“I Trust You Will Be Able to Assist Me”: Genealogy Researchers Contact the Bureau of Indian Affairs

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

Not “the last Chilkat blanket weaver”: The Story of Annie Klaney and the Indian Arts and Crafts Board

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

Sepia tone photograph of buildings in the desert

The Stories Behind the Names: Death at the Santa Fe Indian School, 1891–1909

Today’s post is by Cody White and Rose Buchanan, Subject Matter Experts for Native American Related Records. Warning: the following piece along with associated archival records discuss the death of minors. The names of students who died at Native American boarding schools should not be buried in government files; they should be known. For accountability, … Continue reading The Stories Behind the Names: Death at the Santa Fe Indian School, 1891–1909

form for Indian reservation schedule for census data

The Story of the 1950 Census P8 Indian Reservation Schedule

Special thanks to Claire Kluskens, Archivist and Subject Matter Expert for Census Records, and Rose Buchanan, Archivist at the National Archives in Washington, DC. “Now Mrs. Begay, I want to ask you about the names of the people in your family. Is your husband known by any other name than Richard Begay? Sometimes he is … Continue reading The Story of the 1950 Census P8 Indian Reservation Schedule