Santee Sioux Indian Agency (Nebraska)

Indian Tribes Associated With This Agency
Santee Sioux, Flandreau Sioux, and Ponca

History
The Santee Sioux Agency, or at least the name, was established in 1866 when the Sioux which had been assigned to the Crow Creek Agency moved to a reservation in Nebraska. It was the successor to the old St. Peters Agency. The headquarters was located about 13 miles below the mouth of the Niobrara River on the west side of the Missouri River.

Agents and Appointment Dates
Asa M. Janney 1869, Joseph Webster 1871, Charles H. Searing August 27, 1875, John G. Gasmann April 25, 1877, John W. Douglas, March 28, 1878 and Isaiah Lightner April 25, 1877

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 records of the Santee Sioux Agency have been incorporated into the records of the Winnebago Agency. The historical records of the Winnebago Agency are in the Central Plains Regional Archives of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in Kansas City. The records of the Santee Sioux in that collection include census records, family records, birth and death records, a marriage register, and other administrative records, 1861-1947.

Letters received by the Office of Indian Affairs from the Santee Sioux Agency, 1871-1876, have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M234, Rolls 768-769. Copies are available at the National Archives and at the Family History Library and its family history centers (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 Santee Sioux Agency, 1873-1875, and for the Santee and Flandreau Agency, 1880-1900, are on roll 47 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 1885-1907, and 1909-1917. The rolls for 1885 throu 1898 also in clude the Ponca Indians and the Flandreau Sioux. These rolls have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M595, rolls 475 thru 477. 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

 * School census 1927-1928, 1931-1932 FHL Film: 1012662 Item 3