Indigenous Peoples of Georgia

United States Georgia  American Indian Research  Indians_of_Georgia

To learn how to get started with American Indian research, find research facilities, and American Indian websites click here.

Tribes and Bands of Georgia
A list of American Indians who have lived in Georgia has been compiled by John R. Swanton in his The Indian Tribes of North America Many of the tribes in this list may have had very limited contact with the area which became Georgia. Some have become extinct or have been consolidated with other tribes. And some may simply be variant spellings.


 * Apalachee
 * Apalachicola
 * Catawba
 * Chatot
 * Cherokee
 * Chiaha
 * Chickasaw
 * Chickasaw Indians Creek
 * Guale
 * Hitchiti
 * Kasihta
 * Oconee
 * Okmulgee
 * Osochi
 * Sawokli
 * Shawnee
 * Shawnee Indians Tamathli
 * Timucua
 * Yamasee
 * Yuchi

Other tribes may have also been residents of the area of Georgia, at least for a short time.

Tribes Recognized by the State of Georgia
The Cherokee of Georgia Tribal Council (also known as Cherokee Indians of Georgia, Inc.), Georgia Tribe of Eastern Cherokees, Inc., and Lower Muskogee Creek Tribe East of the Mississippi, Inc.

Reservations
From the mid-1800s, the official policy of the United States government toward the American Indian was to confine each tribe to a specific parcel of land called a reservation. Agencies were established on or near each reservation. A government representative, usually called an agent (or superintendent) was assigned to each agency. Their duties included maintaining the peace, making payments to the Native Americans based on the stipulations of the treaties with each tribe, and providing a means of communication between the native population and the federal government.

Sometimes, a single agency had jurisdiction over more than one reservation. And sometimes, if the tribal population and land area required it, an agency may have included sub-agencies.

The boundaries of reservations, over time, have changed. Usually, that means the reservations have been reduced in size. Sometimes, especially during the later policy of "termination," the official status of reservations was ended altogether.

For a current reservation map - Georgia - Indian Reservations- The National Atlas of the United States of America. Federal Lands and Indian Reservations. by the U.S. Department of Interior and U.S. Geological Survey

The following list of reservations has been compiled from the National Atlas of the United States of America, the Omni Gazetteer of the United States of America , and other sources. Those reservations named in bold are current federally-recognized reservations, with their associated agency and tribe(s). Others have historically been associated with the state or are not currently recognized by the federal government.


 * Georgia Tribe of Eastern Cherokee
 * Tama Tribal Town

Agencies of the Bureau of Indian Affairs
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 were created by these offices.

The following list of agencies that have operated or now exist in Georgia 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.


 * Creek Agency

Family History Library
For a complete list of available study the Family History Library Catalog search by Tribe and Locality


 * Office of Indian Trade 1795-1821 13 films - M1334 Film Family History Library 1st microfilm
 * Office of Indian Affairs, Superintendent of Indian Trade. Letter book of the Creek trading house. 1795-1816, Family History Library film.

See Also:
Georgia-History for a calendar of events

Georgia-Military for a list of forts