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This compact, with an attached note signed by five Ottawa chiefs, was passed in a general council of twenty-one Indian nations held at Tahlequah, Oklahoma. Apparently this compact was a way for emigrant tribes, who were now living in close proximity, to "cultivate just and friendly relations among our several communities." It included eight resolutions regulating the contact between nations; for instance, it condemned the practice of revenge killings and bans alcoholic beverages. The chiefs' closing note explained that the council would reconvene in seventy days to hear if each individual nation had accepted the terms of this compact. The Ottawa chiefs had not yet decided if they would agree to these terms. The compact and note are both in Jotham Meeker's handwriting; Meeker was a Baptist missionary at the Ottawa Mission near present-day Ottawa, Kansas.
Creator: Meeker, Jotham, 1804-1855
Date: 1843
This compact is useful because it illustrates how emigrant tribes sought to mitigate the effects of inter-tribal conflict. The opening remarks of the compact also refer to Indian removal and to the U. S. government's promise that this new land in Indian territory would be theirs in perpetuity. This source can also be used to teach about the "civilization" process.
KS:7th:1.4:Indian Removal (2005)
Item Number: 210071
Call Number: Jotham Meeker Papers Coll. #439, Box 1, 1843 Correspondence Folder
KSHS Identifier: DaRT ID: 210071
Collections - Manuscript - Meeker, Jotham
Curriculum - 7th Grade Standards - Kansas History Standards - Prehistory to 1854 (Benchmark 1) - Indian Removal Act (Indicator 4) - Inter-tribal conflict
Curriculum - 7th Grade Standards - Kansas History Standards - Prehistory to 1854 (Benchmark 1) - Indian Removal Act (Indicator 4) - Ottawa
Date - 1800-1819
Objects and Artifacts - Communication Artifacts - Documentary Artifact - Resolution
People - American Indians - Indian removal
People - American Indians - Tribes - Ottawa
Places - Cities and towns - Ottawa
Places - Counties - Franklin
Places - Other States - Oklahoma
Thematic Time Period - Indian Territory, 1820 - 1854
Type of Material - Unpublished documents - Transcript
http://www.kansasmemory.org/item/210071