The Great Britain Indian Department collection is made up of documents, letters, and manuscripts relating to interactions between government and military officials, Native Americans, and American residents from 1753 to 1795. The bulk of the collection concerns British interactions with Native Americans in New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, with some material relating to South Carolina, Michigan, and Virginia. Official documents include passes for Native American travelers, speeches to and from Native American groups, copies of treaties, and reports and correspondence relative to diplomacy, peace efforts, and military affairs. Materials relay information on boundary disputes, prisoner exchanges, crimes committed against both American settlers and Native Americans, and Native American distress over land infringements.
Of particular note are the Albany Commissioners of Indian Affairs' reports (112 pages) from June 1753 to May 1755. These include copies of correspondence, reports of meetings with Native American groups, and remarks on fort construction, prisoner exchange, rivalries with the French, religious evangelization, and diplomacy. The collection also includes a manuscript copy of the August 1768 journal of Benjamin Roberts, an Indian commissary, in which he describes the trial of Captain Robert Rogers for treason.
Please see Box and Folder Listing below for a comprehensive inventory of the collection.
The Great Britain Indian Department was formed in 1755, upon the recommendation of the 1754 Albany Congress. Its purpose was to serve as a centralized body to supervise Native American relations and the purchase of Indian lands. In 1756 William Johnson was appointed the first superintendent of Indian affairs for the Northern Department.
The Great Britain Indian Department collection documents the interactions between military and government officials, Native Americans, and American residents, particularly with regard to military and land disputes. Materials relate to hostilities, diplomacy, alliances, and negotiations that occurred from 1753 to 1795, covering the French and Indian War, the American Revolution, and subsequent military struggles between Native American and American forces.
