Indigenous Peoples of Pennsylvania

United States &gt; Pennsylvania

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

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
 * Erie
 * Honneasont
 * Iroquois
 * Saluda
 * Saponi
 * Shawnee
 * Susquehanna
 * Tuscarora
 * Tutelo
 * Wenrohronon

Iroquois League: Oneida, Onondaga, Seneca, Cayuga, Mohawk (Five Nations) and Tuscaroras (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; Family History Library book 970.1 M134.)
 * See also Paul A. W. Wallace, Indians in Pennsylvania (Harrisburg, PA: Historical and Museum Commission, 1970; not at Family History Library).

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

Family History Library
Records of American Indians are listed in the Family History Library 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 13 films Family History Library 1st film 812758