School Records

If your ancestor attended a school operated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, either on the reservation or one of the non-reservation boarding schools, the records maintained by the school often contain genealogical information. If you can determine what school the ancestor attended and if records for that school exist for the right time period, you may be able to locate the student's case file which will probably contain an application for admission and related documents.

Sometimes there are even pictures of the student and correspondence with family members. The Fort Worth Branch of the National Archives has some records from Carter Seminary (1917-1970), Chilocco Boarding School (1912-1980), Euchee Boarding School (1912-1947), Eufaula Boarding School (1925- 1959), Jones Academy (1920-1952), Sequoyah High School (19111960), and Wheelock Academy (1911-1953) in addition to schools operated by agencies.

Correspondence

When you have searched all the census and annuity rolls you can locate, you might try reading the letters sent by the agent to his bosses back in Washington. These letter for the period from 1824 to 1881 have been reproduced on 962 rolls of microfilm as National Archives Microfilm Publication M234. You can use the Select Catalog to determine which rolls pertain to your tribe. The letters relate primarily to administrative and other bureaucratic matters but sometimes include petitions or other documents listing tribal members and often include information about people and events. The letters are in chronological order with no name or subject indexes so be prepared to do lots of reading. Letters sent after 1881 are not on microfilm and the best source of this correspondence is the records of the agency which are probably in the custody of one of the National Archives Field Branches.

Prior to the establishment of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in 1824, the War Department was responsible for relations between the Federal government and Indian tribes. Correspondence of the Secretary of War relating to Indian affairs has been reproduced as two Microfilm Publications. Letters sent by the Secretary from 1800-1824 are on six rolls of M15 and the letters received are on four rolls of M271.

Pre-Federal Records

Prior to 1789 there was no Federal government so there were no Federal Indian agents to make census rolls. From 1774 to 1789 the Continental and Confederation Congresses were in charge of relations with Indians and most of their records have been reproduced on 204 rolls of microfilm as National Archives Microfilm Publication M247. Documents about individuals and tribes can be located using the five volume name and subject Index to the Papers of the Continental Congress compiled by John Butler and published by the Government Printing Office. The single volume Index to Journals of the Continental Congress compiled by Kenneth E. Harris and Steven D. Tilley is also helpful in locating documents relating to Indian affairs.

The British and the various colonial governments controlled Indian affairs before the American Revolution and State archives are generally the best source of information about what records exist for the pre-Revolutionary period. If you are able to trace your Indian ancestry back this far you have been extremely lucky. Most researchers will run out of records long before they run out of questions.

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