Records Relating to Indian Affairs : 1677-1935..

            
The agency primarily responsible for Indians and lands reserved for Indians has found a home in different government departments. The earliest records found in RG 10 predate the creation in 1755 of the Imperial Indian Department which was created to oversee relations between the United Kingdom and the First Nations in British North America. These are records that the British Administration inherited from earlier contacts between aboriginal people and European governing authorities in the North American colonies. 
The Indian Department was initially led by a Superintendent of Indian Affairs, first served by Sir William Johnson until 1774, then Colonel Guy Johnson until 1782 and succeeded by Sir John Johnson until 1796.  The office of Deputy Superintendent General was created in 1794 to assist Sir John Johnson because he was absent so frequently.  Resident agents served under the Deputy.  Between 1796 and 1841 management of relations with Native peoples was administered in Upper and Lower Canada seperately, with the exception of 1816 to 1830.
In 1841 the Governor General of the Province of Canada assumed direct oversight of the Indian Department.  In 1860 responsibility for the Department was turned over from the British Government to the individual colonies of British North America. In Canada, Indian Affairs fell under the jurisdiction of the Crown Lands Department and the commissioner of that department was appointed the Chief Superintendent of Indian Affairs. At Confederation, responsibility for Indians, and lands reserved for Indians, has been attached to an assortment of ministries.  Yet, through all this, the records have by and large traveled with the responsibility.
            

            The early records contain a considerable body of correspondence with numerous officials and other individuals.  They include:  Lieutenant Governors; the Military Secretary; Sir William Johnson; Sir John Johnson; Guy Johnson; Colonel William Claus; Lieutenant Colonel D.C. Napier; and others.  In addition to letters and copies of letters, there are petitions; instructions; reports; returns; minutes and memoranda of Indian Councils; journals of activities; census records; requisitions; commissions; general orders; claims; accounts; documents relating to land; records; and other administrative documents.            

            An inventory description and the microfilm shelf list are available in print. A number of of the internal indexes are available in print and as PDFs in the electronic finding aids section.