Indigenous Peoples of Minnesota

United States Minnesota American Indian Genealogy  Indians of Minnesota

Learn about the Indians of Minnesota, tribes and bands, agencies, records, school records, and repositories.



The word Minnesota comes from a Dakota Indian word meaning "sky-tinted water"

Two major Native American tribes—the Dakota (or Sioux) and the Ojibwa (Anishinabe or Chippewa)—lived in the area that is now Minnesota. Small groups from other tribes now also reside in the state, including the Winnebago, who once had reservation land there. By the late 1860s treaties had pushed the Indians off lands they had occupied and moved them onto reservations.

Many American Indians still live on reservations in Minnesota. Seven Ojibwa reservations are located in the northern part of the state, and four Dakota communities occupy lands in the southern part. Other American Indians reside in urban areas. More than 9,000 people of Ojibwa ancestry live in Minneapolis, and about 3,000 Ojibwa, Dakota, and Winnebago are in St. Paul. There are smaller groups of American Indian people in Duluth and Bemidji.

Tribes and Bands of Minnesota
The following list of American Indians who have lived in Minnesota has been compiled from Hodge's Handbook of American Indians... and from Swanton's The Indian Tribes of North America. Some may simply be variant spellings for the same tribe.


 * Arapaho Indians
 * Cheyenne Indians
 * Chippewa IndiansChippewa or Ojibwa
 * Dakota
 * Fox
 * Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska
 * Missouri
 * Omaha Indians
 * Oto Indians
 * Ottawa Indians
 * Ponca Tribe
 * Sauk
 * Winnebago Indians
 * Wyandot Indians

Chippewa Bands:


 * Bois Forte Band of Chippewa Indians
 * Cass Lake Band of Chippewa Indians
 * Fond du Lac Band of Chippewa Indians, Minnesota
 * Grand Portage Band of Chippewa Indians, Minnesota
 * Lake Winnibigoshish Band of Chippewa Indians
 * Mille Lac Band of Chippewa Indians, Minnesota
 * Pembina Band of Chippewa Indians
 * Pillager Band of Chippewa Indians
 * Rainy Lake
 * Snake River
 * White Oak Point Band of Chippewa Indians

Agencies of the Bureau of Indian Affairs
Agencies and sub agencies 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 were created by these offices.

The following list of agencies that have operated or now exist in Minnesota has been compiled from Hill's Office of Indian Affairs..., Hill's Guide to Records in the National Archives Relating to American Indians , and others.


 * Birch Cooley Indian Agency (Minnesota)
 * Consolidated Chippewa Indian Agency (Minnesota)
 * Crow Wing Indian Subagency (Minnesota)
 * Fond du Lac Indian Agency (Minnesota)
 * Grand Portage Indian Agency (Minnesota)
 * Great Lakes Indian Agency (Wisconsin)
 * La Pointe Indian Agency (Wisconsin)
 * Leech Lake Indian Agency (Minnesota)
 * St. Peters Indian Agency (Minnesota)-- part of St. Peters Agency
 * Milk River Indian Agency (Minnesota)
 * Minnesota Indian Agency (Minnesota) Route 3, P.O. Box 112, Cass Lake, MN 56633
 * Nett Lake Indian Agency (Minnesota)
 * Pipestone Indian Agency (Minnesota)
 * Red Lake Indian Agency (Minnesota)
 * Sandy Lake Indian Subagency (Minnesota)
 * St. Peters Indian Agency (Minnesota)1824-1879
 * Vermillion Lake Indian Agency (Minnesota)
 * White Earth Indian Agency (Minnesota)
 * Winnebago Indian Agency (Minnesota)
 * Minnesota Superintendency 1849-1856

Records
The majority of records of individuals were those created by the agencies. Some records may be available to tribal members through the tribal headquarters.They were (and are) the local office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and were charged with maintaining records of the activities of those under their responsibility. Among these records are:


 * Allotment records
 * Annuity rolls
 * Census records
 * Correspondence
 * Health records
 * Reports
 * School census and records
 * Vital records

Indian Schools
The Office of Indian Affairs now the Bureau of Indian Affairs established a network of schools throughout the United States, beginning with Carlisle Indian School, established in 1879. Some of these schools were day schools, usually focusing on Indian children of a single tribe or reservation. Some were boarding schools which served Indian children from a number of tribes and reservations.

