Lesson Six

BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS

"Indian affairs were originally under the jurisdiction of the War Department when the federal government was established in 1789. In 1793 Congress authorized the President to appoint temporary agents to reside among the Indians. Later, the agents were permanently assigned to particular tribes or areas. In 1824 the Office of Indian Affairs (OIA) was organized in the War Department, where it operated informally until 1832 when Congress authorized the appointment of a Commissioner of Indian Affairs under the Secretary of War to direct all matters arising from relations with the Indians. Indian affairs were transferred to the Department of the Interior when it was created in 1849 and was not officially designated the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) until 1947."1

BIA web site.

The Mackinac Agency originally was established in 1815. It survived several changes of location and jurisdiction until the early 1890's when it was discontinued. In 1899 it was reactivated with the appointment of a special agent headquartered at L'Anse, Ontonagon, and Lac View Desert. The agency moved from L'Anse to Baraga in 1905 where the agency remained until 1927 when it was consolidated with the Lac du Flambeau Agency.

After the closing of the Mount Pleasant School in Michigan, its duties were transferred to the Tomah Agency in Wisconsin. As a result the Tomah Agency had jurisdiction over the Ottawa and Potawatomi of Michigan, and the Saginaw, Swan Creek and Black River Bands of Chippewa of Michigan. In 1949 Tomah was incorporated into the Great Lakes consolidated Agency.

Current BIA address for Michigan is : US Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Michigan Agency, 2901.5 I-75 Business Spur, P.O. Box 884, Sault Ste. Marie, MI 49783 (906) 632-6809

BIA Records are available at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. and at The National Archives Branches although the Branches may have only those records relating to the states each branch covers.

The Branch which covers Michigan is The National Archives - Great Lakes Region, 7358 South Pulaski Road, Chicago, IL 60629 (312) 581-7816 which has the records from field offices of agencies and schools in Michigan, Wisconsin and Iowa. These include the Mackinac Agency in Michigan 1903-1927; the Mount Pleasant Indian School in Michigan, 1904-1926 and the Tomah Indian School and Agency 1908-1934.

Many records available on microfilm. These records include a large amount of correspondence and statistical reports, but some items can be found that are of genealogical value.

9 rolls of Records of the Superintendent of Indian Affairs - Minnesota, 1849-1856; (M842)

174 rolls of Superintendents' Annual Narrative and Statistical Reports from Field Jurisdictions of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, 1907-1938; (M1011) - Roll #3 - Bay Mills School (Michigan); Roll #9 - Carlisle School (Pennsylvania); Rolls #18 and #19 - Chilocco School (Oklahoma); Roll #57 - Genoa School (Nebraska); Rolls #59, 60 and 61 - Haskell Institute (Kansas); Roll #81- Mackinac Agency; Roll #89 Mount Pleasant School; Roll #149 - Tomah School

6 rolls of Letters Sent by the Secretary of War Relating to Indian Affairs, 1800-1824; (M15) Series is arranged chronologically. Each roll is indexed primarily by name of addressee but sometimes by name of tribe or principal subject.

6 rolls of Letters Sent by the Superintendent of Indian Trade, 1807-1823; (M16) Each roll is arranged chronologically and indexed by name of addressee.

166 rolls of Letters Sent by the Office of Indian Affairs, 1824-1881; (M21)

1 roll of Letters to Tench Coxe, Commissioner of the Revenue, Relating to Procurement of Military, Naval and Indian Supplies, 1794-1796; (M74)

126 rolls of Registers of Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, 1820-1880; (M18) Rolls are chronological and each roll is divided into alphabetical sections with some cross-references.

962 rolls of Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, 1824-1881; (M234) (The registers for these records have been filmed as M18) Rolls #402 thru 415 - Mackinac agency 1828-1880; Rolls #419 thru 427 - Michigan Superintency 1824-1851;

4 rolls of Letters Received by the Office of the Secretary of War Relating to Indian Affairs, 1800- 1823; (M271)

53 rolls of Report Books of the Office of Indian Affairs, 1838-1885; (M348)

85 rolls of Special Files of the Office of Indian Affairs, 1807-1904; (M574)

1 roll of Letters Received by the Superintendent of Indian Trade, 1806-1824; (T58)

10 rolls of Documents Relating to the Negotiation of Ratified and Unratified Treaties with Various Indian Tribes, 1801-1869; (T494)

71 rolls of Records of the Superintendent of Indian Affairs-Michigan, 1814-1851; (M1)

For descriptions of the above microfilms see American Indians: A Select Catalog of National Archives Microfilm Publications, National Archives Trust Fund Board, Washington, D.C. 1984 and Guide to Records in the National Archives of the United States Relating to American Indians (Washington, D.C.: NARS, 1981), Edward E. Hill, comp.

Quote from The Archives, A Guide to the National Archives Field Branches, by Loretto Dennis Szucs and Sandra Hargreaves Luebking, Ancestry Inc., 1988, Salt Lake City

Records of Michigan Superintendency 1814-1851 at FamilySearch.org

Records of Northern Superintendency 1851-1876 at FamilySearch.org

Minneapolis Area Office Records 1938-1950 at Family Search.

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