In 1930 there were 398 members of the Ponca Tribe that fell under the jurisdiction of the Yankton Agency. Most of them still resided within the Ponca Reservation in South Dakota, but some had moved elsewhere and are so indicated within the actual census images. What I have extracted for you are a list of names, sex, and ages of each enumerated Ponca Indian. This census was taken from on June 1, 1930. For the most part I was able to read the names well. Since the government used old typewriters the e would often become filled and look more like an o then an e. I used best guess judgement in these cases, but welcome correction within the comments at the bottom of this page. Reading dates was a different matter. A filled in 5 could easily be transposed as a 6. In each case I tried my best to decipher, and in one (Frederick Baker) annotated my doubts in the notes.
Complete Ponca families were often not listed within the rolls, as a spouse of a tribal member did not gain tribal membership, and as such would not be listed, their children did. Often, children are listed by themselves and I can only deduce that their parent(s) by which they claimed descent were no longer alive.
A few notes about the transcription from R. E. L. Daniel, the enumerator:
- Wardship indicated on this census is based on ownership of individual property held in trust.
- Numbers
17, 134, 176, 177 and 378 omitted. - Numbers 93a replaced 17, 215a replaced 134, and 215b replaced 176, therefor the last number on this roll should be 398.
- 1929 census gave total as 390 which is in error. The correct number is 389, and 389 is used in the Census Recapulation Sheet
This transcription came from the images of the free US Indian census rolls. Specifically it came from:
- 1930-1931 Yankton Agency Census
You will want to search or scroll through the table below to see if your ancestor is listed before running off and viewing the image. If your ancestor is listed below, then you will want to use the images to find your ancestors as what I have below is only a portion of the information available in the actual census. Other items include blood quantum, address, and marital status.
Ponca 1930 Census
[box]Source: National Archives Microfilm Publications, Microcopy Number 595. Roll 688, Indian Census Rolls, 1930, 1931, Yankton Agency (Ponca, Santee, and Yankton Sioux Indians).[/box]
