In 1867, the Ottawa sold their land in Kansas and moved to Indian Territory, in Oklahoma. There they entered into a contract with the Shawnee tribe to purchase approximately 14863 acres, which was part of the Shawnee reservation. When the tribe moved to Oklahoma in 1867 more of the Ottawa had died and only about 200 were left. At the time of the Dawes Act of 1887 in Oklahoma, lands formerly purchased from the Shawnee and now under control of the Ottawa, were broken up into individual allotments. This caused considerable trouble for the tribe, but their  most difficult days were ahead. In 1891, 157 Ottawa were allotted land, and the US federal government sold the rest of their tribal lands. In 1936, the tribe organized under the Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act and gained federal recognition. In 1956 The United States Government decided that the Ottawa Tribe served no purpose and terminated them. This was a long dark period in the Tribes history but they did not give up and on May 15, 1978 the Ottawa Tribe was restored. The Ottawa Tribe was reestablished as a federally recognized government when the Ottawa Council and U.S. Congress ratified the Constitution in 1979.