Michigan Superintendency of Indian Affairs

United States American Indian Research Bureau of Indian Affairs Superintendencies Michigan Superintendency

History

The Michigan Superintendency of Indian Affairs was established in 1805. After the Superintendency was abolished in1851 and the responsibility was transferred to the new Northern Superintendency.

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

Tribes

Chippewa, Ottawa, Potawatomi, Menominee, Winnebago, Wyandot, Seneca, Shawnee, Delaware, Miami, Oneida, Stockbridge and Munsee

Governors and Ex Officio Superintendents

William Hull March 1, 1805, Lewis Cass October 29, 1813, George B. Porter August 6, 1831, Stevens T. Mason (acting) took charge upon the death of Porter July 6, 1834,and John S. Horner September 8, 1835, Henry R. Schoolcraft, Robert Stuart, William A. Richmond, Charles P. Babcock.

Agencies

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.

• Chicago Agency
• Fort Wayne Agency (in Indiana)
• Fort Winnebage Agency
• Green Bay Agency
• Mackinac Agency
• New York Agency (1832-1834 only)
• Piqua Agency (in Ohio)
• Rock River Subagency
• Saginaw Agency
• Sault Ste. Marie Agency
• St. Peters Agency

The records of the Michigan Superintendency includes correspondence mainly concerning Wyandot, Delaware, Shawnee, Ottawa, Chippewa, Potawatomi, Miami, Kickapoo, Winnebago, Sauk, Piankeshaw, Kaskaskia, Oneida, Milwaukie, Sandusky, Wea, Seneca, Mohawk, Fox, and Menominee Indians. The letters include annuities paid to Indians, gifts to them, military affairs, rations, accounts, schools, missions, treaties, law and order, blacksmiths, and licenses to trade with the Indians.

Records

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

Records of the Michigan Superintendent of Indian Affairs, 1814-1882, are at theNational Archives and have been microfilmed as their Microcopy Number M1. Copies are also available at the Chicago and San Francisco Regional Archives. This same set of microfilm of the records of the Michigan Superintendency is also available at the Family History Library and itsfamily history centers.

Letters received by the Office of Indian Affairs from the Michigan Superintendency, 1824-1851, have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M234. Copies are available at the National Archives and at the Family History Library and its family history centers on their microfilm roll numbers 1661149 thru 1661157.

References

Hill, Edward E. The Office of Indian Affairs, 1824-1880: Historical Sketches. New York, New York: Clearwater Press, [1974].

Hill, Edward E. (comp.). Guide to Records in the National Archives of the United States Relating to American Indians. Washington [District of Columbia]: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1981.

Historical Sketches for Jurisdictional and Subject Headings Used for the Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, 1824-1880. National Archives Microcopy T1105.

Preliminary Inventory No. 163: Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Washington, DC:

Family History Library (FHL); now called, FamilySearch Library (FSL)