Rosebud Indian Agency (South Dakota)



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

Indian Tribes Associated With This Agency
Brule Sioux and other bands of Sioux

History
The Rosebud Agency is the successor to the Spotted Tail Agency and is the agency responsible for the Rosebud Indian Reservation in southern South Dakota. It was named the Rosebud Agency in 1878 when it was located on Rosebud Creek near its junction with the South Fork of the White River. The primary tribe which this agency serves is the band of Brulé Sioux which had been led by Spotted Tail. From 1933 to 1967, the Rosebud Agency was also responsible for the Yankton Sioux.

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.

Some of the records of the Rosebud Agency have been transferred to the Central Plains Regional Archives of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in Kansas City. They include:


 * Census rolls, 1877-1942
 * Miscellaneous land records, 1878-1960
 * Vital statistics, 1900-1946
 * Heirship records, 1914-1920
 * Tribal court records, 1937-1940
 * Other police and law enforcement records

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 Rosebud Agency, 1880-1900, are on roll 43 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 ). Earlier reports for this agency are filed under the Spotted Tail Agency.

Annual Indian Census Rolls were taken at this agency for 1886 - 1943. These rolls have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M595, rolls 427 thru 445. 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

 * Census Supplement Vital Records (the films below are part of the census collection above)


 * Birth and Death Records 1924-1931 FHL film 581435
 * Birth and Death Records 1929-1936 FHL film 581439


 * The 1900 federal census included population schedules for the Rosebud Indian Reservation. The census includes the non-Indian employees of the Rosebud Agency, as well as many pages of Indian Population Schedules for the native population of the Reservation. They are recorded as District 45, Rosebud Agency], in Meyer County, South Dakota.


 * Allotment 1890-1940 FHL Film: 1012664-1012673, 1205161 item 3


 * Annuity Payrolls, 1913-1914.FHL Film: 1012663 item 7


 * Census 1880,FHL Film: 1012647 item 2


 * Census 1890 FHL Film: 1012648


 * Final Roll 1921.FHL Film: 1205161


 * Heirship and Estate 1908-1920, FHL Film: 1012660 item 5, 1002681-682, 1205161 item 2


 * Migration Standing Rock to Rosebud Agency forced 1881-1882. FHL Film: 1012647 item 3


 * Migration Transferred from Pine Ridge 1892 FHL Film 1012649 item 3


 * Indians drawing beef FHL Film: 1012658 items 2-3


 * Military Records 1944-1945 FHL Film: 1012663 item 4


 * Vital Records -Birth and Death 1900-1946 FHL Film: 1012659-660


 * Vital Records - Deaths 1903 FHL Film: 1012653 item 3


 * Vital Records - Marriage 1906-1917. FHL Film: 1012661 item 4


 * Occupation-Pawnee Bill's, Buffalo Bill's Show, and Jordan's Shows 1894. FHL Film: 1012649 Items 5-7


 * Ration Books 1892-1906. FHL Film: 1012656-658


 * Register of Families 1894-1902 FHL Film: 1012661


 * School Records 1892,1895,1910-1926 some missing years. FHL Film 1012649-50,1012655 item 2 and 1012662

Microfilm copies of ...Narrative and Statistical Reports... for the Rosebud Agency, 1907-1935, are included in National Archives Microcopy M1011, rolls 118-119, available in the National Archives system and in the collections of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City (their ).