In addition, other groups such as various church denominations established schools specifically focusing on American Indian children. (read more...)

The following list of Indian Schools in Minnesota has been compiled from Hill's Office of Indian Affairs..., Hill's Guide to Records in the National Archives Relating to American Indians , and others.


 * Bena School
 * Bishop Whipple Indian School - Norton, MN
 * Birch Coulee Day School
 * Cass Lake Indian School (Minnesota)
 * Grand Portage Indian School (Minnesota)
 * Leech Lake Indian Boarding School (Minnesota)
 * Minnesota Agency School census 1912-1917, 1946-1947 and permanent school census cards Family History Library
 * Morris Industrial School
 * Nett Lake Indian School (Minnesota)
 * Pipestone Indian Boarding School
 * Pleasant Nook-Granite Falls,MN
 * Prairie Island - Egglston, MN
 * Red Lake Agency school - census 1922-1927
 * Squaw Point Day School (Minnesota)
 * Vermillion Lake School

Other Repositories

 * Minnesota Historical Society, 690 Cedar Street, St. Paul, Minnesota 55101

Family History Library
The Family History Library has many American Indian records from the National Archives - Central Plains Region (Kansas City, Missouri). For the Ojibwa, for instance, microfilms of census, vital, land, and family records are available from 1876 to 1955. Additional sources are at the Minnesota Historical Society Library, including:


 * Records of the Minnesota Superintendency of Indian Affairs, 1849-1856. M842. There are 9 microfilms in the Family History Library starting with 1618093


 * Powell, Ransom Judd. Papers, Undated and 1843, 1896–1938. St. Paul, Minnesota: Minnesota Historical Society, 1987. No circulation to Family History Centers. Papers include genealogies, censuses, correspondence, and other records collected by the lawyer for lumber companies that bought White Earth Reservation land. A research study of one Ojibwa family from Minnesota’s White Earth reservation is in:


 * Byers, Paula K., ed. Native American Genealogical Sourcebook. Detroit, Michigan: Gale Research, 1995. It includes chapters on historical background, research methods and sources, and libraries and archives holding genealogical information on American Indians. The case study reported on pages 54–64 uses records mostly dating between 1885 and 1915 to trace ancestors and descendants of one Ojibwa family. Records used include Indian censuses, United States censuses, Chippewa Commission and Chippewa Agency records, and the Ransom Judd Powell papers. A bibliography of sources for further study on Minnesota Indians is provided. Other books include:


 * Ebbott, Elizabeth. Indians in Minnesota. 4th ed. Minneapolis, Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press, 1985. Sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Minnesota, this book deals mainly with social strengths and economic problems of American Indians in modern-day Minnesota. Preliminary chapters give histories of major Indian groups in the state and shifting government policies toward them. Includes maps and tables showing the locations of Indian groups on and off reservations in 1980. Minnesota Historical Society (St. Paul, Minnesota). Chippewa and Dakota Indians: A Subject Catalog of Books, Pamphlets, Periodical Articles, and Manuscripts in the Minnesota Historical Society. St. Paul, Minnesota: Minnesota Historical Society, 1969. A list of printed and manuscript sources on Minnesota’s two major tribes. Much new material has been added to the collections of the Minnesota Historical Society since this book was published. See also the chapter on "The Dakota and Ojibwa" in They Chose Minnesota, described in the "Minorities" article. For sources on the Sioux War of 1862, see the "Military Records" article. Steps to effective research are listed in the "United States Native Races" article.

Records of the various tribes can be found by looking under the name of the tribe in the Subject Search of the FamilySearch Catalog and under "Indians of North America – Minnesota." Many of the records are also listed in the Place Search of the catalog under:

MINNESOTA – NATIVE RACES


 * Records of the United States attorneys and marshal for the District of Minnesota, 1889-1917 which include land allotments for the White Earth Chippewas and genealogical charts connected with those allotments. There are 7 microfilms starting with film 1294074. (NARA record group 118 roll 22)

Reservations
From the mid-1800s, the official policy of the United States government toward the American Indian was to confine each tribe to a specific parcel of land called a reservation. Agencies were established on or near each reservation. A government representative, usually called an agent (or superintendent) was assigned to each agency. Their duties included maintaining the peace, making payments to the Native Americans based on the stipulations of the treaties with each tribe, and providing a means of communication between the native population and the federal government.

