Bureau of Indian Affairs

The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) is the branch of the federal government in the United States charged with maintaining a good relationship between the government and the individual Indian tribes.

Colonial Period
There was no federal government during the Colonial Period. Relationships with the Native Americans during this time period were handled by the individual colonies and by European governments such as England, France, and Spain.

Departments of Indian Affairs
When the Continental Congress was formed in 1775, three departments of Indian Affairs were also formed – northern, central, and southern. Benjamin Franklin and Patrick Henry were two of the early departmental commissioners.

Office of Indian Affairs
In 1789, the U.S. Congress formed the War Department and placed most of the responsibility for Indian relations under that office, but a separate bureau was not formed until 1824. It was then called the Office of Indian Affairs.

In 1849 the Office of Indian Affairs was transferred to the U.S. Department of the Interior, where it still remains. In 1947, the name was changed to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, by which it is currently known.

Many of the records of individual Indians were created and maintained by the BIA.

The BIA has had several responsibilities during its existence – trade with Native Americans, administration of funds, oversight of health and education of the American Indian, administration of land holdings for tribes and individual Indians, and a number of other duties. Agents were appointed to serve on reservations or among the Native American population to administer the affairs of the tribes, under the direction of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs.

Agencies
Records of each of the responsibilities of the BIA were created and maintained at the agency office level on each reservation. Many of those records, including annuity records, census records, land allotment records, heirship records, school and health records, are still housed there. Some of the agency records have been transferred to the National Archives in Washington D.C. or to one of its several branches.

Area Offices
In addition to the agency level, the Bureau of Indian Affairs also has created and maintained area offices, each of which oversees the administration of several agencies. Records created in the area offices usually do not contain much information about individual Indians.

Superintendencies
For a time in the 1800s, the Office of Indian Affairs also included a level of administration known as Superintendencies. Records kept by these offices often were limited to correspondence, leases and other legal agreements, and many other administrative records. Most of these have little information about individual Native Americans, although they are interesting sources of the history of relationships between the federal government and the tribes.

The Commissioner's Office
The office of Commissioner of Indian Affairs was established in 1832. Many reports, records, and correspondence were forwarded from the lower offices of Indian Affairs to the Commissioner's Office. Other records were created and maintained on the federal level. Many of those records have been transferred to the National Archives.