Native American Archives
Discovering a National Treasure
by: Billie Fogerty billiefogarty@aol.com
A 1934 Act of Congress established the Oklahoma Historical Society as the custodian for the records ofthe Five Civilized Tribes (Choctaw, Chickasaw, Cherokee, Creek,and Seminole Indians),as well as the Cheyenne and Arapaho Indian Tribes of Oklahoma. In 1978 it was designated as an affiliate ofthe National Archives. It is also an affiliate of the Smithsonian Museum.
It is located in the new Oklahoma History Center across from the state capitol in OklahomaCity. Treasures include many one of a kind historic maps, Lewis and Clark treaties signed by Thomas Jefferson, and many more.
The website fort he American Indian Archives can be accessed at http://www.okhistory.org/research/collections/index.html
Archives Director William D.Welge says “The American Indian Archives consists of federal Indian records placed in the society's custody in 1934 by act of Congress. Containing over 3.5 million documents and some 6,000 plus volumes, it represents 66 of the 67 tribes that eitherwere relocated to Oklahoma by forced removal, or who are native to the state.
Most principal of the collection wil lbe the records of the Five Civilized Tribes. These records of the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creekand Seminole date from circa 1856 to 1906. The national records of these tribes contain primary documentation oft he executive, legislative and judicial branches as well as district and county records. Extensiveinformation about agriculture,census, citizenship, education, Indian-white relations, law enforcement anda variety of aspects of life in Indian Territory can be found in hese documents
A significan tportion ofthe American Indian Archives are federal records of the various Indian agencies established to administer reservation activities among the tribes relocated to the territory during the nineteenth century.These records spanthe period from the 1860s to1933. Agencies and tribesincluded in this group are: Cheyenne and Arapaho; Kiowa (Apache, Comanche, Kiowa, Wichita, Waco, Tawkoni, Caddo, Kichai and Delaware); Pawnee (Pawnee, Ponca, Nez Perce, Ottawa, Confederated Peoria, Quapaw, Seneca, Eastern Shawnee and Wyandot); Sac and Fox-Shawnee( Ioway, Mexican Kickapoo, Citizen Band Potawatomi, Sac, Fox, and Absentee Shawnee).
Also included are records ofthe Indianschools establishedi n IndianTerritory such as Chilocco and Mekusukey Academy. These valuable collections of agency files provide important data as to the day to day operation of agency affairs. Files will include Indian culture, census and annuity ,per capita, leases especially cattle grazing and pasture, field matrons, farmers, ceremonies ,allotments andc ustoms just to name a few.
Of special note will be the records of the Dawes Commission, whose primary function was to administerthe enrollment of the citizens and Freedmen (former African-American slaves), of the Five Civilized Tribes in preparation for allotment of land prior to statehood.
Much of the primary records of the Five Civilized Tribes is utilized by individuals researching for ancestors who may have been enrolled by the Dawes Commission. The records allow the researcher to determine if they can qualify for tribal enrollment today. Since the mid-1970s new importance has been placed upon the records of the Five Civilized Tribes.These records provide the only source for determining tribal membership with a tribal entity today.
Using a combination of enrollment records produced by the Dawes Commission, supplemental documentation can be ascertained by searching voluminous records o fthe Five Civilized Tribes for possible linkages from the ancestor to the researcher.” (From the Online Introduction to the Archives at
http://www.okhistory.org/research/collections/ai/archives.html)
A Glimpse at the Scope of the MicrofilmHoldings
Cherokee
Cherokee NationalRecords 1800- 1908
189 0Census of the Cherokee Nation
Cherokee National Council Minutes 1863 –1905
Permits to Non-Citizens
Land Records and Estray Property Records
Supreme Court Records 1867 –1898
Marriages 1839 –1924
Marks and Brands
Citizenship 1871 –1925
Intruders 1859 –1904
Outlaws, Pardons
Letters sent andr eceived about removal to the west
Female Seminary, Male Seminary
Allotment Plat Maps
Chickasaw
Census of 1818
1890 Census of the Chickasaw Nation
1896 Census of the Chickasaw Nation
Choctaws in the Chickasaw Nation 1896
Chickasaw National Council 1876 –1901
County Court Records 1849 –1906
Supreme Court Records 1858 –1907
School Records 1872 –1928
Permits to Non-Citizens 1868 –1906
Marriages 1875 –1899
Foreign Relations
World War I Physicians
Creek
Census of Non Citizens undated
1892 Census of CreekNation
Permits
Citizenship Applications
Listof Civil War Officers 1862 –1865
Orphans Annuity 1883
Journal of the House of Warriors 1868 –1903
Creek National Council 1859 –1909
Supreme Court 1868 –1899
Blacksmiths 1868 –1893
Intruders 1876 –1908
Marriages 1878 –1894
Light Horse 1868 –1900
Schools 1867 –1911
Wills 1864 –1887
Choctaw
Census and Citizenship 1830 –1899
Census of Choctaws by Blood & Marriage 1861-1929
General Council 1855 –1910
Laborers, Renters,& Others 1887 –1906
Marriage Records 1857 –1906
Estate Records
Court Records 1858 –1906
Civil War documents
Divorce 1863 –1905
Permits to Non-Citizens
Students in the States - Schools 1869- 1900
Seminole
Miscellaneous 1866- 1923
Schools and Students 1910 –1929
Cheyenne and Arapaho
EnrollmentLists 1870 –1882
1881 US Census of Cheyenne/Arapaho
Clams Against the Federal Government 1871 – 1932
Foreign Relations 1871 –1933
Indian Captives 1870 –1920
World War I
Indian Removal 1871 –1887
Permits & Passes 1871 –1923
Indians Absent or Missing 1876 –1931
Intruders 1875 –1923
Births 1875 –1933
Marriages 1879 –1933
There are also documents fromthese otherTribes: Kiowa, Pawnee, Otoe, Tonkawa, Kaw, Ponca, Quapaw, Sac & Fox, and Shawnee.The IndianS chools are included and 80 rolls of microfilmon the Dawes Commission Records.There are Indian Territory Court Records and 72 microfilm rolls of US District Court Records. There are more than 100 microfilms rolls of assorted records relating to Indians and the areas they controlled.
One of the significant collections is the Indian Pioneer Papers. The Indian- Pioneer Papers oral history collection spans from 1861 to 1936. It includes typescripts of interviews conducted during the 1930s by government workers with thousands of Oklahomans regarding the settlement of Oklahoma and Indian territories, as well as the condition and conduct of life there. Consisting of approximately 80,000 entries,the index to this collection may be accessed via personal name, placename, or subject. It is housed at the University of Oklahoma Western History Collection and has been digitized and is online at http://digital.libraries.ou.edu/whc/pioneer/
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