Sometimes, a single agency had jurisdiction over more than one reservation. And sometimes, if the tribal population and land area required it, an agency may have included sub-agencies.

The boundaries of reservations, over time, have changed. Usually, that means the reservations have been reduced in size. Sometimes, especially during the later policy of "termination," the official status of reservations was ended altogether.

For a current reservation map - Minnesota - Indian Reservations - The National Atlas of the United States of America. Federal Lands and Indian Reservations. by the U.S. Department of Interior and U.S. Geological Survey.

The following list of reservations has been compiled from the National Atlas of the United States of America, the Omni Gazetteer of the United States of America , and other sources. Some reservations are federally-recognized reservations, with their associated agency and tribe(s). Others have historically been associated with the state or are not currently recognized by the federal government.


 * Bois Fort Indian Reservation (Minnesota)1866 (Chippewa)
 * Chippewa Reservation: 1867
 * Dakota or Sioux Reservation: 1851-58 /1851-62
 * Deer Creek Indian Reservation (Minnesota)
 * Fond du Lac Indian Reservation (Minnesota) Federal, under jurisdiction of Minnesota Indian Agency(Minnesota) Tribe: Mississippi Band of Chippewa
 * Grand Portage Indian Reservation (Minnesota) Federal, under jurisdiction of Minnesota Agency, Tribe: Chippewa
 * Leech Lake Indian Reservation (Minnesota) 1855 Federal, under jurisdiction of Minnesota Agency, Tribe: Chippewa
 * Lower Sioux Reservation Federal, under jurisdiction of Minnesota Agency, Tribe: Eastern or Mississippi Sioux
 * Mdewakanton Indian Reservation (Minnesota)1884
 * Menominee Indian Reservation (Wisconsin) 1845-1845
 * Mille Lac Indian Reservation (Minnesota)1855-1889 Federal, under jurisdiction of Minnesota Agency, Tribe: Chippewa
 * Nett Lake Reservation Federal,under jurisdiction of Minnesota Agency, Tribe: Chippewa
 * Lower Sioux Community: (Sioux)
 * Ojibwa or Chippewa Reservation 1855-1864
 * Pipestone Reservation
 * Prairie Island Reservation Federal, under jurisdiction of Minnesota Sioux, Tribe: Eastern or Mississippi Sioux
 * Prior Lake Reservation Federal, under jurisdiction, Tribe: Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux
 * Red Lake Indian Reservation (Minnesota) 1863-1889 Federal, under jurisdiction of Red Lake Indian Agency (Minnesota) Tribe: Chippewa
 * Shakopee Mdewakanton: State, under jurisdiction of Minnesota Agency, Tribe: Shakopee Sioux
 * Sioux Reservation: 1851-1858
 * Vermilion Lake Indian Reservation (Minnesota) 1881
 * Upper Sioux Reservation: Federal, under jurisdiction of Minnesota Sioux, Tribe: Eastern or Mississippi Sioux
 * Wabasha Reservation:in Wabasha County, Minnesota
 * White Earth Indian Reservation (Minnesota) under jurisdiction of Minnesota Agency, Tribe: Chippewa
 * White Oak Point Indian Reservation (Minnesota)
 * Winnebago Reservation 1846-1855 (Houston County)

Archives, Libraries, and Museums
Glenbow Archive, Library, and Museum

The Glenbow Archives and Library, has an excellent collection of resources for the study of Métis genealogy. Their sources cover predominantly Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and some parts of the Northwest Territories, Ontario, and British Columbia.

Most of our sources pertain to people who were living in the Prairie Provinces in 1900 or earlier.

One unique collection is the Gail Morin who donated her 40,000 name data base to the archive in 2011. The data base is ancestral quest format and all in families with sources.

Contact: Glenbow Archives 130 - 9 Avenue SE Calgary, Alberta T2G 0P3 Reference Desk telephone: 403-268-4204 Email: archives@glenbow.org