The

Cherokee The Cherokee (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...

have participated in over forty treaties in the past three hundred years.

Pre-American Revolution

;Treaty between two Cherokee towns with English traders of Carolina, 1684 : Established a steady trade in deerskins and Indian slaves. Cherokee leaders who signed were: the Raven (Corani or Kalanu); Sinnawa the Hawk (Tawodi); Nellawgitchi (possibly Mankiller); Gorhaleke; Owasta; – all from Toxawa; and Canacaught (the Great Conqueror); Gohoma; and Caunasaita of Keowa. In 1690 the first trader established himself among the Cherokee people, and took a native wife. He was Cornelius Doughtery, an Irishman from Virginia. Although contact was limited initially to white traders, important changes began to occur within the Cherokee society as a result. Leadership shifted from priest to warrior, and warriors became hunters for profit. In 1690, the secretary of the colony, James Moore, ventured into the Cherokee country looking for gold. Some Cherokee chiefs visited Charleston in 1693 demanding firearms for their wars against neighboring tribes. ;Treaty with South Carolina, 1721 : Ceded land between the Santee, Saluda, and

Edisto River The Edisto River is one of the longest free-flowing blackwater rivers in North America, flowing over 250 meandering miles from its sources in Saluda and Edgefield counties, to its Atlantic Ocean mouth at Edisto Beach, South Carolina. It rises ...

s to the

Province of South Carolina The Province of South Carolina, originally known as Clarendon Province, was a province of the Kingdom of Great Britain that existed in North America from 1712 to 1776. It was one of the five Southern colonies and one of the Thirteen Colonies i ...

. ;Treaty of Nikwasi, 1730 : Trade agreement with the newly formed

royal colony of North Carolina The Province of North Carolina, originally known as the Albemarle Settlements, was a proprietary colony and later royal colony of Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain that existed in North America from 1712 to 1776.(p. 80) It was one of ...

through

Alexander Cuming Sir Alexander Cuming, 2nd Baronet (1691–1775) was a Scottish adventurer to North America; he returned to Britain with a delegation of Cherokee chiefs. He later spent many years in a debtors' prison. Early life Cuming was born (according to his ...

. ;Treaty of Whitehall, 1730 : "Articles of Trade and Friendship" between the Cherokee and the English colonies. Signed between seven Cherokee chiefs (including

Attakullakulla Attakullakulla ( Cherokee”Tsalagi”, (ᎠᏔᎫᎧᎷ) ''Atagukalu'' and often called Little Carpenter by the English) (c. 1715 – c. 1777) was an influential Cherokee leader and the tribe's First Beloved Man, serving from 1761 to ...

) and

George II of Great Britain George II (George Augustus; ; 30 October / 9 November 1683 – 25 October 1760) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (Electorate of Hanover, Hanover) and a prince-elector of the Holy Roman Em ...

. ;Treaty with South Carolina, 24 November 1755 : Ceded land between the Wateree and Savannah Rivers to the Province of South Carolina. ;Treaty with North Carolina, 1756 : Treaty of alliance during the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War, 1754 to 1763, was a colonial conflict in North America between Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of France, France, along with their respective Native Americans in the United States, Native American ...

. ;Treaty of Charlestown, 18 December 1761 : Ended the Anglo-Cherokee War with the Province of South Carolina. ;Treaty of Long-Island-on-the-Holston, 20 November 1761 : Ended the Anglo-Cherokee War with the

Colony of Virginia The Colony of Virginia was a British Empire, British colonial settlement in North America from 1606 to 1776. The first effort to create an English settlement in the area was chartered in 1584 and established in 1585; the resulting Roanoke Colo ...

. ;Treaty of Johnson Hall, 12 March 1768 : Guaranteed peace between the Cherokee on one side and the

Iroquois The Iroquois ( ), also known as the Five Nations, and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by the Endonym and exonym, endonym Haudenosaunee ( ; ) are an Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Ind ...

, the Seven Confederate Nations, and the Caughnawaga on the other. ; Treaty of Hard Labour, 14 October 1768 : Ceded land in southwestern Virginia to the British Indian Superintendent, John Stuart. ; Treaty of Lochaber, 18 October 1770 : Ceded land in the later states of Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky to the Colony of Virginia. ;Treaty with Virginia, early 1772 : Ceded land in Virginia and eastern Kentucky to the Colony of Virginia. This actually seems to have been an 'arrangement' made pursuant to the Treaty of Lochaber in 1771, not a ''bona fide'' treaty. ;Treaty of Augusta, 1 June 1773 : Ceded Cherokee claim to between Little and Tugaloo Rivers to the Colony of Georgia. ;

Treaty of Sycamore Shoals A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between sovereign states and/or international organizations that is governed by international law. A treaty may also be known as an international agreement, protocol, covenant, convention ...

