Local Resources - American Indian Resource Center Huntington Park Library

By Beverly Mateer Taylor

The American Indian Resource Center (AIRC) is one of the four ethnic resource centers formed with the help of federal grant funds by the Los Angeles County Public Library in the late 1970s. The Huntington Park, Maywood, and Bellflower area had a large American Indian popula­tion in the 1970s when the center was opened in the Huntington Park Library. The center is intended to fill information needs for them, as well as those who want to learn about them. With 30,000 books, periodicals, and pamphlets, it ranks as the largest public library collection in the United States that focuses on American Indians.

Michael McLaughlin, who is in charge of the center, has master's degrees in both Library Information Science and American Indian Studies from UCLA and is a mem­ber of the Winnebago tribe. When asked about the usage patterns of the collection, he estimated that about a quar­ter of users are looking for genealogical information-either for family histories or to prove eligibility for tribe membership.

While the collection of printed books about every aspect of American Indian history, culture, tribes, art, lan­guages, biographies, etc., is impressive, the unique aspects of this collection are in the extensive microfilm/fiche col­lections, government documents relating to Indians, and current newspapers, as well as back files. Most focus on prominent members of the tribes, but some others are included.

Using this collection is difficult since there is no index­ing. The collection of government documents includes copies of legislation and regulations, censuses, treaties, and directories of the Bureau of Indian Affairs offices and tribal government offices. The microfiche includes various oral-history projects.

Several census records of American Indians exist. As with all census records, the information was collected for the use of the government with no thought given to find­ing individuals within the records. A real plus for genealo­gists is that the Bureau of Indian Affairs took an annual census from 1885 to 1940. A minus is that the records were collected and published by jurisdiction. Within each jurisdiction, reports are arranged by tribal name and year. Before 1916, individuals were not alphabetized; after 1916, they usually are alphabetical on each annual list.

Two other major complications exist for users of these records. One is that jurisdictions changed frequently, so a given tribe is not always under the same agency. The other is a factor of time and geography. As settlers moved west and opened up new territory, and interaction with new tribes occurred, new treaties were made and the census takers came soon after. Therefore, more records exist for Eastern tribes than for the Plains Indians.

Other census records in the center are a "Census of Creek Indians" (Parsons and Abbott), 1832; "Census Roll, 1835, of Cherokee Indians East of the Mississippi," with index; "Old Settler Cherokee Census Roll, 1895," and "Index to Payment Roll, 1895." The AIRC has the only complete set of Indian census records outside of the National Archives in Washington, D.C.

One of the best-known sources of information is the Dawes Commission rolls of the five civilized tribes (Cherokee, Chickasaw. Choctaw, Creek, Seminole); the rolls contain information collected from 1898 to 1914. The commission's purpose was to determine official trib­al membership. Enrollment cards were created that con­tain the information provided by individual applications submitted by members of a household. They include each individual's name, roll number, age, sex, degree of Indian blood, relationship to the head of family group, parents' names, and references to enrollment on earlier rolls. The Dawes rolls are most useful for the Western Cherokee (Oklahoma).

Also well known are the Guion-Miller rolls, which contain information collected from 1906 to 1909 to deter-mine which Eastern Cherokees were eligible for funds under 19th-century treaties. Although there is some overlap with the Dawes rolls, the Guion-Miller are most useful for the Eastern Cherokee. Being listed does not guarantee acceptance as a tribal member, since each tribe makes its own rules.

The only copy outside of Washington, D.C., of the Records of the Indian Claims Commission (1946-1977) is also here. These are primarily court records, so a docket number is needed to locate specific cases. With patience and persistence you can find oral histories, land surveys, and court records. The half-million pages of text are all here on microfiche. A print index for part of the records is available as well.

More information about the records described above can be easily located on the Internet. The AIRC also has good descriptions of the records, what they contain, and how to use them. A good understanding of them is nec­essary for a successful search, since they are somewhat more complicated than the usual federal and state census records.

The resource center has a large collection of newspapers, including both national and tribal publica­tions. Many existed only for a few years. Many are in English; some are bilingual. Many were published by Indian schools or churches (mostly Christian) on the reservations. As is typical of newspapers everywhere, they are not indexed. A large pamphlet/clipping file is kept by the center, which is organized by subject. They also have materials relating to Indians in the Los Angeles area, both historical and current, including churches, schools, organ­izations, etc.

Los Angeles has the largest American Indian popula­tion of any city in the country, but it is nearly invisible because they come from many different tribes and many parts of the country. Unlike many cities, there is no strong locally based native tribe. The AIRC provides for their information needs, and, in addition functions as a research library.

Because it is a public library, and a large part of the collection circulates, appointments are not needed. For those not familiar with the area, take Soto Street south from Interstate 5 (the Golden State Freeway); Soto becomes Miles Avenue when it enters Huntington Park.

© Beverly Mateer Taylor. Used with permission.