Researching your indigenous roots may  be emotionally challenging regardless of your real motivations for doing so. You may wish to gain tribal membership, find lost relatives or just hope to learn more about your cultureal heritage. There are many paths you will need to take,  but if you have the patience, you will achieve your goals.

Before starting your research, you will need to be familiar with some recognized terms.

• HENDERSON ROLL: This is a Census Roll of Cherokee Indians East of the Mississippi for 1835. It is very difficult to read but there is an available Index.
   
• DAWES ROLL: This is a tribal membership roll created by Congress for each of the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, and Seminole tribes. The Roll was closed in 1907 with over 101,000 names but in 1914 Congress added 312 more members. If you are searching for an ancestor from one of these tribes, you must find them on the Dawes Final Roll to gain tribal membership.
   
• GUION MILLER ROLLS: This roll was completed in 1910 and lists those who were Eastern Cherokee during the Treaties of 1835-36 and 1845 or their descendants.
   
• US. FEDERAL CENSUS: The United States began taking a census in ten year increments in the year 1790. The Census Records for 1790-1850, however, did not include a category for Indians. For an Indian to be listed during those years they had to have been living in a white or black settlement and even then they would have been listed as white or black. In 1860 Indians were included in the Census but only if they paid taxes. In 1870 non-tax paying Indians were added but it wasn't until 1890 that anyone living on a reservation was added to the Census. Unfortunately, the entire 1890 Census was destroyed by fire so 1900 is the first real Census to include Indians both on and off the reservation.
   
• AGENCY ROLLS: Various reservation agents throughout the country created membership rolls for the tribes in their areas.

Beginning Your Research

 

To start your search you will need to make a list of all the names of your birth family. Begin with yourself and work back listing your parents and each of their parents and so on. When you have listed every generation you can remember, start asking everyone in your family if they can fill in any names you don't have on your list. Include any nicknames or Indian names as well. As you make your list, write down where that person was born, died, is buried or where they lived at specific times.

In your search you will most likely need to do research at the Oklahoma Historical Society's Archives. Below is a list of information that they will need to assist Since their only location is in Oklahoma City, and they are not able to do your research for you, you may have to do some traveling. It is important to make time in your schedule to be prepared when you arrive.

*** Searching the Five Tribes***

1. Which family member was Native American or living with a tribe in Indian Territory during 1900? With which tribe did he/she live? In order for a person to apply for the Dawes Roll he/she had to physically live with the tribe on tribal land. If your ancestor lived outside of the tribal area during enrollment, then he/she did not qualify for enrollment. If you have another family member who is on a tribal roll, such as an aunt or uncle, verify his/her parents names and birth places. While his/her information may not help you get on the tribal rolls it may help to fill in names or information that you did not have.If you found your ancestor on the 1900 U S Census (available in the Oklahoma Historical Society's Research Library) and he/she is listed as being white, then 99% of the time he/she will not have been enrolled in a tribe. If you found your ancestor lived in Indian Territory during 1900 then they may be listed on the 1900 Indian Territory Census-Indian Schedule located on the first floor in the Research Library.

2. The Oklahoma Historical Society's Research Library and Archives have copies of the final Dawes Roll for the Five Tribes. Once you have the name or names of your ancestors you believe to be Native American you can look them up in the final rolls. Always cross check other tribal rolls. Sometimes a person may have inadvertently ended up on a roll for the tribe that their spouse belonged to or the roll for a tribe which lived nearby.

3. If you find your ancestor on a Dawes Roll then you need to get a copy of their enrollment card. The Oklahoma Historical Society's Research Library and Archives has the Dawes Rolls, as does the Southwest Branch of the National Archives in Ft. Worth, Texas.

*** Plains and Woodland Tribes***

1. Check the 1900 U.S. Census (Oklahoma Historical Society's Research Library) for your ancestor.

2. Check the allotment rolls for your ancestor in each agency you are researching. These are available in the Archives. If you find your ancestor listed on the roll it will have a description of their allotment which you need to copy. The agency rolls may be listed by the tribal name or by the agency.

Once the information above is located, the Archives can direct you in the next step in tracing your Native American ancestor.

RESOURCES

There are innumerable resources available for researching your family roots. Below are just a few to get you started.

