Land Cession Treaties

Most of the land in what is now Minnesota was ceded by Dakota and Ojibwe people to the US in a short, intense period of 30 years (1837-1867). Earlier land cessions signed by the Dakota affected relatively small areas of present-day Minnesota. See the treaties to the left for the history of land cessions by Ojibwe and Dakota people that affected land in Minnesota today.

Beyond these treaties, bands in what is now Minnesota signed peace treaties, and land cession treaties that affected Iowa, Wisconsin, and other places. In addition, Ho-Chunk, Menominee, Sac and Fox people signed treaties focused on land in present-day Minnesota.