Condition of Tribes by State, 1890

Alabama

Total Indian Population as of June 1, 1890

Reservation Indians, not taxed (not counted in the general census):

Males.......149
Females....235
Total.........384

Indians self-supporting, taxed (counted in the general census):

Males.......338
Females....421
Total.........759
Grand Total 1,148

The civilized (self-supporting) Indians of Alabama, counted in the general census, number 759, 338 males and 421 females, and are distributed as follows:

Autauga County, 116
Escambia County, 173
Mobile County, 4023
other counties with 8 or less in each, 68.

The mode of life of these Indians is akin to that of their neighbors of small property. Among them are the descendants of Creek, Cherokee, Chickasaw, and Mobile Indians, more or less affected by white and Negro blood.

The reservation Indians not taxed are a band known as Geronimo's band of Apaches removed from their former homes in Arizona as prisoners of war, and who, after some changes of location, were finally placed at Mount Vernon barracks, situated 28 miles north of Mobile and one-half mile from the railroad station whence the barracks takes its name. Forty-six of the original number were enlisted in Company I of the Twelfth infantry, and are on duty at the barracks.

There has been a great improvement in their condition. Each family is living in a comfortable home, they are cleanly, and have adopted the civilized style of dress. There is a good school adjacent, and children from the colony attend the school at Carlisle, Pa.

They have thriving gardens, they make baskets, and the women do washing and such work as is suitable at the post. Their surroundings indicate intelligence and industry.

Arkansas

Total                    250

Indians in prisons, not otherwise enumerated        32

Self-supporting Indians, Taxed                            218

The civilized (self-supporting) Indians of Arkansas number 218, 146 males and 72 females, and are distributed as follows: Pulaski County, 47; Sebastian County, 47; other counties with 11 or less in each, 124.

The Indians of Arkansas are mostly in a county bordering on the Indian Territory, and in the county containing the state capital.  There are not enough to form a distinctive class.

Connecticut

The civilized, (self-supporting) Indians of Connecticut, counted in the general census, number 228, 107 males and 121 females, and are distributed as follows: Fairfield County, 31; New Haven County, 25; New London County, 105; Windham County, 32; other counties with 17 or less in each, 35.

Delaware

The civilized (self-supporting) Indians of Delaware, counted in the, general census, number 4, 3 males and 1 female, and are distributed as follows: Kent County, 1; Newcastle County, 3.

District of Columbia

The civilized (self-supporting) Indians of the District of Columbia counted in the general census number 25, 13 males and 12 females.

These are Indians educated like whites, including college graduates, and some of them ate employed in the government departments.

Florida

The civilized (self-supporting) Indians of Florida, counted in the general census, number 171, 97 males and 74 females, and are distributed as follows: Brevard county, 23; Dade county, 134; other counties with 3 or less in each, 14.

There is a small remnant of the Seminoles, mainly in the swamp regions of Dade County, among whom are counted some persons of more or less Negro blood. The Indians live by hunting, fishing, and the cultivation of semitropical vegetables.

The difficulties of penetrating the swamps where they live keep up a great mystery as to these Indians and lend some persons to estimate their number as vastly greater than call be authenticated by any substantial authority.

Georgia

The, civilized (self-supporting) Indians of Georgia, counted in the general census, number 68, 30 males and 32 females, and are distributed as follows: Ware County, 14; other counties with 6 or less in each, 154.

The Indians of Georgia are principally of Cherokee descent, The number of persons with some remote trace of Indian blood, but usually known only as whites, is probably much larger than the number recognized in the census. It is to be remembered that these claims of remote Indian ancestry produce discussions and disputes which no enumerator can settle.

Illinois

Population As Of June 1, 1890.

Total 98

Indian in prison not otherwise enumerated 1
Indians self-supporting and taxed (counted in the general census) 97

The self-supporting Indians of Illinois number 97, 46 males and 51 females, and are distributed as follows: in Cook County, 20; other counties, 11 or less in each, 77.

Indiana

The civilized (self-supporting) Indians of Indiana, counted in the general census, number 343, 163 males and 180 females, and are distributed as follows: Allen County, 26; Grant County, 48; Miami County, 97; Wabash County, 94; other counties, 10 or less in each, 78.

Of the people counted as Indians there are probably more descendants of the Miamis than of any other tribe. There is a school for Indians at Wabash with an average attendance of about 75, and a school at Rensselaer with an average attendance of about 40.

Kentucky

The civilized (self-supporting) Indians of Kentucky, counted in the general census, number 71 (41 males and 30 females), and are distributed as follows:
Floyd County, 14; Jefferson County, 14; other counties (10 or less in each), 43.

