Tonkawa Indian Agency (Oklahoma)

Indian Tribes Associated With This Agency
Tonkawa

History
The true name of the Tonkawa Agency was the Oakland Agency. From 1879 to 1885, Chief Joseph's Band of Nez Perce Indians lived near the Ponca Indians at a place called the Oakland Agency. When they left, a group of Tonkawa Indians moved in and were merged with the Ponca, Pawnee, Otoe, and Oakland Agency. Between 1901 and 1903, the Oakland Agency was reestablished as an independent agency. In 1921, the Tonkawa were placed under the Ponca Agency until it was permanently merged with the Pawnee Agency in 1927.

Records
Agencies and subagencies were created as administrative offices of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and its predecessors. Their purpose was (and is) to manage Indian affairs with the tribes, to enforce policies, and to assist in maintaining the peace. The names and location of these agencies may have changed, but their purpose remained basically the same. Many of the records of genealogical value (for the tribe and tribal members) were created by and maintained by the agencies.

Some records for the Tonkawa Subagency, 1911-1919, are in the National Archives Southwest Region (Ft. Worth) and in the Oklahoma Historical Society in Oklahoma City.

Reports of Inspection of the Field Jurisdictions of the Office of Indian Affairs, 1874-1900 have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of Microcopy Number M1070. The reports for Tonkawa Subagency, 1883, are on roll 53 of that Microcopy set. Copies are available at the National Archives, their Regional Archives, and at the Family History Library and its family history centers (their ).