United States, Native American, Five Civilized Tribes Enrollment Records, 1898-1914

What is in This Collection?

This collection includes records pertaining to the Five Civilized Tribes (Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, and Seminole). These records are available due to the Dawes Act of February 8, 1887 in which a federal commission was created to produce citizenship rolls for the tribes. This collection includes records such as applications to join the tribes, lists of freedmen, enrollments of newborns and minors, enrollments due to intermarriage, and more. Please note that there may be several images relating to a single person. It is important to scroll through several images before and after each record to find all of the associated images. This collection is associated with NARA microfilm publication M1301 and NAID number 617283. This index covers the collection titled "Applications for Enrollment of the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes, 1898-1914" which was created by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. It is housed by the National Archives and Record Administration, Fort Worth, Texas. The NARA publication number for that collection is M1301.

A Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes: Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Seminole, also called the Dawes Commission after its chairman, Senator Dawes, was established by Congress in 1893. Its purpose was to exchange Indian tribal lands in the southeastern United States for new land allotments to individuals in Oklahoma. More than 250,000 people applied to this commission for enrollment and land. Just over 100,000 were approved. The rolls do not include the applications that were rejected, stricken, or judged to be doubtful. Those found eligible for the final rolls were entitled to an allotment of land, usually as a homestead. These records were created to provide a final list of those individuals who were enrolled as members of the Five Civilized Tribes (Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, and Seminole). Additional records and/or images may be added to this collection in the future.

Related Articles

• John P. Deeben. Native American on the Trail of Tears: Part 1 - Census rolls relating to Indian removals, 1817-1857 NGS Magazine 39 #3 (July-September, 2013): 38-42. FS Library 973 D25ngs
• John P. Deeben. Native Americans on the Trail of Tears: Part II - Emigration Lists and Reservation Applications, 1817-57 NGS Magazine 39 #4 (October-December, 2013): 37-40. FS Library 973 D25ngs

What Can These Records Tell Me?

The following information may be found in these records:

Collection Content

Sample Images

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  1899 Birth Affidavit of Infant Applicant of Choctaw Tribe

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  1901 Examination of Applicant to Choctaw Tribe

Inventory

For a list of all the titles included in this Historical Records publication see United States, Native American, Five Civilized Tribes Enrollment Records - Inventory