Louisiana

Indian Population as of June 1, 1890

Total 628
Indian in prisons, not otherwise enumerated 1
Indians off reservations, self-supporting and taxed. (counted in the general census) 627

The civilized (self-supporting) Indians of Louisiana, counted in the general census, number 627 (335 males and 292 females), and are distributed as follows:

Avoyelles Parish, 47; Calcasieu Parish, 148; Catahoula, Parish, 34; Orleans Parish, 21; St. Landry Parish, 120; St. Mary Parish, 32; St. Tammany Parish, 60; Terrebonne Parish, 55; other parishes (14 or less in each), 110.

In Louisiana are a few descendants of Caddos, Alabamas, Biloxis and others, mostly of various degrees of mixed blood.

Maine

The civilized (self-supporting) Indians of Maine, counted in the general census, number 559 (299 males and 260 females), and are distributed as follows:
Aroostook County, 24; Penobscot County, 387; Piscataquis County, 37; Washington County, 89; other counties (9 or less in each), 22.

The United States has no dealings with the Indians of Maine as tribes.

The Penobscot Indians have their headquarters at Old Town and dwell chiefly along the Penobscot river in the county of the same name.

The state of Maine has an agent for them, and the state treasurer reports $11,026.70 paid out on their account in 1800, of which 82,982 was for shore rents. They are generally of the Roman Catholic faith. Their children attend schools under the town authorities and there is one school under the Sisters of Charity. They carry on a limited agriculture, receiving a bounty from the state for produce.

The Penobscot Indians received in the aggregate in 1890 bounties of $200 for the following numbers of bushels of articles named: potatoes, 2,244; beans, 154; pease, 28; oats, 510; barley, 45; buckwheat, 35; root crops, 212. A large part of the tribe goes to summer resorts to sell baskets and other articles of their manufacture.

The young men find profitable employment in lumbering, and are esteemed as excellent river drivers.
The state agent notes ninny signs of improvement among them. Ile considers their love for intoxicating drink the greatest enemy these Indians have, and recommends the appointment of a constable among them to arrest drunken and disorderly persons. These Indians elect a representative in the state legislature.

The Passamaquoddy Indians have a state agent at Calais on the extreme east side of the state. Their condition is similar to that of the Penobscot Indians. The state treasurer reports $10,097.90 expended on their account in 1890, of which $131.36 was paid as bounty for crops.

There-was an unusual prevalence of influenza, or the grip, among them in 1890.

The United States census of Indians in Penobscot county, taken in June, and the state Census of the tribe, taken in January, differ but 10. The state recognizes as Passamaquoddy Indians more than the United States enumerators counted in the state as Indians aside from Penobscot Indians. The dates of enumeration and other circumstances were not identical in the national and state enumerations, but part of the variation is apparently due to counting certain persons as whites in the national census whom the state recognizes as inheriting rights as Indians.

Maryland

The civilized (self-supporting) Indians of Maryland, counted in the general census, number 44 (9 males and 35 females), and are distributed as follows:

Cecil County, 23; other counties (10 or less in each), 21.

Massachusetts

Indian Population as of June 1, 1890

Total 428
Indians in prisons not otherwise enumerated 4
Indians off reservations, self-supporting and taxed (counted in the general census) 424

The civilized (self-supporting) Indians of Massachusetts, counted in the general census, number 424 (222 males and 202 females), and are distributed as follows:

Barnstable County, 146; Dukes County, 133; Middlesex, County 19; Plymouth County, 27; Suffolk County, 29; Worcester County, 21; other counties (13 or less in each), 49.

The Indians of southern New England are mainly descendants of the tribes that inhabited the region when the white people mile, and some of them inherit legal claims by reason of Indian blood; but to the casual observer there is often little in their appearance to distinguish them from hunters and fishers of the neighboring population, toward whom they have been assimilating in blood and in habits.

Descendants of the Wampanoag Indians, as many consider them, form a quiet community at Gay Head, on the western part of the island of Marthas Vineyard. They are sailors and fishermen with their white neighbors. A few Negroes and some Portuguese have been absorbed in the community. The use of Indian words even has almost disappeared, English being used by all.

On the mainland, in Barnstable County, are those of similar tribal ancestry, sometimes known as Mashpee Indians. Occasionally one of these Indians has been elected to the state legislature.

Mississippi

The civilized (self-supporting) Indians of Mississippi, counted in the general census, number 2,030 (1,044 males and 992 females), and are distributed as follows:

Attala County, 24; Greene County, 37; Hancock County, 39; Hinds County, 14; Jasper County, 179; Kemper County, 34; Lauderdale County, 14; Leake County, 435; Neshoba, County, 623; Newton County, 349; Perry County, 38; Scott County, 123; Sharkey County 12; Winston County, 41; other counties (9 or less in each), 74.

To the east of the gate capital in Mississippi in the uplands are a number of counties not traversed by any railroad, and therefore locally known as cow counties from their dependence for communication on roads and trails, suggestive of cow paths. The greater part of the Indians of the state are out in contiguous cow counties. They are remnants of The Five Civilized Tribes, mainly Choctaws, descendants in part of those who originally were found in this region and did not go west of the Mississippi river, and partly representing those who from time to, time have returned from the west.

