Base Roll for the United Keetowah Band
The United Keetowah Band of Cherokee Indians
was gracious enough to allow us the right to
link to their site’s PDF database of their
tribal base roll.
Dawes Rolls
This is a link to the U.S. National Archives
& Records Administration’s Archival Research
Catalog (ARC) index to the Final Dawes
Rolls. Many tribes use the Dawes Rolls as
their base roll for enrollment.
Guion Miller Roll
This is a link to the U.S. National Archives
& Records Administration’s Archival Research
Catalog (ARC) index to the Guion Miller
Rolls. Although some non-federally
recognized tribes may use the Guion Miller
Roll as their base roll for enrollment, many
researchers and genealogists use this roll
for assistance in researching the Dawes
Rolls.
National Cherokee Microfilm Records Index
For Records Held In The Fort Worth, Texas
National Archives Depository
Many Cherokee records that are housed by the
U.S. National Archives & Records
Administration can be found in the Forth
Worth, Texas depository. This link gives the
year(s), description, and roll number(s)
that each record covers.
USGen Web Cherokee Census Project
This site is a listing of many rolls of
interest for Cherokee genealogical
researchers. There are very few viewable
images and/or transcriptions of the rolls or
their indexes. However, this site is working
on making the rolls viewable in either PDF
or transcription form. What can be gleaned
from this site is the Reel # information so
that you can go to the appropriate records
holder(s) and see actual microfilm of the
roll you are interested in viewing.
1860 Census Article
This site takes you to an article written by
James P. Collins and published in Prologue,
a periodical published by the U.S. Archives
& Records Administration. In this article,
Mr. Collins talks about how many historians
and genealogists mistakenly state that the
1870 Census was the first Census to list
citizens as “Indian”.
1814 Cherokee Muster Roll from the Battle of
Horseshoe Bend
This link takes you to a PDF image of the
Muster Roll of the field and staff of a
Cherokee regiment commanded by Colonel
Gideon Morgan. This division was under a
broader division commanded by Jackson to
fight off the Creeks.
1817 Cherokee Reservation Roll Applicant
Index
This roll concerns a 640 acre parcel in
relation of the removing a group of Native
American Cherokees to Arkansas pursuant to
Article 8 of the Cherokee Treaty of 1817.
The original deal cut with these Cherokees
was to vest the property into their custody
until death. When a person died, their share
of the land would revert back to the state.
Many of these people never got the land
promised to them. This site has merely
transcribed the names of people requesting
this deal. The site is presently working on
a list of the people that actually received
the benefits (i.e., land) from this removal
deal cut by the government. Please note that
only the names are listed. There is no other
information listed as to age, sex, nativity,
blood quantum, or other important data.
1880 Cherokee Census
This link is a partial transcription of
Schedule One , including all nine districts,
of the Census of 1880 that was authorized by
an act of the Cherokee National Council
Senate Bill No. 33 on December 1, 1879.
1890 Wallace Roll of Cherokee Freedmen in
Indian Territory
This link is a transcription of the names of
Cherokee freedmen who were entitled to a
$75,000 per capita distribution, with the
Shawnee and Delaware, by means of an
appropriations act of Congress in October of
1888. The actual rolls are held by the U.S.
Archives & Records Administration.
Cherokees, Choctaw, Chickasaw and Creek 1896
Applications
This site is quick to point out that this is
not a transcription of the 1896 Census Rolls
but rather this is a list of people that had
originally not been recognized by the
Cherokee Nation and were thus now making
application for citizenship pursuant to the
Act of 1896. Therefore, if your ancestor was
on the 1896 Cherokee Census, then he/she
will not be on this list.
1897 Kern-Clifton Roll of Cherokee Freemen
This link is a transcription of the names of
Cherokee freedmen, and their descendants,
concerning a legal case between the Cherokee
Nation and the United States. Persons found
on this roll were determined by the United
States Government to be Cherokees that were
entitled to benefits from the U.S. Court of
Claims case.
Minor Children Cherokee Freedman Final Roll
This is a transcription of a portion of The
Final Roll of Citizens & Freedmen of the
Five Civilized Tribes. This source gives the
name of the child, age, gender, and census
card number. Ages given were calculated to
March 4, 1907.
"LOST" Cherokees in Florida
A
1930s article concerning a traveling nurse's
find of a group of Cherokee that were living
near Perdido River in Esacambia County, FL.
Special thanks goes out to the
Pensacola News
Journal for giving
us permission to electronically display this
article of theirs on our site.
