Help need in Oklahoma?

Question

I am trying to help a person whose great grandparents were full blood Cherokee. He is all tha tis left of his family, and aging. He needs help with health care expenses, med., etc. He has never applied for assistance from the tribe or us governement. He cannot read. I am looking for his family under the Dawes roll, no luck. He needs assistance bad, he does odd jobs to exist. He needs help. He lived in Seminole county, OK but is Cherokee. Any sugegstions? please respond.

Answer 1

The Dawes Rolls are from 1906.  You will not find your friend's family unless you are searching for his ancestors that who were alive and in Indian Territory (before Oklahoma became Oklahoma) in 1906.  Your friend would not qualify for any programs reserved for American Indians unless he can fulfill one or both of the two following eligibility requirements:  1) Obtain a CDIB from the Bureau of Indian Affairs.  Your friend would have to provide all of the documentation (birth, death certificates, etc.) to the US Government that proves he is a descendant of an American Indian.  2) Obtain tribal citizenship/enrollment in a US federally recognized tribe.  As you've stated your friend is of Cherokee descent and from Oklahoma, the logical tribe would be the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma.  CNO requires that applicants for citizenship provide a CDIB and be a lineal descendant of a person listed on the Dawes Rolls of 1906.  Only once your friend has obtained a CDIB and/or citizenship with CNO, he will not qualify for programs and services reserved for American Indians.

Answer 2

The county welfare office and/or the Cherokee Tribal office would seem to be the two places to turn to first. If his grandparents didn't register with the tribe, you will have problems, I suspect.