Featured in this lot is this authentic original contract for representation by Richard C. Adams for the Absentee Shawnee Indian Committee in 1900; the contract is in conjunction with the treaties of 1825 and 1832. The Absentee Shawnee treaties of 1825 and 1832 were part of a broader U.S. policy to remove Native peoples from their ancestral homelands and relocate them west of the Mississippi River. In the Treaty of 1825, the Absentee Shawnee, so called because they had separated from the main body of the Shawnee Nation and moved into Missouri, agreed to relinquish large tracts of land in exchange for a designated reservation along the Kansas River in present-day eastern Kansas. The agreement reflected both the pressure of American expansion into Missouri and the federal government’s intent to consolidate tribes into specific areas to free up land for settlement. While it guaranteed certain rights, including protection from white encroachment and some provision for goods and annuities, the treaty ultimately marked the beginning of a series of displacements for the group. By the Treaty of 1832, conditions for the Absentee Shawnee had worsened. Continued settler intrusion and conflicts with neighboring tribes pushed them to cede their Kansas holdings and accept new lands further south in present-day Oklahoma. This treaty further diminished their territorial base and required yet another migration, contributing to instability in their communities. The 1832 agreement also reflected the shifting U.S. Indian policy of the Jacksonian era, which favored rapid removal and resettlement to make way for westward expansion. Together, these treaties illustrate the forced mobility and loss of land that the Absentee Shawnee endured during the early 19th century, setting the stage for their later history in Indian Territory. The condition of this this authentic Legal Contract is well preserved with some browning to the cover page and legal document proper but otherwise shows a well preserved overall condition. The measurements of this contract is 13" x 8 7/8". The collective weight of this document is U4oz.