Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, December 1837


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Because the US Constitution gives the power of relating to (and control over) Indian tribes, Congress requires updates every year, and those reports are available to the public. In 1837, the Office of Indian Affairs was still under the War Department and did not publish the Commissioner's report as a separate document. In this era of removal and the apparent growth of the Office of Indian Affairs, the focus is on reports from the agents regarding specific topics, along with instructions to the agents, laws and regulations, and numerous blank forms to be completed (lest we fall into the folly of thinking that bureaucracy generated less paperwork in the nineteenth century). The agents reported on the overall situation in their areas (including information about geography and climate), schools and education, and thoughts about what additional laws needed to be passed. Most of the authors of the individual sections are not recorded. Only a single section purports to be written by a Native tribe--a petition from the Shawnees. Keep in mind that these reports were written as argumentative or persuasive pieces. The reader should be alert to determine the problems about which they are arguing and their proposed solutions. The New York Public Library extracted these documents into a separate volume. The bibliographic information can be heard in Section 00. - Summary by stepheather

Chapters

Bibliographic Information 1:30 Read by stepheather
Report from the Office of Indian Affairs by C.A. Harris 16:06 Read by Jonathan Pruett
List of the Documents Accompanying the Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs 4:40 Read by David Lawrence
Document Number 1 Report of the Acting Superintendent of Michigan 17:49 Read by ksleeper
Document Number 2 Report of the Superintendent of Wisconsin Territory 15:19 Read by ksleeper
Document Number 3 Report of the Acting Superintendent of the Western Territory 24:13 Read by ksleeper
Document Number 4 Report of the Principal Disbursing Agent of the Western Territory 11:56 Read by ksleeper
Document Number 5 Report from the Agent of Council Bluffs 8:18 Read by ksleeper
Document Number 5 1/2 Report of the Sub-Agent at Council Bluffs 12:45 Read by ksleeper
Document Number 6 Report of the Sub-agent on the Osage River 4:24 Read by ksleeper
Document Number 7 Report of the Sub-agent on the Great Nemahaw River 3:00 Read by David Lawrence
Document Number 8 Report of the Agent on the Upper Missouri River 6:04 Read by redrun
Document Number 9 Report of the Sub-agent on the Upper Missouri River 10:22 Read by Cbteddy
Document Number 10 Instructions to the Special Agent to the Camanches and Others 6:10 Read by Cbteddy
Document Number 11 Statement Showing the Number of Indian Schools, Their Location, and the Number of Teachers and Pupils, December 1, 1837 19:25 Read by stepheather
Document Number 12 Statement Showing the Amount and Disposition of the Funds Provided by Treaties for the Purposes of Education, December 1, 1837 6:25 Read by Cbteddy
Document Number 13 Statement Showing the Condition of the Civilization Fund, December 1, 1837 1:41 Read by Cbteddy
Document Number 14 Report of the Acting Superintendent of the Western Territory regarding Schools 15:12 Read by Claudia Caldi
Document Number 15 Report of the Teacher at Prairie du Chien 4:31 Read by Claudia Caldi
Document Number 16 Report of the Sub-agent on the Osage River regarding Schools 3:23 Read by Agnes Robert Behr
Document Number 17 New System of Teaching. Extract of a Letter of Robert Simerwell, Teacher, to the Sub-agent on the Osage River 4:32 Read by Cbteddy
Document Number 18 Report of the Teacher for the Kickapoos by P.J. Verhaegen 3:30 Read by Cbteddy
Document Number 19 Extract from a Letter to the Superintendents 1:22 Read by Cbteddy
Document Number 20 Reply of Mr. Schoolcraft to the Preceding 5:26 Read by Cbteddy
Document Number 21 Report of the Acting Superintendent of Michigan regarding Laws 3:58 Read by Cbteddy
Document Number 22 Report of the Superintendent of Wisconsin Territory regarding Laws 3:54 Read by Cbteddy
Document Number 23 Report of the Principal Military Disbursing Agent for the Western Territory 6:59 Read by Cbteddy
Document Number 24 Report of Mr. McCoy, Relative to a Government for the Western Territory 17:47 Read by Cbteddy
Document Number 25 Letter of the Agent at Council Bluffs 1:55 Read by ksleeper
Document Number 26 Petition of the Shawnees 3:35 Read by ksleeper
Document Number 27 Statement Showing the Amount of Requisitions Drawn for Disbursements in the Indian Department, between the 1st Day of January and the 30th of September, 1837 51:36 Read by Cbteddy
Document Number 28 Statement Showing the Number of Indians Now East of the Mississippi, of Those That Have Emigrated from the East to the West of That River, and of Those within Striking Distance of the Western Frontier 6:47 Read by SandraClare
