March marks Women’s History Month, set aside to honor women’s contributions in American history. Today I would like to highlight the life and career of Pablita Velarde/Tse Tsan (Santa Clara Pueblo), a prominent 20th-century Native artist. Using records from a host of collections across National Archives facilities, we are able to glimpse into this accomplished … Continue reading Meet Artist Pablita Velarde/Tse Tsan (Santa Clara Pueblo)
In 1913 Philip Longergan, superintendent of the Pueblo day schools, received a deal he couldn’t refuse. Even marked CONFIDENTIAL, adding validity to just how great a deal it was, Longergan was entitled…to purchase an A.G. Spalding and Brothers Incorporated All-Steel Apparatus for the Playground…for 20% off! A.G. Spalding and Brothers Inc. playground equipment coupon sent … Continue reading Swing into the Bureau of Indian Affairs Decimal Filing System
Today's post is by Rose Buchanan, Archivist and Subject Matter Expert for Native American Related Records On July 20, 1964, Ida Ellen Stansbury Robinson of Merced, California, wrote to the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) headquarters in Washington, DC, to request information about her family history. “For a number of years I have been aware … Continue reading “I Trust You Will Be Able to Assist Me”: Genealogy Researchers Contact the Bureau of Indian Affairs
Today’s post is by Cody White, Archivist at the National Archives at Denver and Subject Matter Expert for Native American Related Records It was the day of the election. Debates had gone back and forth over the past year, voting dates had moved around, a parade of folks had stumped the country drumming up support … Continue reading Getting Out the Vote: Indian Reorganization Act Elections on the Rez
Today’s post is written by Cody White, Archivist at the National Archives at Denver. “That’s a mechanical drawing . . . where’s some human interest?” posed the famous artist as he took in the vista of Arizona’s 710-foot-tall, 1,560-foot-wide Glen Canyon Dam. The Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) staffers accompanying the artist—who at that point in … Continue reading Norman Rockwell and his Dam Painting
Superintendent Albert Reagan of the Nett Lake Agency in Northern Minnesota was fed up with Tom Fisher. Fisher, a reservation policeman, was already on thin ice with Reagan when Fisher dropped into the agency office on November 16th and complained that he worked too hard. The superintendent vented to his office diary, listing exactly how … Continue reading Dear Diary; the Official Diaries of Office of Indian Affairs Superintendents, 1907-1917
Take me out to the Ballgame!
On September 16, 1966, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) drowned over 10,000 acres of Seneca land in northwestern Pennsylvania and southwestern New York. The 1794 Treaty of Canandaigua, signed by George Washington as well as Native and federal delegates, confirmed peace and recognized that this land belonged to the Haudenosaunee (Six Nations). How … Continue reading Public Outcry, a Broken Treaty, and the Controversial Construction of the Kinzua Dam
The National Archives and Records Administration is pleased to present our annual Genealogy Series on YouTube. This educational series of lectures will teach you how to use federal resources at the National Archives for genealogical research. Our program this year celebrates public service, with presentations on military and civilian records. You will also learn how … Continue reading Join the National Archives for the 2023 Genealogy Series!
By Rose Buchanan, Archivist and Subject Matter Expert for Native American Related Records “Chilkat Blanket.” This terse subject line is easy to miss in a nearly 100-page file of administrative correspondence from the Indian Arts and Crafts Board (IACB). It headlines a May 17, 1962, letter from Carl W. Heinmiller, director of Alaska Indian Arts, … Continue reading Not “the last Chilkat blanket weaver”: The Story of Annie Klaney and the Indian Arts and Crafts Board
