The records listed below are all held in the National Archives in Record Group 75. The number in the brackets is the Film Number.

*The Cherokee Emigration Rolls of 1817-35 Lists Cherokees who voluntarily enrolled themselves as emigrants to the Arkansas country and relinquished all rights, titles, and claims to lands within the limits of the Cherokee Nation. This group was sometimes referred to as the "Old Settlers".

*The Henderson Roll, 1835 (T-496) Intended as a final enumeration of Cherokees before they were forced to move to Oklahoma.

*The Mullay Roll of 1848 (#7R-06) A listing of 1,517 Cherokees living in North Carolina after the removal of 1838.

*The Siler Roll of 1851 (#7RA-06) A listing of 1,700 Cherokees living in North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama who were entitled to a per capita payment pursuant to acts of Congress in 1850 and 1851.

*The Old Settler Roll, 1851 (M-685) Lists Cherokees still living in 1851 who were already residing in Oklahoma when the main body of the Cherokee arrived in the winter of 1839.

*The Chapman Roll, 1852 (M-685) A list of Cherokee who actually received payment based on the above Siler Roll.

*Drennen Roll, 1852 (M-685) The first Census of the "New" arrivals of 1839 to Oklahoma on the Trail of Tears.

*Federal Census 1860 (M-653 Rolls 52 & 54) Contains Indian Lands in Arkansas.

*Tompkins Roll 1867 (#7RA-04) 1866 Treaty required that a census be made of Cherokees residing in the Cherokee Nation. There are also Indices of Freedmen with this roll.

*Swetland Roll 1869 A list of Cherokee and their decedents who are listed as remaining in North Carolina by Mullay in his 1848 Census.

*Federal Census 1880 (T-9) Federal Territorial Census rolls using the names and locations found in the Indian Rolls. (Note the 1880 Indian Schedules for this Federal Census were destroyed.)

*Roll of Rejected Claimants, 1878-80 Listed by case number, this list includes persons whose applications for citizenship were rejected by the Cherokee Citizenship Commission.

*Cherokee Census, 1880 (#7RA-07) A Census authorized by the Cherokee National Council that list persons entitled to a per capita payment of $16.55. There is also a receipt roll (#7RA-33) prepared by the Cherokee Nation treasurer listing persons who actually received this payment.

*Commission Docket Book 1880-84 (# 7RA-26) A listing by case number and session of the citizenship committee.

*Cherokee Seminaries Register, 1881-82 A register of students and boarders at the male and female seminaries by term.

*Cherokee Census, 1883 (# 7RA-29) Authorized by the National Council in 1883, this list includes orphans, prisoners and "supplemental roll of citizens.

*Receipt Roll, 1883 (# 7RA-56 and 57) Prepared for a per capita payment of $15.50 authorized by the National Council.

*Hester Roll, 1883 (M-685) This completed roll contains 2,956 persons residing in North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, Virginia, Illinois, Kansas, Colorado, Kentucky, New Jersey, and California.

*Cherokee Census Roll, 1886 (# 7RA-58) Authorized by the Cherokee Council to be made of persons who received a per capita payment in 1886.

*Cherokee Census Roll, 1890 (# 7RA-60) Created also in 1897 as a result of the council act listed immediately above. Listings are the same except it goes a step further to include whether each household member was a Cherokee, Delaware, Shawnee, White Person, or Freedman.

*Cherokee Receipt Roll, 1890 (#7RA-59) Listing of persons who received a per capita payment of $13.70.

*Cherokee Census Roll, 1890 (# 7RA-08) This census contains a wealth of information including 6 schedules of status.

*Federal Census 1890 (M-123) Indian Territory. Taken in 1890, this census of the Cherokee Nation is probably the most complete of any of the census.

*Wallace Roll, 1890-93 (Freedmen Roll & Index) This roll was based on an 1883 list taken of freedmen (freed blacks) entitled to a per capita payment authorized in 1888.

*Cherokee Census Roll 1893 (# 7RA-54) In addition to Cherokee citizens, this list also includes intermarried whites, adopted whites, and Creek Indians living in the Cherokee Nation.

*Starr Roll, 1894 (# &RA-38) Prepared as a receipt roll for each person authorized to receive a per capita "strip payment" of $265.70 for the sale to the United States fo over 6 1/2 million acres of Cherokee land known as the Cherokee Strip.

*Cherokee Census Roll 1894 This roll was taken in 1897, but based on an 1894 payroll.

*Cherokee Childrens List 1895-97 List of Cherokee children born between 1895-97.

*Cherokee Census Roll 1896 (# 7RA-19) This is the first census which includes any reference to blood degree.

*Clifton Roll (Cherokee Freedmen) 1896 Prepared by the commission appointed by the U.S. Dept. of the Interior, based on testimony taken from May to August 1897.

