This article catalogs, state by state, Indian reservations (including rancherias, reserves, tracts, and treaty-set-asides) that were disestablished, revoked, or had substantial portions ceded/diminished. For each state listed, you’ll find notable examples, approximate timelines, and the mechanism (treaty, act of Congress, executive order, allotment/cession, or court ruling). This aims to be as comprehensive as possible in a single reference, while acknowledging that local and case-specific histories can add further nuance.
How Disestablishment, Revocation, and Cession Happened
Only Congress can clearly disestablish a reservation. Over the 19th and 20th centuries, however, boundaries were often reduced or fragmented through treaties, executive orders, allotment-era statutes, “surplus lands” sales, land cessions, and later termination-era laws. In some places courts have confirmed complete disestablishment; in others, courts have found that reservations were never disestablished because Congress did not clearly say so. Many entries below therefore include “ceded/diminished” to reflect partial losses even where a modern reservation remains.
Alaska
Most historic Native “reservations” revoked under ANCSA (1971): With the exception of the Annette Island Reserve (Metlakatla), Alaska’s reservation system was largely replaced by Alaska Native corporations and fee/titled lands. Numerous former reserves therefore fall into the “revoked” category as a class under federal statute.
California
California Rancheria Termination Acts (1950s–1960s): Dozens of rancherias were terminated by Congress, distributing or selling assets and removing federal trust status. Many later regained federal recognition and some trust lands through litigation and legislation, but others remain terminated or only partially restored. Notable terminated rancherias included places like: Big Valley, Cloverdale, Elk Valley, Hopland, Pinoleville, Redding, Robinson, Scotts Valley, Table Bluff, Tuolumne, Upper Lake, and many more (some now restored).
Colorado
Ute cessions/diminishment (late 19th century): After the Meeker Incident (1879) and subsequent agreements, large Ute holdings in Colorado were ceded; remnant reservations persist (Southern Ute, Ute Mountain Ute) mostly in the southwest corner, while former Ute domains in the central mountains and San Luis Valley were relinquished.
Idaho
Nez Perce, Coeur d’Alene, and Shoshone-Bannock cessions/diminishment: 19th-century treaties and agreements reduced reservation boundaries; substantial areas were opened to settlement or otherwise detached. Core reservations remain today, but vast former treaty lands were ceded.
Illinois
Ottawa/Potawatomi reserve tracts (early–mid 19th century): Numerous small reserved tracts named in treaties (e.g., Awn-kote and other named reserves) were alienated or extinguished as families relocated west and lands were sold.
Indiana
Small named reserves disestablished (mid-19th century): A number of Potawatomi and Miami reserve tracts—such as Aubbeenaubbee, Black Loon, and others—were dissolved as lands were allotted, sold, or opened following removals and treaties. Indiana’s modern tribal landholdings are minimal compared to these historic reserves.
Iowa
Historic cessions; settlement remains: Many early treaty-set-asides were ceded in the 19th century. The Meskwaki (Sac & Fox of the Mississippi in Iowa) uniquely purchased land and hold a settlement in fee/trust today, separate from many 19th-century reserve tracts that were ceded.
Kansas
Kaw (Kansa), Miami, Wyandot, Potawatomi, and others—revoked/ceded/diminished: Numerous 19th-century reservations in eastern Kansas were allotted, opened, or ceded. The Kaw Reservation in Kansas was dissolved as the Kaw removed to present-day Oklahoma; other groups experienced similar outcomes or drastic diminishment.
Michigan
Multiple small river/reserve tracts disestablished (19th century): Along with later allotment-era losses, Michigan had many named “Indian Reserves” (e.g., Au Sable River, Au Foin River, Beaubien, Bertrand, Big Rock, and others tied to Odawa/Ottawa and Ojibwe/Chippewa communities) that were extinguished or sold off. Modern reservations endure elsewhere in the state, but many historical reserve parcels were lost.
Minnesota
Dakota and Ojibwe cessions/diminishment (mid-late 19th century): Following conflicts (e.g., U.S.–Dakota War, 1862) and later agreements, broad swaths of treaty land were ceded or reduced. Several reservations remain (e.g., Red Lake, White Earth), but are remnants of larger historical territories.
Missouri
Wyandot and other small reserves disestablished: Treaty-reserved tracts for Wyandot and others in the mid-19th century were sold or extinguished as groups relocated to Kansas and later to Indian Territory (Oklahoma).
Nebraska
Nemaha Half-Breed Reservation (disestablished ~1860–1861): A unique mixed-ancestry reservation dissolved through sales/allotments; the legal entity ceased and the land passed to private ownership. Pawnee Reservation (Nebraska) dissolved (1870s): The Pawnee removed from Nebraska to Indian Territory; former reservation lands were opened to settlement. Other tribal lands in Nebraska were also reduced over time by cession or allotment.
