EXILED
Ohio's Indian Removal
IN THE WEST
THE INDIAN TERRITORY
Despite the sunny promises of the U.S. treaty negotiators, great problems awaited the Indians after their arrival in the West.
The climate and terrain were significantly different from what they were used to in Ohio. Even more surprisingly, the lands to which the emigrants were sent were not clearly defined. As a result, they became embroiled in conflicts with Native Americans already living there, other emigrant tribes, and white settlers.
Most of the Ohio Indians were forced to move again—sometimes multiple times. A small number, like Margaret Grey Eyes Solomon (pictured), returned to Ohio. It was not until 1867 that another treaty created new homelands for them in northeastern Oklahoma and southeastern Missouri.
Margaret Grey Eyes Solomon
Ohio History Connection
CONTEMPORARY OKLAHOMA
Today, the federally recognized descendant communities of the Ohio Shawnees, Senecas, and Wyandots are organized as the Eastern Shawnee Tribe, the Shawnee Tribe, the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe, and the Wyandotte Nation. Their collective land base amounts to approximately 5000 acres. Members live across the country and the world.
The Wyandottes, Seneca-Cayugas, and Shawnees are governed by elected councils and committees. The tribes farm the land in addition to operating a wide variety of businesses including casinos, health clinics, banks, motels, and oil refineries.
RETURN TO OHIO
Chief Glenna Wallace, of the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma, talks about coming back to historic American Indian sites in Ohio.