Indigenous Peoples of New Mexico

Native American Online Genealogy Records  Click this button for links to databases, indexes, or sites that help you find an American Indian ancestor by topic or tribe.

Learn about the indigenous people of New Mexico, tribes and bands, state-recognized tribes, agencies, records, pueblos, and online sources.

Online Resources
Native American obituaries : a project of the Farmington, NM Family History Center, 1977-2001

Current Tribes and Bands
Tribes Pueblos

Historical Listing of Tribes and Bands
The following list of American Indians who have lived in New Mexico 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.

Pueblos:

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

The following list of agencies that have operated or now exist in New Mexico 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.

Historic Agencies Current Agencies

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
See United States Indigenous Peoples School Records 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 children of a single tribe or reservation. Some were boarding schools that served children from a number of tribes and reservations.

In addition, other groups such as various church denominations established schools specifically focusing on Native American children.

The following list of Indian Schools in New Mexico 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.

Other School Records

 * School Census, Pueblo Pintado area, Navajo Reservation, New Mexico WorldCat
 * Navajo Indian School (Gallup, NM) Cheechilgeetho Census, 1964-1965 WorldCat

Indian Health Facilities

 * Laguna Sanatorium

Reservations
From the mid-1800s, the official policy of the United States government toward the Native Americans 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 - New Mexico - 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. Those reservations named in bold are current 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.


 * Alamo Reservation: Federal, under jurisdiction of _______ Tribe: Navajo: Tribe: Zuni
 * Bosque Redondo Reservation:
 * Canoncito Reservation: Federal, under jurisdiction of ______, Tribe: Navajo
 * Jicarilla Reservation: Federal, under jurisdiction of Jicarilla Agency, Tribe: Jicarilla Apache
 * Mescalero Reservation: Federal, under jurisdiction of Mescalero Agency, Tribe: Apache
 * Navajo Reservation: Tribe: Apache
 * Ojo Caliente Reservation:
 * Puerto Cito Reservation: Tribe: Alamo Navajo
 * Ramah Reservation (Community): Federal, under jurisdiction of Ramah-Navajo Agency, Tribe: Navajo
 * Zuni Reservation: Federal, under jurisdiction of Zuni Agency, Tribe: Zuni

Pueblos

 * Acoma Pueblo - Federal, under jurisdiction of Southern Pueblos Agency, Tribe: Keresan
 * Cochiti Pueblo - Federal, under jurisdiction of Southern Pueblos Agency, Tribe: Kersan
 * Isleta Pueblo - Federal, under jurisdiction of Southern Pueblos Agency, Tribe: Isleta
 * Jemez Pueblo - Federal, under jurisdiction of Southern Pueblos Agency, Tribe: Jemez
 * Laguna Pueblo - Federal, under jurisdiction of Laguna Agency, Tribe: Keresan
 * Nambe Pueblo - Federal, under jurisdiction of Northern Pueblos Agency, Tribe: Tano-Tewa
 * Picuris (San Lorenzo) Pueblo - Federal, under jurisdiction of Northern Pueblos Agency, Tribe: Tewa
 * Pojoaque Pueblo - Federal, under jurisdiction of Northern Pueblos Agency, Tribe: Tano-Tewa
 * Sandia Pueblo - Federal, under jurisdiction of Southern Pueblos Agency, Tribe: Tano-Tewa
 * San Felipe Pueblo - Federal, under juisdiction of Southern Pueblos Agency, Tribe: Keresan
 * San Ildefonso Pueblo - Federal, under jurisdiction of Northern Pueblos Agency, Tribe: Tewa
 * San Juan Pueblo - Federal, under jurisdiction of Northern Pueblos Agency, Tribe: Tawo-Tewa
 * Santa Ana Pueblo - Federal, under jurisdiction of Southern Pueblos Agency, Tribe: Keresan
 * Santa Clara Pueblo- Federal, under jurisdiction of Northern Pueblos Agency, Tribe: Tano-Tewa
 * Santo Domingo Pueblo - Federal, under jurisdiction of Southern Pueblos Agency, Tribe: Leresan
 * Taos Pueblo - Federal, under jurisdiction of Northern Pueblos Agency, Tribe: Tano-Tigua
 * Tesuque Pueblo - Federal, under jurisdiction of Northern Pueblos Agency, Tribe: Tano-Tewa
 * Zia Pueblo - Federal, under jurisdiction of Southern Pueblos Agency, Tribe: Keresan

Native American Obituaries
The Native American Obituary Project is a compilation of over 500 pages of newspaper clippings of Native American obituaries from Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. The project originated with volunteers at the Farmington, New Mexico Family History Center. The obituaries range in date from 1977 to 2001. They were printed in the following newspapers:


 * The Daily Times (Farmington, New Mexico)
 * The Winslow Mail (Winslow, Arizona)
 * Montezuma Valley Sun (Montezuma, Colorado)
 * Cortez Journal (Cortez, Colorado)
 * Navajo Times (Window Rock, Navajo Nation, Arizona)
 * Lake Powell Chronicle (Page, Arizona)

The published volume, which includes a surname index, has been microfilmed and digitized under the title, Native American Obituaries. The digitized copies can also be accessed through FamilySearch Digital Library.

Family History Library
The Family History Library has microfilm copies of the Bureau of Indian Affairs records of births, deaths, marriages, divorces, land allotments and homesteads, and school records and reports. The records were created between 1878 and 1944 at the Eastern Navajo, Jicarilla, Pueblos, Zuni, and other agencies. These original records for New Mexico are located at the National Archives Rocky Mountain Region (Denver).

Records and information about the various tribes are also listed in the Subject Search of the FamilySearch Catalog under the name of the tribe.See also New Mexico Native Races for over 130 titles of interest


 * New Mexico Superintendency 1848-1880 T21 30 films 1st film 1617620 WorldCat
 * U.S. Department of the Interior Appointment Division. Interior Department Appointment Papers, Territory of New Mexico, 1850-1907. WorldCat

Census Records

 * 1944 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index

Online Resources
Mexico Genealogical Society

Other Repositories

 * Bureau of Indian Affairs, 1570 Pacheco St., Santa Fe, NM 87501

See Also:
New Mexico-Church for a list of missions. There were many Spanish Missions with Pueblos.

New Mexico-History for a calendar of events.

New Mexico-Military for a list of forts.