Treaty of Hopewell

Two years after Ugala Yacabe or "Wolf's Friend" signed the Mobile Treaty aligning the Chickasaws with Spain; Piominko signed a treaty at Hopewell, South Carolina, declaring Chickasaws under the protection of the United States and "of no other sovereign whatsoever." The Cherokee and Choctaw tribes signed similar treaties. The Treaty of Hopewell marked the beginning of official relations between the Chickasaw Nation and the young United States. The treaty forged three main connections between the two nations: 1) established the official name "the Chickasaw Nation;" 2) marked American recognition of the boundaries of the Chickasaw Homeland (located in what is now southwest Kentucky, west Tennessee, northwest Alabama and north Mississippi) and; 3) established peaceful relations between the Chickasaw Nation and the United States.

By defining the boundaries and giving the United States the authority to make decisions affecting the Chickasaw Nation, this treaty set a precedent that was used against the tribe in future negotiations — taking additional territory from the Chickasaw and limiting their inherent, sovereign rights.