Pawnee Nation

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



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Ancestral Homeland: Kansas and Nebraska (on Platte River and the Republican Fork of the Kansas River)

The Pawnee Nation is primarily associated with the state of Oklahoma.

Linguistic Group: Caddoan

Tribal Headquarters
Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma P.O. Box 470 Pawnee, OK 74058 Phone: 1.918.762.3621 Fax: 1.918.762.6446


 * Pawnee Nation of OklahomaOfficial Website

Population: 1984: Total enrollment 2,396

History
A history of the Pawnee Nation is included in a National Historical Register .pdf file, p. 29ff., available on the internet (takes time to load).

The Pawnee Nation (Confederacy) consisted of four bands:


 * Chaui or Grand Pawnee,
 * Kitkehahki or Republican Pawnee,
 * Pitahuerat or Tapage Pawnee,
 * Skidi or Skiri Pawnee

Tribal Leaders 

Republican band - Blue Coat (1848)

Brief Timeline

 * 1541: Spanish explorer Francisco Vasquez de Coronado made contact with the tribe
 * 1601: Juan de Onate a Spanish explorer
 * 1770: Southern Pawnee migrated northward near the Northern Pawnee (Skidi) Platte River, Loup River, and the Republican Fork of the Kansas River (Nebraska)
 * June 18-22,1818: St. Louis, Missouri Territory. Peace was concluded with the tribes of the region disturbed by the War of 1812.
 * 1818 June 18,Treaty with the Grand Pawnee
 * 1818 June 19, Treaty with the Pitahuerat Noisy Pawnee
 * 1818 June 20, Treaty with the Pawnee Republic
 * 1818 June 22, Treaty with the Pawnee Marhar
 * 1824-37: Upper Missouri Agency
 * 1825 September 30, Treaty at Fort Atkinson, (Council Bluffs), Iowa, regulation of trade
 * 1831 Smallpox epidemic killed nearly half of the Tribal members
 * 1833 October 9,Treaty at Grand Pawnee Village on the Platte River, land ceded "all land lying south of the Platte River: annuity: $4,600 in goods"
 * 1834-1847: Presbyterian Missionaries John Dunbar, Samuel Allis, and Dr. Satterlee, established a church
 * 1837-56: Council Bluffs Agency
 * 1848 August 6, Treaty at Fort Childs, Nebraska ceded 60 mile strip on the Platte River and Grand Island
 * 1849 Cholera killed 1,200 of the Tribe.
 * 1856-59: Otoe Agency
 * 1857 September 24, Treaty at Table Creek, Nebraska Territory, land ceded, reservation. provision for half-breeds
 * 1859 Judge James Lisle Gillis was appointed special agent for the Pawnee. He decided to locate the agency in Genoa, (Genoa, Nance County, Nebraska) Mormons had originally established Genoa. He forced the Mormons to leave.
 * 1859-80: Pawnee Agency (Nebraska)
 * 1861-1865: Frank Joshua North and Luther H. North (brothers) of Columbus, Nebraska organized the Pawnee Scout for service on the frontier during the Civil War.
 * 1869 June 9, Battle of Summit Springs, Major (Brevet Major General) Eugene A. Carr commander of the 5th U.S. Cavalry, lead and expedition against the Cheyenne along the Republican River. Major Frank J. North and the Pawnee Scouts participated.
 * 1865-1885: Frank and Luther North organized a battalion (U.S. Army) of Pawnee scouts; they worked as guard for railroad construction crews.
 * 1873 August 5, Massacre Canyon; Sioux war party ambushed a Pawnee hunting party killing 150. The Sioux were tribal enemies of the Pawnee.
 * 1873-1874: Two groups removed from homeland along the Platte River in Nebraska to a reservation in Indian Territory near the Cimarron River (Pawnee County, Oklahoma)
 * 1874-1876 Removal population of Tribe 650
 * 1875: A third group (mainly the Skidis) removed to Indian Territory, lead by Baptiste Bayhylle
 * 1875- Present: Pawnee Agency (Oklahoma)
 * 1873-75: Wichita Agency
 * 1876: Pawnee Reservation on Loup River established
 * 1883: Population of Tribe 1,213
 * 1883: Woman's National Indian Association established a mission it became the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1884
 * 1892: Land in severity and became citizens of the U.S.
 * 1936 The Tribe approved a constitution.
 * 1937 an official census of the Pawnee Indian Tribe of Oklahoma compiled.
 * 1962 Pawnee Indian Tribe of Oklahoma v. The United States. United States Court of Federal Claims

Agencies with Jurisdiction over the Tribe
Agencies maintained the records of the tribe. See: Pawnee Indian Agency (Nebraska) and Pawnee Indian Agency (Oklahoma)

The Pawnee Nation was assigned to the following Agencies: Many records for the Pawnee tribe are listed on the Agency pages.

1824-37: Upper Missouri Agency 1837-56: Council Bluffs Agency 1856-59: Otoe Agency 1859-80: Pawnee Agency (Nebraska) 1873-1875: Wichita Agency 1875- Present: Pawnee Agency (Oklahoma) These agencies were under the following Superintendencies: St. Louis Superintendency, Central Superintendency and Northern Superintendency

Superintendencies
Records for Superintendencies exist in the National Archives and copies of many of them are also available in other research facilities.