, 14 March 1775 : Ceded claims to the hunting grounds between the Ohio and Cumberland Rivers to the Transylvania Land Company.

Pre-U.S. Constitution

; Treaty of Dewitt's Corner, 20 May 1777 : Ceded the lands of the Cherokee Lower Towns in the State of

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

, except for a narrow strip of what is now Oconee County. ;Treaty of Fort Henry, 20 July 1777 : Confirmed the cession of the lands to the

Watauga Association The Watauga Association (sometimes referred to as the Republic of Watauga) was a semi-autonomous government created in 1772 by frontier settlers living along the Watauga River in what is now Elizabethton, Tennessee. Although it lasted only a fe ...

with the States of

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

and

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

. ;Treaty of Long-Island-on-the-Holston, 26 July 1781 : Peace treaty between the Overhill, Valley, and Middle Towns, and the Overmountain settlers that confirmed former cessions but gave up no additional land.
Treaty of Augusta
, 25 May 1783 : The Cherokees ceded their lands between the

Savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach th ...

and

Keowee Keowee () was a Cherokee town in the far northwest corner of present-day South Carolina. It was the principal town of what were called the seven Lower Towns, located along the Keowee River (Colonists referred to the lower reaches of the river as ...

rivers on the east and the

Oconee River The Oconee River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map Accessed April 21, 2011 river in the U.S. state of Georgia. Its origin is in Hall County and it terminates where it join ...

on the west in Georgia. ;Treaty of Long Swamp Creek, 30 May 1783 : Confirmed the northern boundary of the State of Georgia with the Cherokee, between the latter and that state, with the Cherokee ceding large amounts of land between the Savannah and Chattachoochee Rivers to the State of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. ;Treaty of Pensacola, 30 May 1784 : For alliance and commerce between New Spain and the Cherokee and Muscogee. ;Treaty of Dumplin Creek, 10 June 1785 : Ceded the "territory south of the French Broad and

Holston River The Holston River is a river that flows from Kingsport, Tennessee, to Knoxville, Tennessee. Along with its three major forks (North Fork, Middle Fork and South Fork), it comprises a major river system that drains much of northeastern Tennessee ...

s and west of the Big Pigeon River" and east of the ridge dividing

Little River Little River may refer to several places: Australia Streams New South Wales *Little River (Dubbo), source in the Dubbo region, a tributary of the Macquarie River * Little River (Oberon), source in the Oberon Shire, a tributary of Coxs River (Haw ...

from the Tennessee River to the

State of Franklin The State of Franklin (also the Free Republic of Franklin, Lost State of Franklin, or the State of Frankland) was an unrecognized proposed U.S. state, state located in present-day East Tennessee, in the United States. Franklin was created in ...

. ;

Treaty of Hopewell Three agreements, each known as a Treaty of Hopewell, were signed between representatives of the Congress of the United States and the Cherokee, Choctaw, and Chickasaw peoples. They were negotiated and signed at the Hopewell plantation in South ...

, 28 November 1785 : Ceded lands south of the Cumberland River in north central Tennessee. ;Treaty of Coyatee, 3 August 1786 : Made with the

at gunpoint, this treaty ceded the remaining land north and east of the

Little Tennessee River The Little Tennessee River (known locally as the Little T) is a tributary of the Tennessee River that flows through the Blue Ridge Mountains from Georgia, into North Carolina, and then into Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. It dra ...

to the ridge dividing it from Little River.

Post-U.S. Constitution

; Treaty of Holston, 2 July 1791 : Established boundaries between the United States and the Cherokee. Guaranteed by the United States that the lands of the Cherokee have not been ceded to the United States. ;Treaty of Philadelphia, 17 February 1792 : Supplemented the previous Holston treaty regarding annuities, etc. ;Treaty of Walnut Hills, 10 April 1792 : Between the Spanish governor in New Orleans and the Cherokee, Muscogee, Choctaw, and Seminole in which the former promised the latter military protection. ;Treaty of Pensacola, 26 September 1792 : Between the

Chickamauga Cherokee The Chickamauga Cherokee is a Native American group who separated from the Cherokee from the American Revolutionary War to the early 1800s. Most of the Cherokee people signed peace treaties with the Americans in 1776-1777, after the Second Chero ...

(or Lower Cherokee) under John Watts and Arturo O'Neill, governor of Spanish

West Florida West Florida () was a region on the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico that underwent several boundary and sovereignty changes during its history. Great Britain established West and East Florida in 1763 out of land acquired from France and S ...

