Today, the Shawnee are comprised of three federally recognized American Indian tribes—the Absentee Shawnee Tribe, located near Shawnee, Oklahoma; Eastern Shawnee Tribe, located near Wyandotte, Oklahoma; and the Shawnee Tribe, located in Miami, Oklahoma. In pre-colonial times they were a semi-migratory nation, primarily inhabiting areas of the Ohio Valley. Some believe they are the descendants of the Fort Ancient People but this is disputed by others. The Shawnee language belongs to the Algonquian language family, along with other Ohio tribes such as the Lenape, Miami, and Ojibwe. When European settlers came to the Ohio Country in the mid-1600s, the Shawnee way of life was disrupted by encroaching colonization and they were forced to leave their lands in search of unoccupied territory. Shawnee warriors sent out raiding parties, hoping to drive settlers off their land and militias responded, often destroying crops and villages. In the 1830s the Shawnee were forced to move from the Ohio River Valley to “Indian Territory” which is now known as Oklahoma. They still live there to this day.

If you would like to learn more about the Shawnee Removal check out this interactive case study from Native Knowledge 360 at the Smithsonian Institute.