Winnebago Indian Agency (Nebraska)

The Winnebago Agency existed for a time in several locations -- Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota, for example. The more permanent site for this agency was in Nebraska, however, especially after 1865.

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

The Winnebago Agency housed records of the Santee Agency and Ponca Agency

Indian Tribes Associated With This Agency
Winnebago, Sioux, Omaha, Oneida,Ponca, Chippewa, Stockbridge-Munsee, Santee,

History
This Winnebago Agency was established on the Winnebago Reservation in northeastern Nebraska in 1865 when that reservation was estabished. Many of the Winnebago Indians had been under the jurisdiction of the Crow Creek Agency in Dakota Territory which had evolved from the Prairie du Chien Agency. Some of the Winnebago and Potawatomi Indians who did not like Crow Creek had gone to Wisconsin to avoid being moved there. Most of them were under the jurisidiction of the Winnebago Agency of Wisconsin.

In 1879, the Omaha Agency and the Winnebago Agency were consolidated into the Omaha and Winnebago Agency. They were separated in 1903, but the Omaha Agency was again put under the Winnebago Agency from 1910 to 1914. In 1925, the Omaha Agency was discontinued and its responsibilities were assigned to the Winnebago Agency.

In 1933, the Santee Sioux and Ponca Indians living in Nebraska were transferred to the Winnebago Agency.

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

Letters received by the Office of Indian Affairs from the Winnebago Agency, 1826-1875, have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M234. Copies are available at the National Archives and at the FamilySearch Library and its FamilySearch centers on their. This correspondence includes that of the predecessors of the Winnebago Agency in Nebraska. The file heading for this collection often refers to the tribe rather than the correspondence of a particular agency. Other correspondence regarding the Winnebago Indians will also be found under the Pairie du Chien Agency.

Many of the historical records of the Winnebago Agency have been transferred to the Central Plains Regional Archives of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in Kansas City. Records from earlier agencies associated with the Winnebago Agency -- notably the Omaha, Ponca and Santee Sioux Agencies -- are also in this collection of records, sometimes identified under the former name. Some of the records in this collection of significant value to family historians are:


 * Annuity payrolls, 1861-1926 FS Library Film: 1015928-1015934
 * Family registers and vital statistics, 1863-1926
 * Land records, 1867-1940
 * Census rolls, 1869-1928 FS Library Film: 1015904-1015910
 * Allotment records, 1885-1896
 * School census, 1896-1916 FS Library Film: 1015911 items 2-3
 * Heirship records, 1899-1915 FS Library Film: 1015912-1015923
 * Birth and death registers, 1900-1926
 * Agency Records 1859-1924 to include: payrolls, marriages, census, allotments and allotment index, Baptisms, death FS Library Films: 1028441 and 1028442
 * Ponca and Santee eligible voters 1934 FS Library Film" 1015934
 * Vital Records 1863-1947 FS Library film: 1015911 Items 1,4-11

Many of these records have been microfilmed and are also available at the in Salt Lake City, and its FamilySearch centers.

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 Winnebago Agency, 1873-1874, are on roll 58 of that Microcopy set. Copies are available at the National Archives, their Regional Archives, and at the FamilySearch Library and its FamilySearch centers (their ).

Microfilm copies of ...Narrative and Statistical Reports... for the Winnebago, 1907-1935, are included in National Archives Microcopy M1011, Rolls 169-170, available in the National Archives system and in the collections of the FamilySearch Library in Salt Lake City (their . Reports for some years are missing.

Annual Indian Census Rolls were taken at this agency for 1904-1907, and 1909-1939. These rolls have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M595, rolls 663 thru 670. 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 website.

Vital Records part of Indian Census Rolls above

Birth and Death records 1924-1931 FS Library film 583126 Birth and Death records 1925-1932 FS Library film 583127 and 583128

Records available through the FamilySearch Library
Census Records: 1904-1939 FS Library Films: 583122-583129

Census Records: 1937-39 FS Library Film: 583032

Family Register 1871, 1902-1907 FS Library Film: 1015911 Items 12-16

Land and Property: 1863-1941 FS Library Films: 1015924, 1015925,1015927,and 1015934

Winnebago and Omaha Indians in Word War I. FS Library Film: 1015934 Items 8-9

Probate Files 1922-1940 FS Library Film: 1015926