, for arms and supplies with which to wage war against the United States. ;Treaty of Philadelphia, 26 June 1794 : Reaffirmed the provisions of the 1785 Treaty of Hopewell and the 1791 Treaty of Holston, particularly those regarding land cession. ;Treaty of Tellico Blockhouse, 8 November 1794 : Peace treaty with of the United States with the Lower Cherokee ending the

Cherokee–American wars The Cherokee–American wars, also known as the Chickamauga Wars, were a series of raids, campaigns, ambushes, minor skirmishes, and several full-scale frontier battles in the Old Southwest from 1776 to 1794 between the Cherokee and American se ...

. ; Treaty of Tellico, 2 October 1798 : The boundaries promised in the previous treaty had not been marked and white settlers had come in. Because of this, the Cherokee were told they would need to cede new lands as an "acknowledgment" of the protection of the United States. The U.S. would guarantee the new

Cherokee Nation The Cherokee Nation ( or ) is the largest of three list of federally recognized tribes, federally recognized tribes of Cherokees in the United States. It includes people descended from members of the Cherokee Nation (1794–1907), Old Cheroke ...

could keep the remainder of its land "forever". ;Treaty of Tellico, 24 October 1804 : Ceded land. ;Treaty of Tellico, 25 October 1805 : Ceded land, including that for the Federal Road through the Cherokee Nation. ;Treaty of Tellico, 27 October 1805 : Ceded land for the state assembly of Tennessee, whose capital was then in East Tennessee, to meet upon. ;Treaty of Washington, 7 January 1806 : Ceded land. ;

Treaty of Fort Jackson The Treaty of Fort Jackson (also known as the Treaty with the Creeks, 1814) was signed on August 9, 1814 at Fort Jackson near Wetumpka, Alabama following the defeat of the Red Stick (Upper Creek) resistance by United States allied forces at ...

, 9 August 1814 : Ended the

Creek War The Creek War (also the Red Stick War or the Creek Civil War) was a regional conflict between opposing Native American factions, European powers, and the United States during the early 19th century. The Creek War began as a conflict within th ...

, demanded land from both the

Muscogee (Creek) The Muscogee, also known as the Mvskoke, Muscogee Creek or just Creek, and the Muscogee Creek Confederacy ( in the Muscogee language; English: ), are a group of related Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern WoodlandsTreaty of Chickasaw Council House, 14 September 1816 : Ceding land in northwestern Alabama. ;Treaty of the Cherokee Agency, 8 July 1817 : Acknowledged the division between the Upper Towns, which opposed emigration, and the Lower Towns, which favored emigration, and provided benefits for those who chose to emigrate west and reservations for those who did not, with the possibility of citizenship of the state they are in. ;Treaty of Washington, 27 February 1819 ( Calhoun Treaty) : Reaffirmed the Treaty of the Cherokee Agency of 1817, with a few added provisions specifying land reserves for certain Cherokee.Treaty with the Cherokee 1819
, Retrieved 22 October 2015 ;Council Bluffs Treaty, 11 December 1821 : Established a new boundary between the Cherokee and Creek nations. The north boundary was later used in the first survey of

Carroll County, Georgia Carroll County is a county in the West Central region of the State of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, its population was 119,148.US 2020 Census Bureau report, Carroll County, Georgia Its county seat is the city of Carrollton. Carroll County ...

. ;Treaty of

San Antonio de Bexar San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the U ...

, with the

Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire, sometimes referred to as the Hispanic Monarchy (political entity), Hispanic Monarchy or the Catholic Monarchy, was a colonial empire that existed between 1492 and 1976. In conjunction with the Portuguese Empire, it ushered ...

, 8 November 1822 : Granted land in the province of Tejas in Spanish Mexico upon which the Texas Cherokee band of Richard Fields and The Bowl could live. Though signed by the Spanish governor of Tejas, the treaty was never ratified, neither by the

Viceroyalty of New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( ; Nahuatl: ''Yankwik Kaxtillan Birreiyotl''), originally the Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain. It was one of several ...

nor by the succeeding

First Mexican Empire The Mexican Empire (, ) was a constitutional monarchy and the first independent government of Mexico. It was also the only former viceroyalty of the Spanish Empire to establish a monarchy after gaining independence. The empire existed from 18 ...

Republic of Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. ;Treaty of Washington, 6 May 1828 : Cherokee Nation West ceded its lands in Arkansas Territory for lands in what becomes Indian Territory. ;

Treaty of New Echota The Treaty of New Echota was a treaty signed on December 29, 1835, in New Echota, Georgia, by officials of the United States government and representatives of a minority Cherokee political faction, the Treaty Party. The treaty established terms ...

