The Grand Lake Region: An Important Native American Heritage

The Grand Lake Region: An Important Native American Heritage. . The Twin Bridges Area is within the Wyandotte Nation. The Wyandotte's ancestral homeland was along the St. Lawrence River and Upper Great Lakes Region. A series of conflicts and removals forced this Nation to move southward. In the late 1850's the Wyandotte had to leave their homes in Kansas; moving to Indian Territory as guests of the Mixed Band Seneca-Shawnee. After the Civil War, the Wyandotte purchased a reservation on the north side of the Seneca's lands in present-day Ottawa County. , In addition to the Wyandotte, this region is also very important to a number of other Native American tribal groups and nations. The Cherokee Nation's governmental jurisdiction contains the western portion of Ottawa County with the Grand River as its border. The tribal lands and government headquarters of the Cayuga, Modoc, Ottawa, Peoria, Quapaw, Seneca and Shawnee are also in the Grand Lake Region. , After spending the winter of 1877 at Fort Leavenworth, Chief Joseph and his Nez Perce Tribe were forced to move to Indian Territory. Their encampment was on the Spring River, east of the community of Quapaw. In October, 1878, the Nez Perce moved to another reservation, near to Tonkawa. Their time in Indian Territory was a tragic chapter in Nez Perce tribal history. Many Nez Perce died due to sickness and a lack of supplies. In 1885 the U.S. government allowed the Nez Perce to return to the states of Idaho and Washington. , Caption , Chief Joseph, Nez Perce, circa 1903, Edward S. Curtis Collection (Library of Congress)