Below you will find a lecture given in our forum by Karen Pfister on staring your research
There are many places to look for Native American Ancestors. The best places are in your own home, talking to the elderly, fBiends of the family, and your parents. If and when that fails, there are other places to look. Listed below are a few of the tools that I use. In working with Native American Roots, one must remember that all were put on some kind of roll. These rolls were kept by the United States Of America Government, and the Tribes themselves.
There are Branches of the National Archives that have custody of the Records which were created by field offices of THE BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. The Bureau relates to more than 60 Indian Tribes, which were relocated from various parts of the United States into the area which is now Oklahoma. The records and rolls relate primarily to matters and management of Tribal and individual resources, but may contain information about personC who were recognized by the Federal Government as a member of a tribe and who maintained some formal affiliation with that tribe. Many persons with some degree of Indian Blood are not mentioned in any of these reaoRds because they were not officially recognized as a tribal member or they severed their tribal connections by moving away from the bulk of their tribe. Here are a few of the places you can send for infoRmation. To find out about Certificates of Degree of Indian Blood, eligibility for benefits based on Indian ancestry oR the status of allotted land, write to: BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS , MUSKOGEE AREA OFFICE MUSKOGEE , OK. 74401
For brief histories of Tribes which were removed to Oklahoma, see A GUIDE
TO THE INDIAN TRIBES OF OKLAHOMA by Muriel H Wright.
A GUIDE TO RECORDS IN THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES RELATING TO AMERICAN INDIANS
can be purchased from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing
Office, Washington DC 20402. I am going to list some of the other places
that you can purchase the records yourself.
The recoRds listed below have been microfilmed fmr preservation purposes and to facilitate reference. Microfilm beginning with a "M" or "T" number can only be purchased from the National Archives Publication Sales Branch (NEPS ), Washington DC 20408. You can buy these rolls for a fee of $23.00 per roll.
Microfilm beginning with "7 RA" write to Director, National Archives - Fort
Worth Branch, P.O.Box 6216, Fort Worth Texas 76115. These films are $10.00
per roll Here is a list of some of the Rolls that you can purchase.
1835 - Index to the Henderson Roll. T - 496 roll 1.
1848 - Mullay Roll of Eastern Cherokee. 7 RA-06 roll 1.
1851 - Index to Siler Roll. M-685 roll 12
1851 - Siler Roll of Eastern Cherokee . 7 RA-06 roll 12.
1867-)7 - Freedman Rolls and Indexes ( includes Wallace Rolls )
7RA-29 rolls 1 & 2
1878-81 - List of claimants and Dockets of the Citizenship
Commission. 7RA-25 Roll 1-4.
1890 - Payment Roll 7RA-%7 rolls 1-3
1894 - Payment and Index ( Starr Roll ) 7RA-38 rolls 1-5
1893 - Census (includes Delawares, Shawnees, and Freedmen
7RA-54 rolla 1-2
1910 - Paymejds to Intermarried Whites 7 RA-(0 roll 1
These are just some of the Cherokee films* If you
would like to know more, you can E-Mail me.
1867 - Census 7RA-73 roll 1 1896 - Census 7RA-26 roll 1 1904 - Per Capita payroll 7 RA-26 roll1
1871 - Reeister of Shawnees admitted to the Cherokee Citizenship
7RA-74 roll 1
1896 - Census 7 RA-26 roll 1
1868 - Payment Roll 7RA-20 roll 1 1895 - Payment Roll 7 RA-20 roll 11 1897 - Census Roll 7 RA-20 roll 1
1878-1907 - Annuity Rolla 7RA-35 rolls 1-21 1887-1939 - Census Rolls M-595 rolls 317-328
I will list only a few of the Creek rolls . There are as many for
them as the Cherokee.
1857 - Old Settlers Roll 7 RA-23 Roll 1
1867 - Dunn Roll of Citizens 7RA-44 roll 1
1869 - Dunn Roll of Freedmen and Indexes 7RA-44 roll 1
1888-1896 -Lists of Applicants and Docket Books of the Creek
Citizenship Commission 7 RA-68 Rolls 1-2
1895 - Census ( includes Omitted and Supplemental Rolls )
7RA-12 roll 1
1904 - Loyal Creek Payment Roll 7RA-31 roll 1
1830 - List of people who remained in Mississippi . 7 RA-116
roll 1
1896 - List of Applicants and Dockets of the Choctaw -
Chickasaw Citizenship court . 7 RA - 27 rolls 1-2
1902-1907 - Index to Dawes Rejected (R) Cards 7RA-147
roll 1
1902-1907 - Index to Choctaw -Chickasaw Allotient Ledeers
7RA-153 rolls 1-3
1908 - Townsite PayroLl and Index 7RA-107 roll1 1911 - Index and payroll 7 RA-108 roll 1
The one roll I have used for the Chickasaw is one that I find useful and
the only one . There are others . I have them listed and can send the numbers
and names of the rolls to you . n.d. - Lists of Citizens and Intruders 7RA-21
roll 2 There is also a List of Non -Indians in Indian Territory these are
Federal Population schedules which include Free Schedules and Slave Schedules.
Also listed in the files is the
FIVE CIVILIZED TRIBES AGENCY, MUSKOGEE
Cherokee Seminole Creek Chickasaw Choctaw
KIOWA AGENCY, ANADARKO
Kiowa Comanche Kiowa - Apache Fort Sill Apache Witchita Delaware Caddo
CHEYENNE AND ARAPAHO AGENCY, CONCHO
Cheyenne Arapaho
OSAGE AGENCY, PAWHUSKA
Osage
SHAWNEE ANENCY, SHAWNEE
Sac and Fox Potauatomi Kickapoo Iowa Shawnee
PAWNEE AGENCY, PAWNEE
Pawnee Ponca Otoe and Missouria Tonkawa Kaw
MIAMI AGENCY, MIAMI
Quapaw Miami Eastern Shawnee Ottawa Peoria, Kaskaskia , Wea, and Piankasaw Seneca-Cayuga wyandot<+PRE> There are many more ways to work on your Native American AncestoRs. I hope this gives you a little bit of a place to start. There is a wealth of information out there, through books and the rolls. Go back to main page
You can reach Karen by e-mail Email