Indigenous Peoples of the United States Genealogy

"The Key to success in American Indian genealogy is the cross-disciplinary approach. The task requires an expanded thought process where one must investigate all possibilities without tiring of the effort. The history of the family, community, county and state must be known, a successful researcher must have an intimate knowledge of tribal history and culture. This is a very big order, indeed especially for the small splinter groups that dot the map.  The quest can be a noble and romantic endeavor; at least, one can come away with a great body of knowledge of the first American; at most, one can find that elusive Native American ancestor." Thomas J. Blumer &lt;source citation needed&gt;

Getting started with American Indian Research
Research when the tribe is known

Research when the tribe is not known

How to determine the tribe

Did You Know?

 * American Indians served in every U.S. Military conflict
 * In 1902 the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) systematized surnames

Research Approaches
Several approaches could be taken to locate information about a potential American Indian ancestor.
 * If the name of the tribe with which the ancestor was associated is known, a researcher should study the history and culture of that tribe and locate the records created by various records jurisdictions for that tribe.
 * If the tribe is not known, a more logical approach would be to determine the tribes associated with the locality or localities where the ancestor resided. In this case, sometimes only the state is known. Occasionally a county of residence is known. In either case, the records of that locality should be searched until the association of the ancestor is established or at least strongly suspected.
 * If a residence close to a reservation or a Bureau of Indian Affairs Agency is known,

States
If you know where your ancestor lived at the time of the alleged Indian connection, go to the page for the Indians of that state by clicking on the link below.

Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming

Provinces of Canada
Canada



Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Newfoundland, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec

By Tribe
There are over 550 federally recognized Tribal entities in the United States and are usually called tribes or nations. There are also many more Indian groups, sometimes called bands, some of which are included in the federally recognized tribal entities. In addition to those recognized by the federal government, there are tribes that are state-recognized, tribes that are seeking official recognition, and tribes that have existed historically that are no longer recognized as a distinct tribe.

The page for each state of the United States lists the known tribes who reside in or had historical connection to that state. A separate page exists for many of the tribes listed on the state pages. If you know the name of the tribe with which your family is connected, you may simply search for the name of the tribe.

A list of the major tribes of the United States is listed here.

Agencies and Subagencies
Agencies of the Bureau of Indian Affairs are the field offices of that federal bureau. They are normally the office that recorded most of the records pertaining to individual Indians. They are listed under the pages for the Indians of [state], the tribes they served, the name of the agency, and the reservation for which they were the field office. They are also cross-linked among these pages.

Subagencies normally served smaller jurisdictions or tribes than the agencies and were subordinate to an agency.

Federal
Department of Interior, Department of War, Department of State (Territorial), Bureau of Indian Affairs

State
Offices of Indian Affairs

Ecclesiatical
American Indian Missions

Educational
American Indian Boarding Schools

Health
American Indian Health Facilities

Research Tools

 * (helpful tools and resources, gazetteers)
 * (language dictionary, handwriting guide or tutorial, etc.

Key Websites
FamilySearch https://familysearch.wiki.org

National Archives and Records Administrion (NARA) www.nara.gov

Bureau of Indian Affairs On-Line www.doi.gov/bureau-indian-affairs.html

Native American Heritage Genealogy www.nativeamericanheritage.com

Ancestry www.ancestry.com

Access Genealogy www.accessgenealogy.com

RootsWeb  www.rootsweb.com

Indians of Canada www.inac.gc.ca

Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries and museums (ATALM) www.atalm.org

Help Wanted
In order to make this wiki a better research tool, we need your help! Many tasks need to be done. You can help by:

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