Superintendents' Annual Narrative and Statistical Reports (BIA), 1907-1938

The Office of Indian Affairs (now the Bureau of Indian Affairs) expected the agents and superintendents of their field jurisdictions to file annual reports of their activities, needs, and problems. These reports took several forms over the years.

Most of these reports are either narrative or statistical in form. Neither form included much personal information about individuals, either employees of the agency or the individual Indians they served. The reports do contain interesting historical information about the agency, school or other field jurisdiction.

The Superintendents’s Annual Narrative and Statistical Reports from Field Jurisdiction of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, 1907-1938 is a collection that has been microfilmed on 174 rolls by the National Archives as their Microcopy M1011. Some similar reports from agents and superintendents were included in the Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, covering the time period prior to 1907.

The reports for 1907-1909 were printed in pamphlet form at Indian schools where printing was taught. Most of those reports have been gather on Roll 1 of this collection. They are arranged chronologically and then alphabetically by the name of the agency or other jurisdiction.

The reports for 1910-1938 are arranged alphabetically by name of jurisdiction and then chronologically. The statistical reports for 1911-1919 were destroyed with congressional authorization, but the narrative reports exist.