*Old Settler Payment Roll 1896 (T-985) The 1896 Payment Roll is based on the 1851 Old Settler Roll listed earlier and listed each payee's 1851 roll number, name, age, sex, and post office address. This roll can be an importanat source to determine the descendants of persons listed on the Old Settler rolls and not still living in 1896.



*Dawes Roll of 1898-1914 (M-1186) Pressure on Congress from the Railroad Companies and from white settlers made the affairs of the Cherokee surface into the eye of the government once again. On March 3, 1893 the U.S. Congress established a commission to negotiate with the 5 Civilized Tribes to begin the abolishment of their tribal governments and the beginning of the allotment of tribal lands to individuals. Up to this time all tribal lands were held in general by all tribe members and they were used by the members of the tribe as needed. The tribes were not in favor of this proposal but were forced to accept it. The Cherokee Nation made a counter proposal to form an Indian State called Sequoyah but all efforts by the tribes were blocked, ignored, or sabotaged by the U.S. Government. In June 1898 Congress passed the Curtis Act which severely limited the power of the tribal governments. It gave the Dawes Commission the authority to survey and supervise the allotment of lands, sell unallotted lands, prepare and deliver deeds, and required that a new Indian Roll be created to supersede all other rolls. This commission was also responsible for decided it a person was qualified to be a member of the tribe or not. This was an all white commission deciding what Indians could be memebers of a tribe they had been members of all their lives. Many tribal members refused to cooperate, others just plain vanished instead of being registered. It is estimated that about 30% of the tribal members that were Cherokee were never enrolled on the Dawes Rolls and that another 20 to 30 percent that did try to enroll were refused. Today to be able to attain Cherokee Tribal Membership you must prove that one of your ancestors was enrolled upon the Dawes Rolls. To be enrolled, citizens were interviewed by census takers in the Indian Territory. Each citizen was required to complete an application ( or have a Government agent interview them and fill out the application), then the Commission decided if the person was "qualified" to be on the Roll. The Dawes Commission enrolled tribal citizens under several categories. Each census card contains information provided by individual applicants from the same family group or household. The cards provide notation of the action taken by the Dawes Commission such as rejected, approved, or doubtful. Each card also contains the name, enrollment number, age, sex, degree of Indian Blood, relationship to head of family, parent's names, and references to enrollment on earlier Rolls (used by the commission for verification of eligibility). Some references to enrollment cards of relatives are noted, as well as notations about births, deaths, changes in martial status, and actions taken by the Commission and the Secretary of the Interior. **NOTE** The card numbers DO NOT match the Roll numbers. The Dawes Rolls were U.S. Government tribal enrollment records which were used to enumerate all the Indians in a particular tribe. When everyone was counted, tribal land held in common was taken away, allotments were made to everybody listed on the rolls, then all that was left over was sold to white settlers, railroads, and private companies, usually at an absurd discount. Contained within the Dawes Records *Dawes Commission Enrollment Card, 1899-1907 *Dawes Commission Enrollment Packets, 1899-1907 *Final Dawes Rolls of Citizens and Freedmen, 1902-1906 *Record of Allotments, 1903-1914



*The Guion Miller Roll and Applications, 1906 (M-1104 and M-685) The U.S. Congress gave the U.S. Court of Claims jurisdiction over any claim against the United States filed by the Cherokee Tribe, or any band thereof on July 1, 1902. Three lawsuits were brought against the U.S. Government as grievances from Treaties violation(s). 1. The Cherokee Nation v. the United States, Case # 23199 2. The Eastern & Emigrant Cherokees v. the U.S., Case # 23212 3. The Eastern Cherokee v. the U.S. Case # 23214 The U.S. Court of Claims ruled on May 18, 1905 in favor of the Eastern Cherokee and ordered the Secretary of the Interior to identify persons entitled to a portion of the money appropriated by the U.S. Congress on June 30, 1906, to be used for payment of the claims. The Court decree specified that the money was to be distributed to all Eastern & Western Cherokees alive on May 28, 19806 who could establish that they were members of the Eastern Cherokee Tribe or descendants of such members. They could not be members of any other tribe. All claims had to be filed prior to August 31, 1907. The Guion Miller Roll was the result of this Court Order. This roll listed 45,847 applications listing approximately 90,000 individual claimants. Among these 30,254 were enrolled and eligible for a share of the funds; 27,051 lived west of the Mississippi River, and another 3,203 lived east of the Mississippi River. The Roll included information on both accepted and non-accepted members and the individual applications themselves contain a wealth of genealogical data. Miller used previous census lists and rolls of the Cherokees. These rolls included the Hester, Chapman, and Drennen Rolls, and other materials from 1835 to 1884, but did not include the Old Settler Cherokees. These records are part of the U.S. National Archives, Record Group 75, Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, previously mentioned. Other records relating to this enrollment, including the applications themselves, however, are in U.S. National Archives Record Group 123. If you are fortunate enough to find a family member's name listed on either of these rolls, be sure to order copies of the applications completed by the commission to establish their roll entrees. Use the roll name and number shown. These often contain a store of other valuable family information.