Working with land records on reservations 1887-1934. How can I get ethnicity/citizenship records for land owners?

I am working on a historical project involving land sales and homestead records on reservation land 1887-1934. We’re focused on specific reservations in Nebraska, North Dakota, and Montana. I need to access census records for specific reservations (and/or specific townships on the reservations). We’re specifically looking for citizenship (and country from which immigrated), race/ethnicity, and gender of land holders.

The following variables available within IPUMS maybe of use to you. The CITIZEN and OWNERSHIP variables are available in all 1990, 1910, 1920, and 1930 samples. The RACE, SEX, and NATIVITY variables are available in 1880, 1890, 1910, 1920, and 1930. For additional or more detailed information for this range of years you may want to inquire with a US Census Research Data Center.

I hope this helps.

Thank you! My other question is about how to access data for non-Indian homesteaders/land-ownders census records on Indian reservation land. It seems that there is no geographic variable for reservation land between 1880-1930. Is there a way to work around this?

I’m not sure about the best way to do what you are describing here. You are correct that the HOMELAND variable is not available in 1880-1930. I’m not certain of where to go from here. It may be worthwhile, however, reaching out to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, as they may have useful information and resources available.