The document, and many others like it, was created in service of the United States government's policy of Indian removal.
The treaty makes clear that these lands were being ceded in order to keep the Potawatomi "as far as practicable from the settlements of the Whites" and the Territorial Road leading from Detroit to Chicago.
In exchange, the Potawatomi were to receive a consolidated reservation occupying large areas around the border between the modern-day Michigan counties of Kalamazoo and St. Joseph.
Lewis Cass, governor of the Michigan Territory, signed on behalf of the United States.
On behalf of the Potawatomi tribe, marks were made by Mixs-a-bee, Shee-ko-maig, Pee-nai-sheish, Kne-o-suck-o-wah, Mais-ko-see, A-bee-ta-que-zic, Ko-jai-waince, Sa-kee-maus, Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish, Ma-tsai-bat-to, Ne-kee-quin-nish-ka, Wa-kai-she-maus, Peerish Moran, Mee-she-pe-she-wa-non, O-tuck-quen, Que-quan, Wai-sai-gau, O-kee-yau, and Me-shai-wais.