New Jersey
Brotherton (Indian Mills) Reservation (18th–early 19th century): Often cited as the first reservation in what is now the U.S., Brotherton was eventually disbanded as remaining residents relocated (notably to New York/Wisconsin Brothertown communities), extinguishing the reservation.
New York
Seneca and others—Buffalo Creek and allied tracts (19th century): Significant portions of historic reservations (e.g., Buffalo Creek) were sold or alienated; modern Seneca territories (e.g., Cattaraugus, Allegany, Tonawanda) represent remnants, while some former tracts were completely lost. Separate Cayuga/Onondaga/Mohawk land losses also occurred via 18th–19th century transactions and later litigation.
North Dakota & South Dakota
Great Sioux Reservation (diminished): The vast Great Sioux Reservation created in the 1860s–1870s was repeatedly reduced by later acts and agreements, leading to separate reservations (e.g., Pine Ridge, Rosebud, Cheyenne River, Standing Rock, Lower Brulé). Fort Berthold area changes: Arikara (Sahnish), Hidatsa, and Mandan lands were consolidated/altered; modern Fort Berthold Reservation persists but represents a fraction of broader historical claims.
Ohio
Numerous named reserves disestablished (early–mid 19th century): Small tracts listed in treaties—Blanchard’s Fork, Auglaize, and other reserve parcels tied to Shawnee, Ottawa, and allied communities—were sold or extinguished as peoples removed west and lands opened to settlement.
Oklahoma
Kickapoo Reservation (Oklahoma) disestablished (late 19th c.; confirmed by modern court ruling): Following allotment/cession agreements, courts have held the reservation was disestablished. Kiowa–Comanche–Apache Reservation disestablished (~1900): Congressional acts and allotment opened lands; later court interpretations recognized disestablishment. Note: By contrast, many other Oklahoma reservations (e.g., Muscogee, Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Seminole) were held by courts to have never been disestablished; those are not listed here.
Oregon
Coast (Siletz) Reservation—heavily reduced/diminished (1857–1875): A massive coastal reservation created in 1855 was repeatedly cut down by orders and acts; today’s Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians hold a much smaller remnant. Malheur Indian Reservation discontinued (1879): Established for Northern Paiute (1872), it was closed and the people dispersed after conflicts; no reservation remains. Table Rock and related Rogue River-area set-asides (1850s): Short-lived treaty/executive-order reserves created during the Rogue River conflicts were dissolved; people were removed to Grand Ronde/Siletz and elsewhere.
Washington
Puget Sound/Plateau cessions and reductions (mid–late 19th century): Treaty-era maps show larger reserved areas later reduced; while many reservations survive (e.g., Yakama, Colville, Lummi, Puyallup), significant ceded tracts and extinguished smaller reserves occurred during allotment and subsequent agreements.
Wisconsin
Brothertown/Stockbridge–Munsee transitions and other cessions: Complex 19th-century moves and reorganizations (from New York to Wisconsin) included extinguishment of earlier reserved tracts and creation of later, smaller reservations; various Ojibwe and Menominee cessions substantially reduced historic territories, even as modern reservations remain.
Wyoming
Shoshone/Arapaho—ceded/diminished outside the Wind River core: The Wind River Reservation survives, but historical cessions reduced broader claims and surrounding set-asides; similar patterns of diminishment took place across the Northern Plains during the allotment era.
What “Comprehensive” Means Here
This article aggregates places where reservations were clearly disestablished or revoked, and also where large, well-documented cessions and diminishment transformed earlier reserved tracts into today’s smaller footprints. States not listed either retained their core reservations without clear full disestablishment or lacked a discrete, documented “reservation” whose status was later expressly revoked. Where local names varied—or where multiple micro-reserves existed—the entry groups them under the state with representative examples.
Why Many “Lost” Reservations Are Still Debated
Because disestablishment requires a clear statement from Congress, some lands long assumed “lost” have been legally recognized as still-reservation in modern rulings. Conversely, where Congress was explicit—or where later courts have directly confirmed disestablishment—those reservations properly belong in catalogs like this one. The result is a patchwork of outcomes that only detailed, state-specific research can fully resolve.
Conclusion
Across the United States, disestablishment, revocation, and cession reshaped the map of Indian Country. Alaska’s ANCSA overhaul, California’s termination-era rancheria losses, Oklahoma’s mixed outcomes, and countless 19th-century treaties and allotments elsewhere all contributed to the present landscape. Understanding which reservations were fully revoked versus merely diminished is essential for interpreting present-day jurisdiction, tribal governance, and treaty rights.
SOURCES:
- U.S. National Archives — Indian Termination Era Overview
- History Nebraska — The Nemaha Half-Breed Reservation
- Oregon Encyclopedia — Coast (Siletz) Indian Reservation
- Associated Press — Oklahoma court says Kickapoo Reservation was disestablished
- Oklahoma State Courts Network — Opinions & Dockets (Kiowa–Comanche–Apache reservation disestablishment context)
