Omaha Indian Agency (Nebraska)

Indian Tribes Associated With This Agency
Omaha, Winnebago

History
The Omaha Agency was established in 1856 for the Omaha tribe formerly under the Council Bluffs Agency. It was located on the west bank of the Missouri River, north of Decatur, Nebraska. It was consolidated with the Winnebago Agency in 1879 and was called the Omaha and Winnebago Agency. The Omaha Agency became independent again in 1903, but for the years 1910 to 1914, it was put under the Winnebago Agency. It was discontinued in 1925 when its responsibilities were acquired by the Winnebago Agency. .

Agents and Appointment Dates
John B. Robertson 1856, William F. Wilson 1858, William E. Moore 1859, George B. Graff 1860, Orsamus H. Irish 1861, Robert W. Furnas 1864, Lewis Lowry 1866, William P. Callon 1867, Edward Painter 1869, Theodore T. Gillingham September 30, 1873, Jacob Vore July 10, 1876

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 these offices.

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

Many of the records of the Omaha Agency are included in the records of the Winnebago Agency, which assumed the responsibilities of this agency in 1925. Those records are in the Central Plains Regional Archives of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in Kansas City. Census rolls, annuity payrolls, and other administrative records of Omaha Agency are included.

Letters received by the Office of Indian Affairs from the Omaha Agency, 1856-1876, have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M234, Rolls 604-606. Copies are available at the National Archives and at the Family History Library and its family history centers on their.

Reports of Inspection of the Field Jurisdictions of the Office of Indian Affairs, 1873-1900 have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of Microcopy Number M1070. The reports for Omaha Agency, 1873-1874, are on roll 31 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 ).

Annual Indian Census Rolls were taken at this agency for 1886-1909, and 1915-1924. These rolls have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M595, rolls 311 thru 314. Copies of these records are also available at the National Archives, their Regional Archives, and at the Family History Library and its family history centers (their ). These census rolls are also available online at Ancestry.com's subscription web site.

Microfilm copies of ...Narrative and Statistical Reports... for the Omaha Agency, 1907-1924, are included in National Archives Microcopy M1011, Rolls 94-95, available in the National Archives system and in the collections of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, beginning with their.