, 29 December 1835 : Surrendered to the United States the lands of the Cherokee Nation East in return for $5,000,000 to be disbursed on a per capita basis, an additional $500,000 is for educational funds, title in perpetuity to an equal amount of land in Indian Territory to that given up, and full compensation for all property left in the East. The treaty is rejected by the Cherokee National Council but approved by the U.S. Senate. ;Treaty of Bowles Village with the Republic of Texas, 23 February 1836 : Granted nearly of east Texas land to the Texas Cherokees and twelve associated tribes. (Violation of this treaty led to the Cherokee War of 1839, during which most Cherokees were driven north into the Choctaw Nation or who fled south into Mexico. Following this bloody episode, remaining Texas Cherokees under Chicken Trotter joined Mexican forces in a

guerrilla war Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians, which may include recruited children, use ambushes, sabotage, terrorism ...

, culminating in the invasion of San Antonio by Mexican General Adrian Woll. Cherokee and allied Indians saw action at the Battle of Salado Creek and against the Dawson regiment. Following this conflict, it was apparent that Mexico's intervention was not going to provide the remaining Texas Cherokees with any stability or lands in the

Republic of Texas The Republic of Texas (), or simply Texas, was a country in North America that existed for close to 10 years, from March 2, 1836, to February 19, 1846. Texas shared borders with Centralist Republic of Mexico, the Republic of the Rio Grande, an ...

. This led to a push by newly re-installed Texas President Sam Houston for a peace treaty, in 1843). ;

Treaty of Bird's Fort The Treaty of Bird's Fort, or Bird's Fort Treaty was a peace treaty between the Republic of Texas and some of the Indian tribes of Texas and Oklahoma, signed on September 29, 1843. The treaty was intended to end years of hostilities and warfare b ...

with the Republic of Texas, 29 September 1843 : Ended hostilities among several Texas tribes, including the Texas Cherokees as negotiated by Chicken Trotter. The Treaty which was ratified by the Congress of the Republic of Texas, recognized the tribal status of the Texas Indians as distinct, including the Cherokees that would later become known as the Texas Cherokees and Associate Band
Mount Tabor Tabor Indian Community
President of Texas

Sam Houston Samuel Houston (, ; March 2, 1793 – July 26, 1863) was an American general and statesman who played a prominent role in the Texas Revolution. He served as the first and third president of the Republic of Texas and was one of the first two indi ...

, adopted son of former Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation West John Jolly, signed for the republic. This treaty, honored by the State of Texas following annexation, has never been abrogated by the Congress of the United States and in theory is still valid. ; Treaty of Tehuacana Creek with the Republic of Texas, 1844 : An additional treaty was made in which Chicken Trotter "Devereaux Jarrett Bell" and Wagon Bowles were involved, the latter being the son of Texas Cherokee Chief Bowles also known as Duwa'li or the Bowl. This treaty was approved by the Texas Senate only. Chicken Trotter and his brother John Adair Bell were some of the founders of th
Mount Tabor Indian Community
;Treaty of Washington, 6 August 1846 : Ended the covert war between the various factions that had been ongoing since 1839 and attempted to unite the Old Settlers, the Treaty Party, and the Latecomers (or National Party). ;Treaty of Fort Smith, Arkansas, 13 September 1865 : Recognized the claims of the John Ross party as the legitimate Cherokee Nation vis-a-vis those of the Stand Watie party as well as recognized a temporary cease-fire between the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Comanche, Creek, Osage, Quapaw, Seminole, Seneca, Shawnee, Wichita, and Wyandot, with the United States. ;Treaty of the Cherokee Nation, 19 July 1866 : Annulled "pretended treaty" with Confederate Cherokees; granted amnesty to Cherokees; established a US district court in Indian Territory; prevented the US from trading in the Cherokee Nation unless approved by the Cherokee council or taxing residents of the Cherokee Nation; established that all Cherokee Freedmen and free African-Americans living in the Cherokee Nation "shall have all the rights of native Cherokees"; established right of way for rivers, railroads, and other transportation their Cherokee lands; allowed for the US to settle other Indian people in the Cherokee Nation; prevented members of the US military from selling alcohol to Cherokees for non-medicinal purposes; ceded Cherokee lands in Kansas; and established boundaries and settlements for various individuals.
''Oklahoma Historical Society: Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties. Vol. 2, Treaties.'' (retrieved 10 Jan 2010) ;Treaty of Washington, 29 April 1868 : Supplemented the treaty of 1866 and also ceded the Cherokee Outlet in Indian Territory.

References

{{Cherokee Cherokee treaties United States and Native American treaties Treaties of the Kingdom of Great Britain