Resources for Local Native American Research

November is American Indian Heritage Month, so I thought I would share a list of resources for local Native American research. This list was compiled by Larry Fine for the Colville [Washington] Stake Family History Conference held April 26, 2008.

Microfilmed Native American Records on Permanent Loan at the Colville Family History Center
Bureau of Indian Affairs and Colville Tribe Indian Records

• 1020972: BIA - Indian History Cards, Late 1800 - Early 1900
• 1020973: Births, Marriages, Deaths
• 1020974: Births and Deaths, 1909 - 1942
• 1020975: Births and Deaths, 1914 - 1943
• 1020976: Births, Deaths, Marriages: 1914 - 1943
• 1020976: BIA - Annuity Roll Records, 1892 - 1948
• 05742208: BIA - Indian Census Rolls, 1885 - 1891: Coeur d'Alene, Kalispel, Lake, Spokane, Nez Perce, Okanogan, Moses, Yellow Bulls
• 05742209: BIA - Indian Census Rolls, 1892 - 1897: Okanogan, Nez Perce, Colville, Lake, Spokane, Moses, Nespelem, San Poil, Coeur d'Alene
• 05742210: BIA - Indian Census Rolls, 1898 - 1903: Spokane, Moses, Okanogan, Nez Perce, Coeur d'Alene, Lake, Colville
• 05742211: BIA - Indian Census Rolls, 1904 - 1908: Spokane, Colville, Coeur d'Alene, Nez Perce, Moses, Okanogan, Lake, Sanpoil, Nespelem
• 05742212: BIA - Indian Census Rolls, 1909 - 1913: Spokane, Sanpoil, Moses, Nez Perce, Nespelem, Okanogan, Lake, Colville, Calispel, Wenatchi, Chewelah, Kootnai
• 05742215: BIA - Indian Census Rolls, 1938 - 1938: Supplemental rolls of Colville and Spokane JOPA (also available at Foley Center Library, Gonzaga University)
• 16711660: Washington - St. Paul - Jesuit Mission - with baptism registers, various entries from 1839 - 1870
• 16711661: Washington - St. Regis - Jesuit Mission - with various baptism, death, and marriage records, 1848 - 1917
• 16711662: Washington - St. Regis - Jesuit Mission - burial records, 1953 - 1887; baptism and marriage records, 1852 - 1866; St. Francis Regis Quarterly Indian School reports, 1893; Colville Reservation census,1902 - 1918, 1923, and 1937; Spokane Indian census, 1919 and 1927
• 16711663: Washington - St. Regis: papers and correspondence
• 16711664: Washington - St. Mary's: mission parish census, 1948 - 1949
  

Libraries

• Colville Public Library
• Foley Center Library, Gonzaga University, Spokane - Archives Section
• John F. Kennedy Library, Eastern Washington University, Cheney - Archives Section
• Kettle Falls Public Library
• Spokane Public Library, Northwest Room
• Holland and Terrell Libraries, Washington State University, Pullman - Archives Section

Sources to Consider

• Family History Center, LDS Church
• Stevens County Historical Society (research staff available): family files, census records, Watson papers, library, data base
• Northeast Washington Genealogical Society (research staff available)
• Stevens County courthouse records (and other county courthouse records, too)
  
• Individual tribal headquarters: enrollment records, probate records, history, archives
• Bureau of Indian Affairs: probate records
• Funeral home records
• Local newspapers
• Museums
• National Archives, Pacific Alaska Region, Seattle
• Eastern Washington Regional Archives, Cheney

Items to Check

• Annuity records of various tribes
• Birth, baptism, marriage, death and burial records or registers
• Books: history, biographies
• Census: Federal and tribal
• Family history files
• Land patents
• Military discharges
• Obituaries
• Oral history reports
• Probate records with the Bureau of Indian Affairs or Office of Special Trustee
• Tribal allotments
• Tribal enrollment records
• Tribal school enrollments
• Wills