Native American Tribal Histories
Series 1-4, 1813-1880
- The complete records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs superintendents
- The most detailed documents available about the encounters between Indigenous people and American Territorial officials
- A must-have digital resource for scholars of Native American history, culture, and law
Through much of the 19th century, the education, land rights, treaty negotiations and other affairs of Native American tribes were overseen by a cadre of superintendents from the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). BIA superintendents scrupulously recorded their interactions with Native American tribes, leaving behind an astoundingly detailed archive that is captured here in full. It contains all the manuscript letters and reports that the superintendents sent to Washington, D.C., as well as the responses and instructions received from the nation’s capital.
These primary source documents cover not only encounters between Indigenous people and the U.S. government, but also accounts of Native American cultures during a time when disease and forced relocation were transforming their lives. Now, these rare materials are available for the first time in a readily accessible digital collection, which also contains detailed historical background notes created by the curators of the National Archives. Native American Tribal Histories, 1813-1880, is a powerful new resource for anyone interested in the past, present and future of Native America.
A vivid picture of a tumultuous era
As U.S. settlers pushed farther west, Native Americans were confined to increasingly small parcels of land which restricted their autonomy, impacted cultures and traditions, and led to numerous conflicts. The BIA superintendents and agents tasked with managing tribal affairs covered these issues through a series of handwritten reports and records. In addition, the documents in Native American Tribal Histories cover the history of Indian boarding schools, including attendance and curricula; the enforcement of treaties and federal laws; forced relocations and “Indian removal” policies; goods, supplies, medical care and payments provided to tribes; military conflicts; trading; and much more. Together, these primary source documents paint a vivid picture of the changes impacting Native Americans as a whole, as well as how these broader changes affected individual tribes and people.
Indigenous history from around the country
Native American Tribal Histories, 1813-1880, is sourced from the Bureau of Indian Affairs Field Office and Central Office Records at the American National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). It includes documents related to dozens of Native tribes from every region of the contiguous United States, including Apache, Arapaho, Blackfeet, Cherokee, Chippewa, Choctaw, Creek, Kickapoo, Kiowa, Klamath, Lummi, Mandan, Mojave, Navajo, Nez Perce, Osage, Potawatomi, Pueblo, Seminole, Sioux, Ute and numerous others. Additionally, a customized user interface ensures that students and scholars are able to easily navigate, browse and filter documents by territory, date, tribe, topic, document type and more.
Every major book printed in North America about Native Peoples
Documenting a nation’s dramatic growth and expansion
VERDICT This extensive database of previously unaggregated primary-source documents provides a view of the United States government’s documentation of a crucial period in U.S. and Indigenous history. A valuable resource for researchers seeking firsthand reports in U.S. political and military history.
CONTENT In 1806, the U.S. Congress created a superintendent of Indian trade within the War Department to monitor and control trade between the U.S. and Indigenous nations. In 1824, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) superseded the previous department. Readex’s Native American Tribal Histories collection, curated by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), offers researchers access to U.S. government documents spanning 1813 to 1880, which describe education, land rights, treaty negotiations, commerce, and other affairs overseen by U.S. regional superintendents and their agents. The documents memorialize a time during which settlers were moving further west, and Indigenous peoples were being displaced and confined to progressively smaller parcels of land and losing tribal autonomy. While the database contains missives from English-speaking tribal members, most materials reflect BIA officials’ involvement with Indigenous nations and representatives.
This recently completed database includes 1,038 tribe names, 172 agencies, 407 treaties, and 2,655 names—at least 1,000 of which belong to Indigenous peoples previously undocumented online. The 23 superintendencies include Arizona, Arkansas, California, Central, Colorado, Dakota, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, “Northern,” Oregon, “Southern,” St. Louis, Utah, Washington, “Western,” Wisconsin, and Wyoming. Documents comprise letters and telegrams to and from superintendents, agents, and the commissioner of the Bureau; communications from tribal leaders; annual reports of superintendencies; treaties and negotiations; registries of letters; and detailed historical background notes created by the curators of the National Archives. Central themes include the displacement and forced relocation of Indigenous peoples; land allotments, annuities, and other payments to Indigenous peoples; intrusions on Indigenous lands and depredation claims; enforcement of federal laws and regulations; and military conflicts and alliances between Indigenous nations and the United States.
USABILITY The landing page is straightforward, with links at the top supplying an overview of the site contents and detailed information on conducting and modifying searches, using facets, and working with image content. This informational section also provides an excellent description of the limits and advantages of optical character recognition.
The search bar at the top of the main page defaults to a basic keyword search. Researchers can also refine searches by tribe name, decade, year, place or region, superintendency, agency, treaty, topic, event, person, fort/company/mine, author, publication category, NARA roll number, and database. A search narrowed by one or more limiters returns results with details such as title, author, primary tribe(s), tribe variant name(s), superintendency, agency, publication category, document type, physical description, and NARA details.
Once a result is selected, the document appears as a series of images of the handwritten original. Beyond simply reading the document, researchers can generate citations, download documents, print, or send the document by email.
—Bentley Clark in Library Journal e-review (April 2024)
Series 1 | |
BIA Superintendencies: | Date Range |
Arkansas Superintendency | 1819-1834 |
Central Superintendency | 1813-1878 |
Florida Superintendency | 1824-1853 |
Iowa Superintendency | 1838-1849 |
Michigan Superintendency | 1814-1851 |
Northern Superintendency | 1851-1876 |
St. Louis Superintendency | 1824-1851 |
Western and Southern Superintendencies | 1832-1870 |
Series 2 | |
BIA Superintendencies: | Date Range |
Arizona Superintendency | 1863-1873 |
Central Superintendency | 1813-1878 |
Michigan Superintendency | 1814-1851 |
Minnesota Superintendency | 1849-1856 |
New Mexico Superintendency | 1814-1880 |
Northern Superintendency | 1851-1876 |
Utah Superintendency | 1853-1870 |
Wisconsin Superintendencys | 1836-1848 |
Green Bay Subagency | 1850 |
Series 3 | |
BIA Superintendencies: | Date Range |
California Superintendency | 1849-1880 |
Central Superintendency | 1813-1878 |
Dakota Superintendency | 1861-1878 |
Wyoming Superintendency | 1861-1878 |
Michigan Superintendency | 1814-1851 |
Nevada Superintendency | 1869-1870 |
New Mexico Superintendency | 1814-1880 |
Oregon Superintendency | 1848-1873 |
Series 4 | |
BIA Superintendencies: | Date Range |
California Superintendency | 1849-1880 |
Central Superintendency | 1813-1878 |
Colorado Superintendency | 1861-1880 |
Idaho Superintendency | 1863-1870 |
Montana Superintendency | 1867-1873 |
Oregon Superintendency | 1848-1873 |
Washington Superintendency | 1853-1874 |
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