Ratified Indian Treaty 41, Piankashaw, Vincennes, 1804 (page 2)

What it is

This is page 2 of a ratified treaty with the Piankashaw, made at Vincennes in 1804. The catalogue record names the U.S. Government as its creator. The image is a photograph of a large, aged parchment laid flat on a white background. The surface is yellowed and stained, with faint handwritten lines. A handwritten heading appears in the upper left, and a dark green ribbon with seal tabs hangs from the lower left edge. A color calibration strip sits above the document.

Why it matters

The record describes this as a land cession document negotiated under Harrison while he was governor of Indiana Territory. Treaties like this one transferred land from Native nations to the United States, and Harrison signed or oversaw many such agreements. The Piankashaw were one of the peoples whose land was affected. The page shows how the government recorded these transfers in formal legal documents.

Look closer

• What can the seal tabs and ribbon tell you about how the treaty was made official?
• Who would have needed to understand these written terms, and who had the power to write them?
• What does this single page leave out about the people who gave up the land?