To any Native Americans, please help.?

Question

i have been studying my family tree and i have found out that i am a third generation Native American. on both sides of my family, and i know what tribes i'm from. but how do i go about getting solid information my heritage?

Answer 1

All you have to do is type in American Indian heritage in web search and then click you will find exactly what you need on that page.

Answer 2

3rd generation, huh?  If you are descended from American Indians then your family has been here for MANY MORE generations than 3.  I believe what you mean to say is that your grandparent may have been an American Indian.  You're on the right track, finding out which tribes you descend from.  You'll have to contact each tribe directly to see if they have any information on the family member in question.  You see, tribes are families and those who stayed with the family were recorded.  This is the only sure proof you will get: Word from the tribe stating that your ancestor was one of them.

Answer 3

The Dawes Rolls--the Final Rolls of the Citizens and Freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes in Indian Territory--cover ONLY these 5  tribes: Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw and Seminole (no other Native Tribe--like Sioux, Apache, etc--are listed here).

This site-http://www.archives.gov/genealogy/tutori... all about these rolls, who is listed, who wasn't, etc.

The Dawes Commission, named after its chairman Henry L Dawes, was appointed by President Grover Cleveland in 1893 to negotiate land with the 5 Civilized Tribes (were considered "civilized" because they had a type of governing body, laws to be obeyed, lived basically in the same area in "non-moveable" homes, etc). Tribe members were entitled to an allotment of land, in return for abolishing their tribal governments and recognizing Federal laws.

     The first application process for enrollment began in 1896, but was declared invalid. So the Dawes Commission started all over again in 1898. People had to re-apply in order to be considered, even if they had already applied in 1896.

     Those found eligible for the Final Rolls were entitled to an allotment of land, usually as a homestead. The Rolls contain more than 101,000 names from 1898-1914 (primarily from 1899-1906). They can be searched to discover the enrollee's name, s*x, blood degree, and census card number. A census card was generally accompanied by an "application jacket". The jackets then sometimes contain valuable supporting documentation, such as birth and death affidavits, marriage licenses, and correspondence.

     Today these five tribes continue to use the Dawes Rolls as the basis for determining tribal membership. They usually require applicants to provide proof of descent from a person who is listed on these rolls.

     Before you can effectively use the online index to find a person in the Final Rolls, you need to know:

        Your ancestor's name

       The name of the person's tribe  (If you do not know the person's tribe: you can look for clues in the 1900 Census. For those Indians living in predominantly Indian areas, there were special Indian schedules in the 1900 Census identifying one's tribe and parent's tribes. For those Indians living among the general population, only one's color or race was designated, such as Indian or white, etc.)

      If you DO know the individual's name and their tribe: go to the next step--Check to see if the person's Census Card is described online.

     To Look for the Dawes Census Card description online:

Go to the ARC main page

http://www.archives.gov/research/arc/

Click the YELLOW  Search button.(left side of page next to word ARC written in blue)

On the next screen, fill in the boxes as follows:

In the Keyword box, enter either the person's name, or alternatively, enter "Enrollment and " (without quotes) and the person's last name

Select 100 where it says "Limit Results to".

Hit "Go".

If your family member is listed, it will then take you to a page where you can look it up. However, if your ancestor did NOT belong to one of these 5 tribes, it will do no good to look on the Dawes Final Rolls. Even the Guion Miller Rolls of 1909 were for the Eastern Cherokees only.

Answer 4

I am not well experienced in the Native American aspects of genealogy, but the way I understand it is that to become a part of any tribe, you have to show proof that you either descend from a card-carrying tribe member or ancestors on the Dawes Rolls.

Answer 5

Each tribe should have a Vital Statistics department within their tribal governments.  I don't know what tribes you're talking about but it shouldn't be too hard to get in touch with them.  If I knew which ones I might be able to point you in the right direction.  I am of the Northern Arapaho Tribe in Wyoming and I know people within my tribal government who have connections with other tribes here in the States and in Canada.