Guide to Native American Research

Representing federal correspondence and documents from the early republic, the Papers of the War Department contains over 2,000 documents pertaining to federal relations with more than forty Native American tribes. Finding a specific item on the site can be difficult without knowing the full scope of the collection or how individual documents are described. To assist researchers of Native American history, we compiled a list of nations and tribes, with all known variations of spelling, mentioned in the documents of the PWD (see below).

The list below is meant to be used as initial search terms. To achieve the best results, perform an advanced search and browse documents for places associated with the tribe of interest during the late 18th century. To get an idea of what locations would be associated with a tribe on PWD, browse the “Notable Location” field of a specific document. For example, the document “Speech to the Five Nations of Indians at Philadelphia” lists “Philadelphia: Ohio; River Fort McIntosh; and Muskinghum” as notable places.

List of Native American Nations on PWD
Each grouping includes all known variations of tribal/nation names within the collection for locating documents on each specific tribe. This list includes plural spellings only when the tribe cannot be found under the singular. Assume a plural search will be needed. Some of the below names/spellings may yield similar or same documents.

• Five Nations
• Mohawk
• Oneida
• Onondaga, Onandaga, Onondago, Onondagoes
• Cayuga, Cayoga, Cuyahuga
• Seneca, Senaca, Seneka, Senecas of the Glaize
• Six Nations
• Tuscorora, Tuscarora, Tuscarawas
• Seven Nations, Seven Villages, Anishanabea
• (Mississauga) Mississaga, Massasauga, Messagues, Messassagues
• Creeks, Creek Nation
• Iroquois
• Piaukonohou
• Delaware, Delaware Nation
• Moravian
• Lenape
• Munsee, Munsey
• Mohicans
• Connoy
• Nanticoke, Nantakokies, (Wantikokes?)
• Mingo, Mingoes
• Chippewa, Chippawa, Chipewa, Chipeewas
• Potawatomi, Potawatami, Pattawatamie, Poutawatomie, Putawatomie, Pottawatamies, Pouttawatamies, Potowatomies, Potawatomies, Potawatimes, Potawanamees, Pattawatamies
• Sioux
• Catawba
• Muscogee, Muskogee
• Natchez (search within persons/groups)
• Chickamauga, Chiccamaga
• Chickasaw, Chicasaw
• Cherokee
• Miami, Miamies
• Choctaw, Chocktaw
• Weas, Weeas, Oiatanon, Ouiatenon
• Kaskaskia
• Peoria, Peorians
• Cahokia
• Kickapoo, Kikapoo
• Eel River
• Piankashaw, Piankishaw, Piankeshaw
• Musquitoes
• Wyandot, Huron
• Ojibwa
• Weachtenos
• Ottawa
• Shawnee, Shawanese, Shawanesse, Shawnese, Shawanee, Shawanoe, Shawenesse, Chanuanan, Chaouanon, Chanianons
• Sauk, Sacs

If you have found any tribes or variation in spelling not mentioned here, please send us an email: info@wardepartmentpapers.org