Archive Resources

1. ** "Native American Records. The collection contains 3.5 million documents and 6,000 volumes representing 66 of the 67 native tribes that reside in Indian Territory. (Osage records can be found at the Southwest Branch of the National Archives in Ft. Worth, TX). Other resources include the 1 12-volume Indian-Pioneer History, a collection of oral histories done by the Federal Writers Project in 1937."

2. Indian Confederate Records and Union Muster Rolls.

3. Indian Archives Index. Section "X" Vertical files include genealogies, biography files, information on Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory.
** Section X, the Archives' vertical files, contains news clippings, information on Native Americans and pioneers, and more."

4. Oral Interviews 1937-1938 and oral histories (written, oral, and video).
** "Oral histories include many subjects and individuals with over 5,000 interviews and recorded events. Extensive indexes are provided by name."

5. Manuscript collections.
** "These represent unpublished collections of public and private papers, scrapbooks, business records, collections of scholars, and more. Guides to collections and limited indexes are available."

6. Photography collections.
** "The Photographic section contains 720,000 images that range from the late 1850's to the present with many subjects represented."

7. Numerous old maps.

8. Newspaper archives from state and tribal sources. (please see listings of tribes on this page)
** "The Newspaper collection contains 28,000 reels, of microfilm on state newspapers from 1844 to the present Some indexing is available. Newspapers often are a good source for marriage and death notices."

Two Parents. Four Grandparents Eight Great-grandparents Sixteen Great-Great-grandparents Thirty-two Great-Great-Great-grandparents!

How's that for a good beginning ? You need to add to the above list - Aunts; Uncles; Cousins and Siblings of all these people and you could already have a list running into the thousands! Avoid becoming discouraged, because very few researchers achieve this goal. But if you make it something to strive for, it will benefit your work immensely.   Here is a list of the information you need:

Date of Birth (and time if poss.) Date of Christening/Baptism etc. Date of Confirmation etc. Date of marriage - also name of spouse and his/her parents names. Date of Death. Cause of Death. Date of Burial/Cremation. Copies of any Certificates.

In addition to the above, you may come across details of  where they worked; school records; addresses, or any type of information that will help you ' Try to draw a picture' of the people you are researching.  Don't forget to ask to see any old photographs your family members have in their keeping. You may be surprised to find how much information may be written on the back of these photos. Your family may let you have some of these photos for your collection. Or you may be allowed to have them copied. You may also have a scanner with your PC, so you can copy the photos, plus any documents you may come across. ( If you copy any documents such as birth certificates etc, I recommend that you print 'Scanned copy for research purposes'  at the top left hand corner or better still if your printer has a watermark feature, use this instead), you don't want to be accused of being a counterfeiter! Remember this essential advice : *  Begin with yourself and your immediate family and what you know for certain. Gather the information, papers and documents you and your immediate family have and study them. *  Work backwards, proving each step, twice if possible, purchasing copies of certificates if necessary. Don't forget, if you can borrow original certificates, you can scan or photocopy them much cheaper. *  Cross check - fill in pedigree and family group charts in pencil until you are quite sure you have all the details correct. *  Do not neglect siblings. It's not uncommon that your 5 times great grandmother had married her husbands brother after the husbands death. . *  Remember an individual may have two or three given names: and may use the last rather than the first;  may be known far and wide by a nickname that has nothing to do with any of them;  may be known by one name at home, another at school and a third in later life. Also it was not uncommon for a child to be named after a sibling that had died. Or for a person to remarry and give a name to a child, where a child from a previous marriage also has the same name ! (very confusing) *  Try and kill off all (already dead) relatives, in other words find the death date.  An ancestor without a death date is, to exaggerate only slightly, a loose cannon on the deck of family history.  Could there be another family, another career, a mystery? *  Almost certainly a skeleton or two lurks - the criminal (not just the wronged convict who made good), the illegitimate ('of course we never talked about her father'), the mentally ill ('your grandmother's Aunt Susan was always a little odd and she went to live in Alaska).  It may be fascinating to you (and explain some of those silences in your childhood), but be very careful of your relatives' feelings and privacy.  Handle the situation sensitively and you may be trusted with information in the future. *  Always remember that some of your relatives may (a) be not interested and/or (b) consider you downright nosey.  But handled carefully and respectfully they may become both interested and helpful.