Area Offices of the Bureau of Indian Affairs

The following are the locations of Area Offices of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. While they have many records, most of them are administrative in nature and do not contain details about individual Indians. Hence, they are not the most valuable records for tracing American Indian ancestry. The office which created and maintained the largest amount of records of the American Indians were the field offices, called agencies.

Bureau of Indian Affairs (Aberdeen Area Office) 115 Fourth Ave. SE Aberdeen, SD 57401 Telephone: 1-605-226-7343 Fax: 1-605-226-7446 Internet: http://www.doi.gov/diversity/eeo_counsel/counselor_bia.htm

Created in 1949, this Area Office covers the following agencies: Cheyenne River, Crow Creek, Fort Berthold, Fort Totten, Lower Brule, Pine Ridge, Rosebud, Sisseton, Standing Rock (North Dakota), Turtle Mountain, Winnebago, Yankton. Some of their records (1934-1952) are at the National Archives at Kansas City.

Bureau of Indian Affairs (Albuquerque Area Office) P.O. Box 26567Albuquerque, NM 87125-6567 Telephone: 1-505-766-3754 Fax: 1-505-766-1964

Covers the following agencies: Jicarilla, Laguna, Mescalero, Northern Pueblos, Ramah Navajo, Southern Pueblos, Southern Ute, Ute Mountain, and Zuni. Some of their records (1887-1989) are at the National Archives at Denver.

Bureau of Indian Affairs (Anadarko Area Office) W.C.D. Office Complex P.O.368 Anadarko, OK 73005-0368 Telephone: 1-405-247-6673 Fax: 1-405-247-2242

Established in 1948, it was essentially a continuation of the Kiowa Agency. It now covers the following agencies: Anadarko, Concho, Horton, Pawnee, and Shawnee. Some of their records (1881-1942) are at the National Archives at Fort Worth.

Bureau of Indian Affairs (Billings Area Office) 316 N. 26thStreet Billings, MT 59101-1362 Telephone: 1-406-657-6315 Fax: 1-406-657-6559

Established in 1946, it has jurisdiction over the following agencies: Blackfoot, Crow, Fort Belknap, Fort Peck, Northern Cheyenne, Rocky Boy’s, and Wind River. Some of their records (1912-1952) are at the National Archives at Seattle.

Records


 * Welfare Rolls, 1950. item 1

Bureau of Indian Affairs (Eastern Area Office) 3701 N. Fairfax Drive Mailstop VASQ 260 Arlington, VA 22203 Telephone: 1-703-235-3006 Fax: 1-703-235-8610

Covers the following agencies: Cherokee, Choctaw, New York, and Seminole.

Bureau of Indian Affairs (Juneau Area Office) P.O. Box 25520 Juneau, AK 99802 Telephone: 1-907-586-7177 Fax: 1-907-586-7169

This area office inherited records from the Office of Education (Alaska Division) and earlier units of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. It covers the following agencies: Anchorage, Bethel, Fairbanks, and Nome. Some of their records are at the National Archives at Seattle.

Bureau of Indian Affairs (Minneapolis Area Office) 331 South Second Ave. Minneapolis, MN 55401-2241 Telephone: 1-612-373-1000 Fax: 1-612-373-1186

Established in 1949, it covers the following agencies: Great Lakes, Michigan, Minnesota, Red Lake, and Sac and Fox Field Office. Some of its records (1909-1952) are in the National Archives at Kansas City.

Records


 * Census and School Records, 1938-1950.

Bureau of Indian Affairs (Muskogee Area Office) 101 N. 5th St. Muskogee, OK 74401 Telephone: 1-918-687-2296 Fax: 1-918-687-2571

Established in 1948, it covers the following agencies: Chickasaw, Okmulgee, Osage, Miami, Talihina, and Wewoka.

Some of its records (1835-1952)are in the National Archives at Fort Worth, Texas.

Records available through the Family History Library
Muskogee Area Office - Agency records, 1883-1945. ,Film: 1205785 first film.

Bureau of Indian Affairs (Navajo Area Office) P.O. Box 1060 Gallup, NM 87305 Telephone: 1-505-863-8314 Fax: 1-505-863-8324

Covers the following agencies: Chinle, Eastern Navajo, Fort Defiance, Shiprock, and Western Navajo. Some of their records 1913-1968 are in the National Archives at Denver.

Bureau of Indian Affairs (Portland Area Office) The Federal Building 911 NE 11thAvenue Portland, OR 97232-4169 Telephone: 1-503-231-6702 Fax: 1-503-231-2201

Established 1950, covers the following agencies: Colville, Chiloquin Sub-Agency, Flathead, Fort Hall, Northern Idaho, Makah, Metlakatla Field Station, Olympic Peninsula, Plummer Field Office, Puget Sound, Siletz, Spokane, Umatilla, Warm Springs and Yakima. Some of its records are at the National Archives at Seattle.

Records

 * Tribal Census 1877-1952. FS Library Film: 1028458item 2 and FS Library Film: 01028459 item 1


 * Family Index Cards 1938-1950. FS Library Films: 1028470 item 4 and FS Library Film:1028471


 * Medical Records. 1934-1946. FHL|Film: 1028470 item 2


 * Heirship Records 1887-1952. FHL|Film: 1028461 item 2 - FHL|Film: 1028470


 * Civil Information 1864-1951. FHL|Film: 1028470 item 3


 * School Records 1916-1952. FHL|Films: 1038456-1038458


 * Vital Records 1912-1952. FHL|Film: 1028459item 2 - FHL|Film: 1028461

Bureau of Indian Affairs (Phoenix Area Office) P.O. Box 10 Phoenix, AZ 85001 Telephone: 1-602-379-6600 Fax: 1-602-379-4413

Established 1946, covers the following agencies: Colorado River, Eastern Nevada, Fort Apache, Fort Yuma, Hopi, Papago, Pima, Salt River, San Carlos, Southern Paiute Field Station, Truxton Cañon, Uintah &amp; Ouray, and Western Nevada. Some of it's records (1891-1954) are at the National Archives at Riverside, California

Records


 * Descriptive lists. FHL|Film: 1249981 item 5

Bureau of Indian Affairs (Sacramento Area Office) 2800 Cottage Way Sacramento, CA 95825-1846 Telephone: 1-916-978-4691 Fax: 1-916-978-4695

Established 1950, covers the following agencies: Central California, Northern California, Palm Springs Field Agency and Southern California. Some of it's records (1910-1954) are at the National Archives at San Francisco.