Consolidated Chippewa Indian Agency (Minnesota)

Guide to  ancestry, family history and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, parish registers, and military records.

Indian Tribes Associated With This Agency
White Earth, Leech Lake, and Red Lake Chippewa

History
The Consolidated Chippewa Agency was established 1 July 1922 to serve the Chippewa Indians formerly of the White Earth and Leech Lake Agencies and some from the Red Lake Agency. The White Earth and Leech Lake Agencies were abolished at the time of this consolidation. The Red Lake continued to be responsible for the Red Lake Chippewa, but the Bois Fort Chippewa and the Indians of the Fond du Lac andGrand Portage Reservations were assigned to the new Consolidated Chippewa Agency.

In December 1954, the Consolidated Chippewa Agency and the Red Lake Agency were merged to form the Minnesota Agency. In 1964, the Red Lake Agency again became independent, but the name Minnesota Agency was retained for the former Consolidated Chippewa Agency.

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.

Many records for the Consolidated Chippewa Agency are in the Central Plains Regional Archives of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in Kansas City and the Great Lakes Regional Archives of NARA in Chicago.

Those in Kansas City include:


 * Census records, 1889-1940 (obviously including some from predecessor agencies)
 * Birth and death correspondence, 1922-1953
 * Claims case files, 1923-1950
 * Education records, 1923-1961, including school records of enrollments, census cards, etc.
 * Social service case files, 1927-1943
 * Personnel records, 1931-1955
 * Supplemental census records, 1936-1942
 * A reservation census, 1961
 * Many administrative and financial records
 * Some records from the Leech Lake Agency and the White Earth Agency, 1897-1935

Those in Chicago include:


 * Records of Field Clerks at White Earth and Leech Lake, 1919-1935
 * Grand Portage Day school Records, 1913-1921

Microfilm copies of ...Narrative and Statistical Reports... for the Consolidated Chippewa Agency, 1923-1935, are included in National Archives Microcopy M1011, rolls 27-28, available in the National Archives system and in the collections of the FamilySearch Library in Salt Lake City (their ).

Annual Indian Census Rolls were taken at this agency for 1923 thru 1939. These rolls have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M595, rolls 57-76. Copies of these records are also available at the National Archives, their Regional Archives, and at the FamilySearch 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 FamilySearch Library
Agency Records, 1876-1953.(Census, Annuity, Allotment, School)FS Library film: 1294364 first film

Agency Vital Records (Census Supplement)

1924-1932 Births and Deaths FS Library film: 574229