Superintendencies of Indian Affairs

Superintendents of Indian Affairs for a specific locality existed from approximately 1803 until 1878, when the last Superintendency was abolished. After 1878, agents of the Bureau of Indian Affairs reported directly to the Commissioner's Office in Washington, DC.

A Superintendent of Indian Affairs was an administrator, communicating and overseeing the agents who worked directly with individual tribes. It was the responsibility of the superintendent to see that the agents were following official government policy. Records for Superintendencies exist in the National Archives and copies of many of them are also available in other research facilities.

= The Superintendencies =

Washington Superintendency
Records of the Washington Superintendent of Indian Affairs, 1853-1874, are at the National Archives and have been microfilmed as their Microcopy Number M5. Copies are also available at the Chicago, San Francisco, and Seattle Regional Archives. This set of microfilm of the records of the Washington Superintendency is also available at the Family History Library and its family history centers.

Letters received by the Office of Indian Affairs from the Washington Superintendency, 1853-1880, have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M234. Copies are available at the National Archives and at the Family History Library and its family history centers on their microfilm roll numbers 1661637 thru 1661650.

History
The Western Superintendency of Indian Affairs operated from 1832-1851. Its responsibility included the Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Osage, Seneca, Seminole, Shawnee, and Quapaw Indians. It also included the Wichita, Comanche, Cherokee, and Creek Agencies and the Arkansas Superintendency. The Wichita Agency had responsibility for Wichita, Caddo, Anadarko, Waco, Tonkawa, Hanai, Kichai, Tawakoni, Delaware, Shawnee, and some of the Comanche Indians. The localities included are Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas.

When the Southern Superintendency was created in 1851, it took over the responsibilities of the Western Superintendency.

Records
Records of the Western Superintendent of Indian Affairs, 1832-1851 are included in the records of the Southern Superintendent at the National Archives. They have been microfilmed as their Microcopy Number M640. This set of microfilm of the records of the Southern Superintendency is also available at the Family History Library and its family history centers.

Letters received by the Office of Indian Affairs from the Western Superintendency, 1832-1851, have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M234. Copies are available at the National Archives and at the Family History Library and its family history centers on their microfilm roll numbers 1661651 thru 1661654.

History
The Wisconsin Superintendency had responsibility for Chippewa Indians, Menominee Indians, Sauk Indians, Fox Indians, Winnebago Indians and Sioux Indians (Sisseton, Wahpeton, Mdewakanton, and Wahpekute Bands) as well as for Brotherton, Munsee, Oneida, and Stockbridge Indians. Agencies were Priarie du Chien serving Winnebago, Sioux, and Sauk and Fox; St. Peters serving the Sioux; Green Bay Agency and Subagency serving the Menominee, Brotherton, Munsee, Oneida, and Stockbridge; Sioux Subagency; Ioway Subagency, serving Iowa Indians; Fort Winnebago Subagency serving Winnebago; Crow Wing Subagency serving Chippewa; La Pointe Agency serving another group of Chippewa.

Records
Records of the Wisconsin Superintendent of Indian Affairs, 1836-1848, are at the National Archives and have been microfilmed as their Microcopy Number M951. Copies are also available at the Chicago Regional Archives. This set of microfilm of the records of the Wisconsin Superintendency is also available at the Family History Library and its family history centers.

Letters received by the Office of Indian Affairs from the Wisconsin Superintendency, 1836-1848, have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M234. Copies are available at the National Archives and at the Family History Library and its family history centers on their microfilm roll numbers 1661678 thru 1661679.

History
The Wyoming Superintendency functioned from April, 1869, until November, 1870. It had one agency, the Shoshone and Bannock Agency for Shoshoni and Bannock Indians.

Records
Records of the Wyoming Superintendent of Indian Affairs, 1870, are at the National Archives and have been microfilmed as part of their Microcopy Number M1016. Copies are also available at the Denver Regional Archives. This same roll of microfilm of the records of the Wyoming Superintendency is also available at the Family History Library and its family history centers.

Letters received by the Office of Indian Affairs from the Wyoming Superintendency, 1851-1880, have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M234. Copies are available at the National Archives and at the Family History Library and its family history centers on their microfilm roll numbers 1661683 thru 1661688.

= References =

Hill, Edward E. The Office of Indian Affairs, 1824-1880: Historical Sketches. New York, New York: Clearwater Press, [1974].

Hill, Edward E. (comp.). Guide to Records in the National Archives of the United States Relating to American Indians. Washington [District of Columbia]: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1981.

Historical Sketches for Jurisdictional and Subject Headings Used for the Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, 1824-1880. National Archives Microcopy T1105.

Preliminary Inventory No. 163: Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Washington, DC: