Lower Brule Indian Agency (South Dakota)

The Lower Brulé Agency is the administrative office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs for the Lower Brulé Indian Reservation in central South Dakota. Its supervising office is the Aberdeen Area Office.

Indian Tribes Associated With This Agency
Brule Sioux, Lower Brulé Sioux, Sioux (of Missouri and Platte Rivers),

History
The Lower Brulé Agency was established in 1875 as the White River Agency and was renamed Lower Brulé in Jan. 1876. It was first located on the western side of the Missouri River, 10 miles below Crow Creek in South Dakota. In the summer of 1876, it was moved to the mouth of American Crow Creek, 12 miles below the old site. In 1882, the Crow Creek Agency and the Lower Brulé Agency were consolidated. In 1896, they were again divided.

Lower Brulé Agency was transferred to Crow Creek, 1 August 1924, with the Lower Brulé becoming a subagency. It was consolidated with the Pierre School in 1954 to form the Pierre Agency.

Agents and Appointment Dates
Thomas A. Reily July 2, 1875, Henry E. Gregory July 18, 1876, Capt. William E. Dougherty March 21, 1878, and William H. Parkhurst May 27, 1880

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

For a description of the various records, their content, and their availability, link to the pages for each type of record. Each individual agency also has a page describing its history and the location of their records. An alphabetical list of the agencies of the Bureau of Indian Affairs can be found below. They are also linked under the topic "American Indians" for each state. Pages for individual sub-agencies are listed alphabetically under the category of "American Indian Subagencies" and are linked under the topic of "American Indians" for each state where they existed.

Letters received by the Office of Indian Affairs from the Lower Brulé Agency, 1875-1876, have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M234, Roll 401. Copies are available at the National Archives and at the FamilySearch Library and its FamilySearch 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 Lower Brulé Agency, 1897-1900 are on roll 24 of that Microcopy set. Copies are available at the National Archives, their Regional Archives, and at the FamilySearch Library and its FamilySearch centers (their ).

The National Archives at Kansas City has records for the Lower Brule Agency

Annuity Payrolls of the Lower Brule Sioux, 1892-1933.

Annual Indian Census Rolls were taken at this agency for 1897 thru 1924. These rolls have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M595, roll 252. Copies of these records are also available at the National Archives, their Regional Archives, and at the FamilySearch Library and its FamilySearch centers (their ). These census rolls are also available online at Ancestry.com's subscription web site.

The 1900 federal census included population schedules for the Lower Brulé Reservation. The census includes the non-Indian employees of the Lower Brulé Agency, as well as many pages of Indian Population Schedules for the native population of the Reservation. They are recorded as District 47, Lower Brulé Agency, in Lyman County, South Dakota.

Microfilm copies of ...Narrative and Statistical Reports... for the Lower Brulé Agency, 1916-1927, are included in National Archives Microcopy M1011, rolls 80-81, available in the National Archives system and in the collections of the FamilySearch Library in Salt Lake City (their ).