HESTER ROLL (Index c. 1884)
Joseph G. Hester prepared this roll of the
Eastern Band of Cherokee in 1883. Copies of
the previous census were made available to
Hester and he was required to account for
all persons on the previous rolls by either
including them on the new roll, noting their
deaths on the old rolls or describing their
whereabouts as unknown either to Mr. Hester
or any of the Cherokees. This roll lists
2,956 persons residing in North Carolina,
Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina,
Virginia, Illinois, Kansas, Colorado,
Kentucky, New Jersey, and California. Those
living west of the Mississippi and listed by
Mr. Hester were descendants of members of
the Eastern Band and apparently had no
affiliation with the Cherokee Nation in the
west. Information includes ancestors,
Chapman Roll Number, age, Christian name,
and Cherokee name.
Legal
Cherokee Treaty of 1791
This is a transcription of the Cherokee
Treaty of 1791
Cherokee Treaty of 1785
This is a transcription of the Cherokee
Treaty of 1785.
Cherokee Treaty of 1817
This is a transcription of the Cherokee
Treaty of 1817. The deal brokered for a 640
acre parcel of land in Arkansas is in direct
relation to Article 8 of this treaty. It
should go without saying that, like with
almost all other American Indian treaties,
many of the Cherokee people that this treaty
covered did not receive the benefits
promised to them by the United States
Government.
Cherokee Land Cessions and Treaties
A very informative site that not only has a
map of what lands were ceded over to the
government by the Cherokees but also in what
treaty the lands were ceded over by. This
site only covers the Southeastern United
States. A wonderful resource for anyone
interested in the immense size of the
original Cherokee nation that once covered
over 7 of our contemporary states.
Certificate of Degree of Indian or Alaska
Native Blood (CDIB) Card Overview
This is a basic overview, written by an
unverified source, on how one is to obtain a
CDIB Card. The CDIB is viewed by many to be
a racist relic of government bureaucracy.
Nevertheless, the CDIB Card is still used
today for enrollment and benefits dispersion
purposes by both Federally recognized tribes
as well as Federal agencies. The CDIB,
alone, does not necessarily entitle you to
enrollment into any one tribe/band nor does
it specifically entitle you to any Federal
or State benefits for Native American
Indians. Since this site is written by an
unverified source, the viewer is strongly
urged to specifically address any questions
of procedure or requirement, in regards to
obtaining a CDIB Card, to the Bureau of
Indian Affairs. For any questions of
procedure, enrollment, or requirement of a
specific American Indian tribe/band, the
viewer is strongly urged to directly contact
that tribe/band.
Indian Laws and Treaties Index
This is a basic index to various laws and
treaties relating to American Indians. No
actual laws or treaties are viewable in
transcribed or PDF form. Rather, this is
merely a listing of where these resources
may be found at the library of Oklahoma
State University.
Indian Arts and Crafts Act
This site takes you to a digitally
transcribed version of the original Indian
Arts and Crafts Act of 1935. With this
transcription are links to the side for the
Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990, Final
Regulations for the Act of 1990, Indian Arts
and Crafts Enforcement Act of 2000, and much
much more.
American Indian Religious Freedom Act of
1976
This is a scanned image of the transcribed
version of American Indian Religous Freedom
Act of 1976 (AIRFA). The AIRFA was intended
to protect the American Indian’s
Constitutional, as well as often
treaty-protected, rights to the Freedom of
Religion. These rights were often trumped by
the wishes of the state and federal
government. The goal of the AIRFA was to
rectify this problem.
American Indian Religious Freedom Act
Article
This article talks specifically about the
American Indian Religious Freedom Act of
1976 (AIRFA) and how the AIRFA has played
out, over time, in the court systems as well
as with various federal and state agencies.
This is a great introductory piece for those
who are interested in how American Indians
have been denied basic Constitutional
rights.
Native American Graves Protection and
Reparation Act Article
This article talks specifically about the
Native American Graves Protection and
Reparation Act of 1990 (NAGPRA) and how it
relates to the protection of grave sites and
the return of remains to tribal entities.
This is a great introductory piece for those
who are interested in historic preservation
relating to American Indian burial sites and
remains.
Treaty of New Echota
This is a transcription of the Treaty of New
Echota, a particularly heinous treaty in
that it was made between the U.S. Government
and a handful of Cherokees who had not
authority from the tribe to make any binding
treaty or pact. When the tribe found out
about the treaty, John Ross, the rightful
chief of the tribe, organized a group and
petitioned the government to reject the
treaty and the provisions made unto it. As
is par with the federal government, Congress
and the Supreme Court turned a deaf ear to
the truth and the treaty became a binding
document that ultimately forced thousands of
Cherokees from their God-given homes on a
trail of sickness, death and despair known
today simply as the “Trail of Tears”.
