Tonkawa Tribe



To get started on American Indian Research

Various spellings: Tonkawa, Tonkaway

Ancestral homeland: central Texas

Tribal Headquarters
Tonkawa Tribe of Oklahoma 1 Rush Buffalo Road Tonkawa, OK 74653-4449 Phone: 1.580.628.2561 Fax: 1.580.628.3375


 * The Tonkawa Indian Tribe Official Website

Brief Timeline
1530's: First contact with Spanish explorers: Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca

1540's: FranciscoVasquez de Coronado

1682: Rene Robert Cavelier de La Salle's Expedition

1847-59: The tribe was under the jurisdiction of the Texas Agency '''1846 with the Comanche, Aionai, Anadarko, Caddo, Etc.,

1855: The tribe assigned to a reservation-

Tonkawa scouts served with the Texas Rangers against the Comanche.

1859: The tribe was under the jurisdiction of the Wichita Agency

1861-65: Tonkawa braves served as scouts for the Confederate Army

1859: The tribe was relocated to Washita River in Indian Territory

1865: Some members of the Tribe fled to Texas until 1884

1876-80: In Texas the tribe was under the jurisdiction of the Central Superintendency.

1884: Those who had fled to Texas removed to Indian Territory.

Agency
Pawnee Agency (Nebraska and Oklahoma)

Texas Agency

Wichita Agency

Superintendency
Southern Superintendency

Central Superintendency

Additional References to the History of the Tribe
Frederick Webb Hodge, in his Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, gave a more complete history of the Tonkawa tribe, with estimations of the population of the tribe at various time periods.

Records
Agency Records

Tonkawa Records (Allotment,School, and Vital) 1895-1952. FHL FIlms: 1205529 and 1204634

Corrrespondence and Census

Treaty


 * 1846 with the Comanche, Aionai, Anadarko, Caddo, Etc.,

Vital Records


 * Pawnee Agency, M595, births and deaths 1924-1932, FHL Film: 579750

Important Web Sites

 * Constitution and By-Laws of the Tonkawa Tribe of Oklahoma.
 * The Tonkawa Indian Tribe Official Website
 * Tonkawa Tribe Wikipedia