St. Louis Superintendency

Central Superintendency

Northern Superintendency

Reservations
Pawnee Reservation (Oklahoma)

Additional References to the History of the Tribe
Frederick Webb Hodge, in his Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, gave a more complete history of the Pawnee tribe, with estimations of the population of the tribe at various time periods. Additional details in David Bushnell's Villages of the Algonquian, Siouan and Caddoan Tribes West of the Mississippi.

Pawnee Pride: A History of Pawnee County. By Kenny A. Franks and Paul F. Lambert. Oklahoma Heritage Association C 1994

Indian Sketcher Taken During an Expedition to the Pawnee Tribes [1833]. by John Treat Irving, Jr. and Ed John Francis McDermott. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, OK C 1955

The Pawnee Indians, By George E. Hyde. C 1951. University of Oklahoma Press

Records
The majority of records of individuals were those created by the agencies. Some records may be available to tribal members through the tribal headquarters.They were (and are) the local office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and were charged with maintaining records of the activities of those under their responsibility. Among these records are:


 * Allotment records
 * Annuity rolls
 * Census records
 * Correspondence
 * Health records
 * Reports
 * School census and records
 * Vital records

Allotment
Allotment Rolls and Index to allotment numbers, 1887-1929. United States. Bureau of Indian Affairs, Pawnee Agency. Fort Worth, TX Items 2 and 3

Pawnee Indian Reservation Land Allotment Ledger. United States Bureau of Indian Affairs, Pawnee Agency. Fort Worth, TX.

Tribal owned land: 726.03 acres. Allotted lands 19,399.51 acres.

Annuity Payroll Records
Annuity Payroll records, 1883-1928. United States Bureau of Indian Affairs, Pawnee Agency. Fort Worth, TX Item 2 (first of 5 films)

Cemetery Records
Pawnee County Oklahoma Cemeteries. By Beverly Herver Tubbs and John Joseph Balcer III. Vol 1 c. 1991. Published by Lone Chimney Press, Morrison, OK

Census
1889-1891 Rolls of Indian Tribes in Oklahoma. by Emily Johnson including the Pawnee Tribe

Heirship Records
Heirship Records Prior to 1940. United States Bureau of Indian Affairs Pawnee Agency. Item 2

Register of Indian Families, Pawnee Tribe, 1905-1907. United States. Bureau of Indian Affairs. Pawnee Agency Fort Worth, TX Item 2

Military Records

 * 1861-1869 Pawnee Scouts of Nebraska; list of Pawnee's who served as scouts for the military www.ancestry.com


 * Pawnee Scouts of Nebraska Calvary


 * American Indians in the Civil War

Original Discharge Papers, 1864-1877 (Military-Civil War) United States. Bureau of Indian Affairs. Pawnee Agency. Fort Worth, TX. item 1

Debra Graden, Nebraska Pawnee Scouts,1861-69. {database on-line} Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com 1999

The Fighting Norths and Pawnee Scouts: Narrative and Reminiscences of Military Service on the Old Frontier. by Robert Bruce or book 970.3 P289b

School Records
School Census, 1934-1944. United States, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Pawnee Agency. Fort Worth, Tx Pawnee School Student Roster, 1947-1950. United States. Bureau of Indian Affairs, Pawnee Agency, Fort Worth, TX item 6

Vital Records

 * Register of Vital Statistics, 1909-1952; delayed birth certificates, 1944-1952. United States. Bureau of Indian Affairs. Pawnee Agency


 * Register of Birth and Deaths of Pawnee, Kaw, Ponca, Otoe, and Tonkawa Indian Tribes, 1915-1929. United States, Bureau of Indian Affairs. Pawnee Agency. Fort Worth, Tx item 2


 * Pawnee Agency, M595, births and deaths 1924-1932,

Treaties:
The treaties of 1833, 1848, and 1857 ceded all their lands in Nebraska.


 * June 18-22, 1818:St. Louis, Missouri Territory. Peace was concluded with the tribes of the region disturbed by the War of 1812. *1818 June 18, with the Grand Pawnee
 * 1818 June 19, with the Noisy Pawnee
 * 1818 June 20, with the Pawnee Republic *1818 June 22, with the Pawnee Marhar
 * 1825 September 30, at Fort Atkinson, (Council Bluffs), Iowa, regulation of trade
 * 1833 October 9, at Grand Pawnee Village on the Platte River, land ceded "all land lying south of the Platte River: annuity: $4,600 in goods"
 * 1848August 6, at Fort Childs, Nebraska ceded 60 mile strip on the Platte River and Grand Island
 * 1857 September 24, at Table Creek, Nebraska Territory, land ceded, reservation. provision for half-breeds
 * 1892: land in severalty and became citizens of the U.S.Also listed in Treaties with Marhar, Tappaye, Loups, Republic, Republicans Indians L R Listed below in references: Kappler, Charles J.Indian Treaties 1778-1883, Interland Publishing Inc. New York, NY. 1972 ISNB 0-87989-02508

Family History Library
The FamilySearch Catalog list over 70 records of interest to Pawnee Indians

The Pawnee Nation: An Annotated Research Bibliography. by Judith A. Boughter. Lanham, MD.: Native American Bibliography Series, no. 28. Scarecrow Press, 2004.

Important Web Sites

 * Constitution of the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma
 * Pawnee Nation of OklahomaOfficial Website
 * Pawnee Tribe Wikipedia