Indigenous Peoples of Pennsylvania

Learn about the Indians of Pennsylvania, tribes and bands, records, land, and repositories.

Tribes and Bands of Pennsylvania


The following list of American Indians who have lived in Pennsylvania has been compiled from Hodge's Handbook of American Indians... and from Swanton's The Indian Tribes of North America. Some may simply be variant spellings for the same tribe.


 * Delaware (Lenni Lenape)
 * Erie
 * Honniasont
 * Iroquois (Iroquois of mixed ancestry were called Mingo)
 * Saluda
 * Saponi
 * Shawnee
 * Susquehannock (Andaste)
 * Tuscarora
 * Tutelo
 * Wenrohronon

Iroquois League: Oneida, Onondaga, Seneca, Cayuga, Mohawk (Five Nations) plus Tuscarora (Six Nations)


 * A good history is Michael N. McConnell, A Country Between: The Upper Ohio Valley and Its Peoples, 1724-1774 (Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press, 1992;.
 * See also Paul A. W. Wallace, Indians in Pennsylvania (Harrisburg, PA: Historical and Museum Commission, 1970;.
 * Donehoo, George P. Indian Villages and Place Names in Pennsylvania. (Harrisburg, 1928)..
 * Indian Villages of Pennsylvania. by William M Garbarino Jr. WorldCat
 * The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania. by Chester Hale Sipe.   WorldCat

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

Indian Land Cessions
The land cession by the Indians began as early as 1682 continued until 1792. A few of the cessions are listed below.

1682 Deed for land between the Falls of Delaware and Neshammonys Creek, by William Penn

1683 Deed for "lands lying betwixt Pemmapecka and Neshemineh Creek

1683 Wingebon's release for land "lying on the west side of the Schuylkill"

1683 Keketappan's Deed for his half of all his lands betwixt Susquehanna and Delaware

1683 Machaloha's Deed "for lands from the Delaware River and Chesapeak Bay and up to the Falls of the Susquehanna"

1684 Manghougsin's release "for all his land on Perkioming."

1684 Richard Mettamicont's release "for land on both sides Pemmapecka Creek on the Delaware"

1696 Col. Thomas Dongan's formerly Governor of New York, deed to William Penn for lands on both sides of Susquehanna.

1697 Taminy's deed for lands between Pemmopeck and Neshaminy

1700 Deed of the Susquehanna Indians for land on "both sides of the Susquehanna"

1701 Ratification of Dongan's Deed and the Deed of 1700 by the Susquehanna, Shawona, Poowmak and Conestogoe Indians

1718 Deed of release by the Delaware Indians for the "land between the Delaware and Susquehanna Rivers from Duck Creek

1768 The end of "Nittany Mountain assumed as a station"

1768 Deed at Fort Stanwix, "New Purchase" extending from northeast to southwest corner of northeast to southwest corner of the Commonwealth.

1785 Deed at Fort Stanwix and Fort McIntosh

1789 Indian cession of land at Presque Isle

1792 "Purchase of the Triangle" contained 202,187 acres.

Reservation

Cornplanter Reservation or Tract: in Warren County, Pennsylvania named for and given to Gy-ant-wa-chia, "the Cornplanter" (Seneca war chief and diplomat) and his descendants, 16 Mar 1796 by state of Pennsylvania in consideration for his services. The orphans' court records of Warren county, Pennsylvania has a list of Cornplanter's heirs. In 1965 the Reservation was flooded and most of the residents were relocated to the Allegany Reservation of the Federally recognized Seneca Nation of New York.

Indian Schools
The Office of Indian Affairs (now the Bureau of Indian Affairs) established a network of schools throughout the United States, beginning with Carlisle Indian School, established in 1879. Some of these schools were day schools, usually focusing on Indian children of a single tribe or reservation. Some were boarding schools which served Indian children from a number of tribes and reservations.

In addition, other groups such as various church denominations established schools specifically focusing on American Indian children. (read more...)

The following list of Indian Schools in Pennsylvania has been compiled from Hill's Office of Indian Affairs..., Hill's Guide to Records in the National Archives Relating to American Indians , and others.


 * Carlisle Indian Industrial School

Conflicts

 * "List of Pennsylvania Settlers Murdered, Scalped, and Taken Prisoners by Indians, 1755-1756," The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 32 (1908):309-319. For free online access, see WeRelate.

Family History Library
Records of American Indians are listed in the FamilySearch Catalog Place Search under PENNSYLVANIA - NATIVE RACES and in the Subject Search under the name of the tribe or language group. The major Pennsylvania Indian tribes were the Delaware, Susquehannock, Shawnee, and Iroquois.


 * John G. Pratt Papers
 * Indian Treaties printed by Benjamin Franklin, 1736-1762.