Following intense pressure from settlers who continued to illegally remain on Kanza reservation lands, in March of 1862, the Kanza agreed to further compensation for non-Native squatters, who demanded to be repaid for their “improvements.” While the Treaty of 1859 compensated squatters who had settled on Kanza land before December 2, 1856, the Treaty of 1862 extended such compensation by offering “certificates of indebtedness” from the Kanza to settlers who settled prior to October 5, 1859 despite the fact that the settlers’ claims were not lawful. Historian Ronald D.

Today, the Kaw Nation numbers more than 3,600 citizens. 

The Kaw Nation successfully petitioned Douglas County and the City of Lawrence to have In ́zhúje ́waxóbe, a Kaw sacred boulder, repatriated, or returned to Kaw Nation stewardship. In ́zhúje ́waxóbe was seized by settlers and moved to Robinson Park in Lawrence, Kansas as a “monument to pioneers” in 1929. For more information see grant project websites associated with this work: robinsonpark1929.com and sacredredrock.com.  

Kaw Nation purchased land around the Unknown Indian Monument near Council Grove, Kansas. Known today as Allegawaho Heritage Memorial Park, this constitutes a return of Kanza sovereignty within their homeland. This land was a portion of their 1845 reservation and includes remnants of the Kaw Agency and other stone buildings erected by the federal government.  

The Kaw National Tribal Court was founded.

The first Kaw constitution was adopted.  

Washunga, the Kaw Nation home in Oklahoma, which was promised to the Kaw in perpetuity, or for all time, was seized by the U.S. government via eminent domain. In yet another forced removal, the Kaw were compelled to leave the old town of Washunga, including the Kaw Tribal Council House and cemetery. This land was subsequently flooded by the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers to create Kaw Lake, a reservoir and recreation area. While the U.S.

Federal reorganization of the Kaw Nation under the Indian Reorganization Act occurred. The Kaw Tribal Council that had been stripped of its power in 1902 through the Kaw Allotment Act, regained some independent authority.  

Also known as “The Indian New Deal,” the U.S. Congress passed the Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) put in place legal mechanisms to promote federal reorganization of tribal nations. Reorganization was intended to help restore some aspects of self-governance among Indigenous nations.  

On July 1, the U.S. Congress passed the Kaw Allotment Act, which “legally obliterated the tribe,” retaining only 260 acres of their Oklahoma reservation as trust land and moving the rest of their lands into individual ownership. The U.S. government allotted some of this land to Kanza people and the remaining “surplus” land was reallocated to non-Natives.