Miami people
Beginning in the late 1790s, Richardville took an increasingly active interest in Miami affairs and remained an influential leader of the Miami people until his death in 1841. Richardville was involved in treaty negotiations with the U.S. government, as well as the decisions on disbursement of federal funds and annuity goods given to the Miamis. Historians R. David Edmunds, Elizabeth Glenn, and Stewart Rafert have pointed out that Richardville and other Miami leaders such as Francis Godfroy personally profited from their roles as tribal chiefs and treaty negotiators, but the leaders also slowed progress in discussions regarding land cessions and removal of the Miamis from Indiana, especially between 1818 and 1840. These delays gave Richardson and the other tribal leaders additional time to negotiate concessions and delay the eventual removal of the Miami people to lands west of the Mississippi River.