Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, December 1837
Commissioner of Indian Affairs
76 chapters · 9 h 1 min · English
Read by stepheather, Jonathan Pruett, David Lawrence, ksleeper, redrun, Cbteddy and others
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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
1 Bibliographic Information 2 min 2 Report from the Office of Indian Affairs by C.A. Harris 16 min 3 List of the Documents Accompanying the Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs 5 min 4 Document Number 1 Report of the Acting Superintendent of Michigan 18 min 5 Document Number 2 Report of the Superintendent of Wisconsin Territory 15 min 6 Document Number 3 Report of the Acting Superintendent of the Western Territory 24 min 7 Document Number 4 Report of the Principal Disbursing Agent of the Western Territory 12 min 8 Document Number 5 Report from the Agent of Council Bluffs 8 min 9 Document Number 5 1/2 Report of the Sub-Agent at Council Bluffs 13 min 10 Document Number 6 Report of the Sub-agent on the Osage River 4 min 11 Document Number 7 Report of the Sub-agent on the Great Nemahaw River 3 min 12 Document Number 8 Report of the Agent on the Upper Missouri River 6 min 13 Document Number 9 Report of the Sub-agent on the Upper Missouri River 10 min 14 Document Number 10 Instructions to the Special Agent to the Camanches and Others 6 min 15 Document Number 11 Statement Showing the Number of Indian Schools, Their Location, and the Number of Teachers and Pupils, December 1, 1837 19 min 16 Document Number 12 Statement Showing the Amount and Disposition of the Funds Provided by Treaties for the Purposes of Education, December 1, 1837 6 min 17 Document Number 13 Statement Showing the Condition of the Civilization Fund, December 1, 1837 2 min 18 Document Number 14 Report of the Acting Superintendent of the Western Territory regarding Schools 15 min 19 Document Number 15 Report of the Teacher at Prairie du Chien 5 min 20 Document Number 16 Report of the Sub-agent on the Osage River regarding Schools 3 min 21 Document Number 17 New System of Teaching. Extract of a Letter of Robert Simerwell, Teacher, to the Sub-agent on the Osage River 5 min 22 Document Number 18 Report of the Teacher for the Kickapoos by P.J. Verhaegen 4 min 23 Document Number 19 Extract from a Letter to the Superintendents 1 min 24 Document Number 20 Reply of Mr. Schoolcraft to the Preceding 5 min 25 Document Number 21 Report of the Acting Superintendent of Michigan regarding Laws 4 min 26 Document Number 22 Report of the Superintendent of Wisconsin Territory regarding Laws 4 min 27 Document Number 23 Report of the Principal Military Disbursing Agent for the Western Territory 7 min 28 Document Number 24 Report of Mr. McCoy, Relative to a Government for the Western Territory 18 min 29 Document Number 25 Letter of the Agent at Council Bluffs 2 min 30 Document Number 26 Petition of the Shawnees 4 min 31 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 52 min 32 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 7 min 33 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 min 34 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 7 min 35 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 min 36 Document Number 32 Statement Exhibiting the Names of the Tribes South and West of the Missouri, and between the Puncah and Red Rivers 8 min 37 Document Number 33 Laws--An Act to Regulate Trade and Intercourse with Indian Tribes, and to Preserve Peace on the Frontiers 26 min 38 An Act to Provide for the Organization of the Department of Indian Affairs 13 min 39 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 2 min 40 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 4 min 41 Revised Regulations--Number 2. Concerning Superintendencies, Agencies, and Sub-agencies by J.R. Poinsett 15 min 42 Revised Regulations--Number 3. For Carrying into Effect the Act of June 30, 1834, Organizing the Department of Indian Affairs by J.R. Poinsett 39 min 43 List of Forms Referred to in the Preceding Regulations by C.A. Harris 2 min 44 Form Number 1. Voucher 1 min 45 Form Number 2. Abstract for Disbursements for Current Expenses 2 min 46 Form Number 3. Abstract for Disbursements for Treaty Stipulations 2 min 47 Form Number 4. Account Current 2 min 48 Form Number 5. Receipt-Roll for Paying Indian Annuities to Heads of Families 2 min 49 Form Number 6. Abstract of Articles Purchased for Indians 1 min 50 Form Number 7. Abstract of Articles Delivered to Indians 1 min 51 Form Number 8. Return of Property Received and Issued to Indians 2 min 52 Form Number 9. Return of Property in Charge of Agents 2 min 53 Form Number 10. General Annual Abstract of Disbursements 1 min 54 Form Number 11. Statement of Persons Employed 1 min 55 Form Number 12. Monthly Statement of Letters Received 1 min 56 Revised Regulations--Number 4, Concerning Trade and Intercourse with Indian Tribes by J.R. Poinsett 14 min 57 Revised Regulations--Number 5. Concerning the Emigration of Indians by J.R. Poinsett 35 min 58 List of Forms Referred to in the Preceding Regulations 2 min 59 Form Number 1. The United States in Account Current 1 min 60 Form Number 2. Abstract of Disbursements on Account of Subsistence 2 min 61 Form Number 3. Abstract of Disbursements for Transportation 1 min 62 Form Number 4. Abstract of Disbursements for Contingencies 1 min 63 Form Number 5. Return of Provisions and Forage 2 min 64 Form Number 6. Abstract of Provisions Issued 2 min 65 Form Number 7. Abstract of Forage Issued 2 min 66 Form Number 8. Return of Property Received and Issued 2 min 67 Form Number 9. Statement of Articles Due the [Blank] Indians 1 min 68 Form Number 10. Provision or Forage Return 1 min 69 Form Number 11. The United States to [Blank] 1 min 70 Form Number 12. A Roll of Wagons and Teams Employed in the Removal of the [Blank] Indians 2 min 71 Form Number 13. [Pay and Expenses Chit] 2 min 72 Form Number 14. Quarterly Statement of Agents, and Others, Employed in the Removal and Subsistence fo the [Blank] Indians 1 min 73 Form Number 15. Estimate of Funds Required in the Removal and Subsistence of the [Blank] Indians 1 min 74 Form Number 16. Monthly Abstract of Disbursement for the Subsistence of the Indians 2 min 75 Form Number 17. Baggage Certificate 1 min 76 Form Number 18. Muster Roll of a Company of [Blank] Indians about to Emigrate West of the Mississippi River 2 min
