Indian Censuses

I found that the more I learn about Native American research the more interesting it becomes. But when I talk to others about my research they do not know what I am really talking about and I have to explain a lot about what I am doing. So I thought that I would talk about one of the most useful resources that is easily available.


Indian Censuses are available on Ancestry.com. The United States began to take count of the Indians on the reservations every year beginning in 1885. After that year, the government would have agents go around and write down the Indians on the census to keep track of them and to know how many were there. However, like the other censuses, they are not perfect. Sometimes the agents would just copy the census from the year before and add a year to their age. Some tribes, like the Navajo, did not follow this law very well.


Being Ute and Pottawatomie, the children of Walter and Amelia were on both censuses, in Utah and Oklahoma. It is interesting since Amelia and her children were not regularly ever in Oklahoma and most likely they were not in Oklahoma during the time every census was taken. Most of the Indian censuses were taken by the Indian agents to take down what people were still affiliated with the tribe. Since Amelia and her children were affiliated with the tribe, even though they did not live there, they were still counted.

1932 U.S. Indian Census, Uintah County, Utah, population schedule, Uintah and Ouray Agency, individual number 269, Walter Daniels; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 20 March 2010); NARA microfilm publication M595, roll 1862.

1932 U.S. Indian Census, Shawnee County, Oklahoma, population schedule, Shawnee Agency, individual number 605, Amelia Crumbo; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 20 March 2010); NARA microfilm publication M595, roll 1862.

 These are just a few examples of how the Indian censuses were not perfect but they are very helpful in Native American Research.