Document Number 29 Statement Showing the Quantity of Lands Ceded by the Indian Tribes to the United States, and the Amount Stipulated to be Paid to Them therefor, since the 4th of March, 1829 by C.A. Harris 17:01 Read by redrun
Document Number 30 Statement Showing the Quantity of Lands Ceded by the Indian Tribes to the United States, and the Amount Stipulated to Be Paid to Them therefor, since the 9th of May, 1836, in Treaties That Have Been Ratified 6:45 Read by redrun
Document Number 31 Statement Showing the Quantity of Land Ceded by Indian Tribes, and the Amount Stipulated to Be Paid therefor, in Treaties Made Since the 9th of May, 1836, That Will Be Submitted to the President and Senate the Present Session, and Recapitulation of the Three Preceding Tables 4:21 Read by redrun
Document Number 32 Statement Exhibiting the Names of the Tribes South and West of the Missouri, and between the Puncah and Red Rivers 8:13 Read by Cbteddy
Document Number 33 Laws--An Act to Regulate Trade and Intercourse with Indian Tribes, and to Preserve Peace on the Frontiers 26:24 Read by TotalEcho
An Act to Provide for the Organization of the Department of Indian Affairs 13:16 Read by Cbteddy
Document Number 34 Regulations--Prescribing the Mode in which the Act of the 9th of July, 1832, Providing for the Appointment of a Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Shall Be Executed by Andrew Jackson 1:39 Read by Rapunzelina
Revised Regulations--Number 1. Concerning the Execution of the Act of the 9th July, 1832, Providing for the Appointment of a Commissioner of Indian Affairs by B.F. Butler 3:58 Read by John D. Parker
Revised Regulations--Number 2. Concerning Superintendencies, Agencies, and Sub-agencies by J.R. Poinsett 15:27 Read by John D. Parker
Revised Regulations--Number 3. For Carrying into Effect the Act of June 30, 1834, Organizing the Department of Indian Affairs by J.R. Poinsett 38:36 Read by John D. Parker
List of Forms Referred to in the Preceding Regulations by C.A. Harris 2:19 Read by Stacey Malcolm
Form Number 1. Voucher 1:22 Read by stepheather
Form Number 2. Abstract for Disbursements for Current Expenses 1:48 Read by stepheather
Form Number 3. Abstract for Disbursements for Treaty Stipulations 1:36 Read by stepheather
Form Number 4. Account Current 1:37 Read by stepheather
Form Number 5. Receipt-Roll for Paying Indian Annuities to Heads of Families 2:11 Read by stepheather
Form Number 6. Abstract of Articles Purchased for Indians 1:29 Read by stepheather
Form Number 7. Abstract of Articles Delivered to Indians 1:27 Read by stepheather
Form Number 8. Return of Property Received and Issued to Indians 1:58 Read by czandra
Form Number 9. Return of Property in Charge of Agents 1:36 Read by czandra
Form Number 10. General Annual Abstract of Disbursements 0:59 Read by czandra
Form Number 11. Statement of Persons Employed 1:06 Read by czandra
Form Number 12. Monthly Statement of Letters Received 0:59 Read by czandra
Revised Regulations--Number 4, Concerning Trade and Intercourse with Indian Tribes by J.R. Poinsett 13:50 Read by Elsie Selwyn
Revised Regulations--Number 5. Concerning the Emigration of Indians by J.R. Poinsett 35:08 Read by Elsie Selwyn
List of Forms Referred to in the Preceding Regulations 1:53 Read by Elsie Selwyn
Form Number 1. The United States in Account Current 1:15 Read by Elsie Selwyn
Form Number 2. Abstract of Disbursements on Account of Subsistence 2:09 Read by Elsie Selwyn
Form Number 3. Abstract of Disbursements for Transportation 1:18 Read by Elsie Selwyn
Form Number 4. Abstract of Disbursements for Contingencies 1:16 Read by Sophia Kaushik
Form Number 5. Return of Provisions and Forage 1:35 Read by Sophia Kaushik
Form Number 6. Abstract of Provisions Issued 1:40 Read by Sophia Kaushik
Form Number 7. Abstract of Forage Issued 1:31 Read by Sophia Kaushik
Form Number 8. Return of Property Received and Issued 1:54 Read by stepheather
Form Number 9. Statement of Articles Due the [Blank] Indians 1:23 Read by Cbteddy
Form Number 10. Provision or Forage Return 1:10 Read by Cbteddy
Form Number 11. The United States to [Blank] 1:05 Read by Cbteddy
Form Number 12. A Roll of Wagons and Teams Employed in the Removal of the [Blank] Indians 1:53 Read by Cbteddy
Form Number 13. [Pay and Expenses Chit] 2:25 Read by David Lawrence
Form Number 14. Quarterly Statement of Agents, and Others, Employed in the Removal and Subsistence fo the [Blank] Indians 1:27 Read by David Lawrence
Form Number 15. Estimate of Funds Required in the Removal and Subsistence of the [Blank] Indians 1:20 Read by David Lawrence
Form Number 16. Monthly Abstract of Disbursement for the Subsistence of the Indians 2:03 Read by David Lawrence
Form Number 17. Baggage Certificate 1:20 Read by David Lawrence
Form Number 18. Muster Roll of a Company of [Blank] Indians about to Emigrate West of the Mississippi River 2:26 Read by David Lawrence