Aboriginal Peoples — File and Item Descriptions

Introduction

Aboriginal Peoples-File and Item Descriptions is a research guide for people interested in descriptions of selected federal government textual records relating to the Indian and Inuit Affairs Program sous-fonds and the Department of the Interior fonds.

The record descriptions were formerly available in the MINISIS databases FIND010, FINDS10, and FIND015 of the Government Archives Division; they are now available through our online research tool Archives Search. These selections relate to all record groups, including Record Group (RG) 10/R216 (Indian and Inuit Affairs Program sous-fonds) and RG 15/R190 (Department of the Interior fonds). Not all records of these two agencies in Library and Archives Canada custody are described.

You can search for these records using the following search options in the drop-down list of the Archives Advanced Search screen:

• Former archival reference number (formerly the record group number and series number)
• Microfilm reel number
• Volume number
• File number
• Item number
• Title (of the file or item)
• Date(s)
• Notes
• Finding aid number
• Subject heading

Researchers should bear in mind that descriptions vary according to the type of record described. While the majority of records in this database are described to the file level, some also exist in other forms (e.g., chronologically arranged correspondence, letterbooks, accounts, paylists, reports, journals, registers). Accordingly, not all search options noted above may be relevant to every record found through Archives Search.

Indian and Inuit Affairs Program sous-fonds (RG 10/R216)

Archives Search contains descriptions of all series in RG 10/R216:

• A.
• Administrative Records of the Imperial Government, 1677-1864
• - A-1 to A-6

• B.
• Ministerial Administrative Records, ca. 1680-1989
• - B-1 to B-8

• C-I
• Superintendency Records, 1809-1976
• - C-I-1 to C-I-9

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• C-IIC
• ommissioners' Records, 1883-1964
• - C-II-1to C-II-2

• C-IV
• Regional Office Records, 1818-1992
• - C-IV-3

• C-VI
• Agency Records, 1812-1979
• - Records descriptions are included for the following agencies: Alert Bay (Kwawkewlth), Assiniboine, Athabaska, Babine (part only), Battleford (part only), Bella Coola (part only), Birtle, Blackfoot, Blood, Caradoc, Carlton (part only), Clandeboye, Cowichan (part only), Duck Lake (part only), Edmonton, File Hills-Qu'Appelle (part only), Fisher River (part only), Fort McMurray, Fort Smith (part only), Hobbema, Kamloops (part only), Kenora, Kootenay, Lake Simcoe (part only), Macleod, Manitowapah (part only), Nass, New Brunswick North East, New Westminster (part only), Norway House, Nova Scotia, Peace Hills, Peigan, Pelly (part only), Portage La Prairie, Port Arthur, Queen Charlotte, Saddle Lake, Sarcee, Saugeen, Six Nations, Skeena River, Stuart Lake (part only), The Pas (part only), West Coast.

• D.
• Indian Land Records, 1680-1969
• - D-1 to D-13

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For further information relating to these series and access to digitized files, please consult the series-level descriptions in Archives Search for RG 10 (Indian and Inuit Affairs Program sous-fonds).

Researchers who are unsure of the name of the Indian Affairs field office that was responsible for the band or reserve they are searching for, or who wish to identify alternative spellings of band or reserve names should consult the Bands and Agencies section.

The majority of the records described in this guide are available on microfilm; where a microfilm reel number is cited, the reel may be available to be borrowed on the researcher's behalf by a local library or archives that participates in the inter-institutional loan system. When ordering microfilm, quote the specific reel number(s) provided in the database.

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Archives Search contains descriptions of all series in RG 15/R190:

• D-II-1
• Dominion Lands Branch Correspondence,
• Headquarters, 1871-1946

• D-II-2
• Manitoba Act Files, 1873-1881

• D-II-3
• Half-Breed Files, 1885-1887

• D-II-8-a
• Affidavits, 1875-1877

• D-II-8a
• Affidavits, 1870-1885

• D-II-8-b
• Applications, 1885

• D-II-8-c
• Applications, 1886-1906

• D-II-8-d
• Applications, 1921-1925

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For further information relating to these series, see the Métis Scrip Records guide.

While many records pertaining to RG 10 are open to unrestricted research, others can be made available only under terms consistent with the Access to Information Act or the Privacy Act. Access to records pertaining to RG 15 is not restricted by either of these Acts.

For more information about the items described in the guide, please note the full reference of the item of interest before contacting Reference Services at Library and Archives Canada.