Yakima Indian Agency (Washington)

The Yakima Agency is a currently operating agency. Its supervising office in the Bureau of Indian Affairs is the Portland Area Office.

Indian Tribes Associated With This Agency
Yakama (Yakima) and 13 other tribes and bands who have become known as the Yakama Nation. The other tribes and bands are the Palouse, Pisquose, Wenatchapam, Klinquit, Oche Chotes, Kow way saye ee, Sk'in-pah, Kah-miltpah, Klickitat, Wish ham, See ap Cat, Li ay was, and Shyiks. These fourteen tribes and bands are those whose representatives signed the 1855 treaty.

History
The Yakima Agency was established in 1859 for the Yakima Indians living on their reservation in central Washington and has continued operating as an agency continuously.

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 and maintained by the agencies.

Many of the historical records of the Yakima Agency are in the Pacific-Alaska Regional Archives of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in Seattle. Among these records are:


 * Census records, 1880-1940
 * Allotment records, 1900-1954
 * Court records, 1903-1920
 * Birth and death records, 1909-1964
 * Hospital records, 1912-1940
 * Student case files, 1974
 * Miscellaneous administrative records and reports, 1878-1971

Treaty

 * 1855:

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 Yakima Agency, 1881-1900, are on rolls 58-59 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 1885, 1887-1891, 1893-1907, and 1910-1939. These rolls have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M595, rolls 671 thru 679. 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.

Records Available through the Family History Library

 * Vital Records part of Indian Census Rolls above


 * Birth and Death records 1925-1931 FHL film 583136


 * The 1900 federal census included population schedules for the Yakima Indian Reservation. The census includes the non-Indian employees of the Yakima Agency, as well as many pages of Indian Population Schedules for the native population of the Reservation. They are recorded as District 120, Yakima Indian Reservation, in Yakima County, Washington.


 * Microfilm copies of ...Narrative and Statistical Reports... for the Yakima Agency, 1907-1938, are included in National Archives Microcopy M1011, Rolls 171-172, available in the National Archives system and in the collections of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City (their.


 * Census Records 1880-1952. FHL Film: 1022003-1022010


 * Census Records 1885,1887-91, 1893-97,1898-1907. FHL Film: 583131-583138


 * Heirship Records 1912-1948. FHL Film: 1022020-1022021


 * Individual History Cards, Annuity Rolls, Land, Enrollment,and School Records 1881-1948. FHL Film: 1022034


 * Land Records 1903-1950. FHL Film: 1022022-1022033


 * School Records 1901-1937. FHL Film 1022011-1022013


 * Vital Records; Birth, Marriage and Death, 1895-1950. FHL Film: 1022014-1022019