Ojibwe chiefs protest broken treaties to officials in Washington in 1864.

Ojibwe treaty statement, 1864.

This document, sometimes cited as the "Statement made by the Indians, a bilingual petition of the Chippewas of Lake Superior, 1864," was carried by an Ojibwe delegation to the U.S. Commission of Indian Affairs in Washington. It conveys the Ojibwe's grievances concerning federal government actions over the previous decades, and explains their understanding of the various treaty negotiations conducted since 1825. It deals specifically with land cessions and tribal rights to timber, minerals, and wild rice. Its history and background were discussed in an article by Harry Miller in the summer 2001 Wisconsin Magazine of History entitled, "These I Do Not Sell" (linked on the Turning Points site). The original bilingual manuscript is shown here with Ojibwe on the left and English on the right. Click on a handwritten passage to see it in more detail, and use the "Page & Text" button to view a typed transcript of the English text.

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