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Series 1: Kimball Arensberg Irish Files, Indian Claims Commission Case Documents: Research Reports, Docket Materials, and Case Exhibits, 1953-1969

 Series

  • Staff Only

Scope and Contents note

Contains final reports, docket materials, and exhibits created under the direction of Erminie Wheeler-Voegelin at the Great Lakes-Ohio Valley Research Project at Indiana University to "provide historical background for the geographical areas ceded by treaties that were the subjects of litigation heard by the Indian Claims Commission." The documents focus on Great Lakes, Oklahoma, Ohio, Upper Mississippi Basin, and California and Pacific States tribes, including the Achomawi, Atsugewi, Chippewa, Delaware, Eelriver, Fox, Kaskaskia, Kickapoo, Klamath, Maidu, Miami, Modoc, Nisenan, Ottawa, Piankashaw, Potawatomi, Sauk, Shasta, Shawnee, Sioux, Wea, Winnebago, Winto, and Wyandot. Besides Wheeler-Voegelin, authors of research reports include Emily J. Blasingham, Dorothy R. Libby, Thomas J. Maxwell Jr., Donald J. Berthrong, David A. Baerreis, Remedios Wycoco-Moore, J.A. Jones, and Harold Hickerson.

The Indian Claims Commission was established in 1946 (abolished in 1978) to review "territorial claims by native peoples within the forty-eight contiguous states and, where these were found to be valid, to retire them through payment of appropriate compensation." Most of the claims dealt with the undervaluation of tribal lands in treaties of purchase and the failures of the United States government to abide by treaty provisions.

Dates

  • Creation: 1953-1969

Creator

Conditions Governing Digital Access

The digitized files of the Erminie Wheeler-Voegelin papers are restricted to in library use or family use, as they contain personal identifying information.

Conditions Governing Access

The Erminie Wheeler-Voegelin papers are open for research; they are available one box at a time in the Special Collections reading room (Priority III).

Arrangement note

The documents in this series include final reports, notes, and photocopied materials. The documents within this series are arranged into three subseries: Subseries 1: Research Reports; Subseries 2: Docket Materials (notes and legal documents); and Subseries 3: Case Exhibits. Within each subseries, the documents are organized first by Royce Area (which refers to a compilation of Indian land-cession records created by Charles C. Royce in 1899, and published as part two of the 18th Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology), then by docket number, and finally by state.

Repository Details

Part of the The Newberry Library - Modern Manuscripts and Archives Repository

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