastern Shawnee Tribe relocated to

Indian Territory The Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the United States Government for the relocation of Native Americans who held aboriginal title to their land as a sovereign ...

in July 1831. The final band, who would become the Shawnee Tribe, relocated to

Kansas Kansas () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its Capital city, capital is Topeka, Kansas, Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita, Kansas, Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebras ...

in August 1831. Their Kansas lands were drastically reduced in 1854 and broken up into individual allotments in 1858. During the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polici ...

many of the Shawnee Tribe fought for the Union, which inspired the name, "Loyal Shawnee." Instead of receiving compensation or honors for their service, they returned to their Kansas lands, only to find much of it taken over by non-Indian

homesteaders The Homestead Acts were several laws in the United States by which an applicant could acquire ownership of government land or the public domain, typically called a homestead. In all, more than of public land, or nearly 10 percent of ...

. Settlers were granted of Shawnee land, while remained to for the tribe, of which were granted to the Absentee Shawnee. In 1861 Kansas became a state, and the White people of Kansas demanded that all Indian tribes must be removed from the state. The Loyal Shawnee made an agreement with the

Cherokee Nation The Cherokee Nation ( Cherokee: ᏣᎳᎩᎯ ᎠᏰᎵ ''Tsalagihi Ayeli'' or ᏣᎳᎩᏰᎵ ''Tsalagiyehli''), also known as the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, is the largest of three Cherokee federally recognized tribes in the United States. ...

in 1869, allowing 722 to gain citizenship within the Cherokee tribe and receive allotments of Cherokee land. They predominantly settled in what is now Craig and

Rogers County, Oklahoma Rogers County is located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2020 census, the population was 95,240, making it the sixth-most populous county in Oklahoma. The county seat is Claremore. Rogers County is included i ...

. They became known as the "Cherokee Shawnee," primarily settling in the areas of Bird Creek (now known as

Sperry Sperry may refer to: Places In the United States: * Sperry, Iowa, community in Des Moines County *Sperry, Missouri * Sperry, Oklahoma, town in Tulsa County *Sperry Chalet, historic backcountry chalet, Glacier National Park, Montana *Sperry Glacier ...

); Hudson Creek (now known as Fairland); and

White Oak The genus ''Quercus'' contains about 500 species, some of which are listed here. The genus, as is the case with many large genera, is divided into subgenera and sections. Traditionally, the genus ''Quercus'' was divided into the two subgenera ''C ...

. The Shawnee Reservation in Kansas was never legally dissolved and some Shawnee families still hold their allotment lands in Kansas. Beginning in the 1980s, the Shawnee Tribe began an effort to regain their own tribal status, independent of the Cherokee Nation. Congress passed Public Law 106-568, the Shawnee Tribe Status Act of 2000, and the Shawnee Tribe was able to organize as their own autonomous, federally recognized tribe. James R. Squirrel was the initial Chairman and was recognized by the AARP in 2009, as being instrumental in the Shawnee Tribe being federally recognized.

Notable Loyal Shawnee

* Heidi BigKnife, jeweler, silversmith * Ruthe Blalock Jones, painter, printmaker, and arts educator *

Yvonne Chouteau Myra Yvonne Chouteau () (March 7, 1929 – January 24, 2016) was an American ballerina and one of the " Five Moons" or Native ''prima ballerinas'' of Oklahoma. She was the only child of Corbett Edward and Lucy Annette Chouteau. She was born March ...

, prima ballerina. * Timmy Lee Jr, Texas Blues Rock guitarist.

References

External links

Shawnee Tribe
official website
Constitution of the Shawnee Tribe
{{authority control Native American tribes in Oklahoma Federally recognized tribes in the United States