These people generally own little patches of a few acres, which they cultivate and add to their means of living by working for others, hunting, and some simple handicraft. In the spring they go into the larger towns to dispose of such pelts as they may have collected and sell baskets made in considerable numbers from the cane. White, boys in the towns at the season are generally supplied with blowguns, made by these Indians from the hollow cane stems, and furnished with darts fitted with feathers or cotton down. Wild blackberries for a few weeks are important to them for food and for a little addition to their money by sales. With a few horses, cows, goats, and domestic fowls these people manage to maintain a simple living, paying little attention to church or school and speaking English to but a limited extent.

Missouri

Indian Population as of June 1, 1800.
Total 128
Indian in prison, not otherwise enumerated 1
Indians, self-supporting and taxed (counted in the general census) 127

The civilized (self-supporting) Indians of Missouri, counted in the general census, number 197 (69 males and 58 females), and are distributed as follows:

Jasper County, 13; McDonald County, 10; Newton County, 10; St. Louis city, 31; other counties (8 or less in each,) 63.

A few Indians are living like whites in the counties adjacent to Indian Territory, and a few are in miscellaneous, occupations in the city of St. Louis.

New Hampshire

The civilized (self-supporting) Indians of New Hampshire, counted in the general census, number 16 (13 males and 3 females), and are distributed as follows:

Coos County, 7; other counties (5 or less in each), 9.

New Jersey

The civilized (self-supporting) Indians of New Jersey, counted in the general census, number 84 (47 males and 37 females), and are distributed as follows:

Burlington County, 15; Mercer County, 19; Monmouth County, 18; other counties (7 or less in each), 32.

Ohio

Indian Population as June 1, 1890

Total 206

The civilized (self-supporting) Indians of Ohio, counted in the general census, number 193 (119 males and 74 females), and are distributed as follows:

Franklin County, 14; Hamilton County, 14; Highland County, 22; Paulding county, 18; Washington County, 18; other counties (9 or less in each), 107.

Pennsylvania

Indian Population As Of June 1, 1890.
Total 1,081

The civilized (self-supporting) Indians of Pennsylvania, counted in the general census, number 083 (590 males and 393 females), and arc distributed as follows:
Bucks County, 166; Chester County, 30; Cumberland County, 370; Delaware County, 13; McKean County, 44; Montgomery County, 17; Philadelphia County, 258; other counties (10 or less in each), 85.

There are 11 Onondagas and 87 Senecas on the Cornplanter reservation, Warren County, adjacent to Allegany, Seneca reservation, New York. The conditions of the Indians are similar to those of the Six Nations of New York, with whom they belong. Some particulars regarding them will be found in the discussion of the Six Nations under New York.

The Indian training school at Carlisle is an outgrowth, in a measure, of the Hampton institute at Hampton, Virginia, where Negroes and Indians have been educated together.

The Carlisle training school has become the largest of all schools of its kind; if in fact there are others organized so closely on its pattern as to be comparable with it. Various industries are taught to those of both sexes brought from their tribal homes. The enrollment in 1890 was given as 789. There is also Lincoln institution in Philadelphia, reporting an enrollment of 216. These Indians are in part counted with the reservations, which are considered as their homes.

Rhode Island

The civilized (self-supporting) Indians of Rhode Island, counted in the general census, number 180 (96 males and 84 females), and are distributed as follows:

Newport County, 9; Providence County, 60; Washington County, 111.

The Indians on Block Island, Rhode Island, are a remnant of the Narragansetts, as are some of those in the rest of the state.  They have intermarried with the whites, some of them with Negroes.  They till the soil and engage in ordinary labor.  Since their first contact with the whites the life of these people has been in the main as uneventful as that of the other Indians of the New England coast and the adjacent Long Island; they have a history that is not without interest and connection with the settlement of the island by the white people who colonized Rhode Islend.

South Carolina

The civilized (self-supporting) Indians of South Carolina, counted in the general census, number 173 (82 males and 91 females), and are distributed as follows:

Charleston County. 47; Colleton County, 15; Marion County, 21; York County, 61; Other counties (7 or less in each), 29.

West Virginia

The civilized (self-supporting) Indians of West Virginia, counted in the general census, number 9 (6 males and 3 females), and are distributed as follows:

Berkeley County, 1; Lewis County, 7; Nicholas County, 1.

11th US Indian Census

Notes About the Book:

Source: Source: Report on Indians Taxed and Indians not Taxed in the United States, Except Alaska at the Eleventh Census: 1890, Department of the Interior, Government Printing Office, Washington DC., 1894

Online Publication: The manuscript was scanned and then ocr'd. Minimal editing has been done, and readers can and should expect some errors in the textual output. Several spellings have been used for the same tribe of Indians.

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