Dawes Rolls: Additional Resources (2024)

Step 5: What You Can Do Next

• If you did not find your ancestor in the Dawes Rolls
• If you found your ancestor in the Dawes Rolls
  • Continue American Indian Research Online
  • Order copies of records
  • Access Copies Digitally
  • Hire a Researcher
  • Visit NARA
  • Contact NARA

Step 5: What You Can Do Next

If you did not find your ancestor in the Dawes Rolls online, but you feel sure they were in one of the "Five Civilized Tribes", here are some ideas for where you can look further:

• Check the Census of Intruders. For example, the Cherokees compiled a list of intruders in 1893. See the listing of microfilm rolls pertaining to Non-Indians in Indian Territory available from NARA's Fort Worth facility.
  
• See the page of links to Indian/Native American web sites, compiled by the National Archives librarians.
  
• See the Department of Interior's How Do I Trace Indian Ancestry? page.
  
• Ask yourself why do you think your ancestor was Indian? Just because they may have lived in Indian Territory does not make them Indian. There were many non-Indians living in these areas.

If you found your ancestor online in the Dawes Rolls, you can:
Continue Native American Research Online

• Find Tribal Membership information:
  • Tribal Membership in the Cherokee Nation.
  • Creek Nation
  • Choctaw Tribal Membership
  • Chickasaw Tribal Membership
  • Seminole Nation of Oklahoma
    
• Review the following article in Prologue, The Journal of the National Archives
  and part 2, by Kent Carter, Spring 1997, Vol. 29, No. 1
  
• Check the Guion Miller Rolls on microfilm publication roll M1104 (Available on Ancestry.com). These include 45,847 applications by Eastern Cherokees to share in an award granted by the U.S. Court of Claims on May 28, 1906. See Guion Miller Roll, 1906–1911 for more information.
  
• Read Kent Carter's book, The Dawes Commission and the Allotment of the Five Civilized Tribes, 1893-1914. Publisher: Ancestry.com; (May 1, 1999). ISBN: 091648985X
  
• Search NARA's Microfilm Catalog, American Indians: A Select Catalog of National Archives Microfilm Publications.
  
• See the list of holdings in the National Archives at Fort Worth from the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
  
• See the list of Microfilm Rolls pertaining to Native Americans available at the National Archives at Fort Worth
  
• Read about Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 (available on Ancestry.com), which also lists Microfilm roll numbers, the jurisdiction, and dates.
  
• Explore other NARA web pages relating to American Indian records at NARA
  
• Visit History Hub's Native American Records community
  
• Link to Indian/Native American web sites, compiled by the National Archives librarians.
  
• See the Department of Interior's How Do I Trace Indian Ancestry? page.
  
• The Oklahoma Historical Society holds some federal records related to the Five Civilized Tribes, and their web site has info. on Native American research. (This is one of NARA's Affiliated Archives.)

Order Copies

• To order copies of the census cards, application jackets, and land allotment jackets please include in your request the name of the tribe, enrollment category, roll number, and census card number (from the Census card number you found in the Final Rolls).

  Cost: The cost is $20 for up to 25 pages of the census card/enrollment jacket or land allotment jacket.

  Send your request to:
  Archival Operations, National Archives at Fort Worth
  1400 John Burgess Drive
  Fort Worth, Texas 76140
  

• For copies of other records, see the Obtain Reproductions page.

Hire a Researcher

Access the Dawes Rolls and other Native American Records Online

Visit NARA in Washington, D.C., or check with the 13 Regional Archives around the country. Many of these facilities have these records on microfilm for use in person. Microfilm can also be purchased.

Some of the available microfilm publications include:

• M1186 - "Enrollment Cards of the Five Civilized Tribes, 1898-1914." - Available via Ancestry.com
  
• M1301 - "Applications for Enrollment of the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes, 1898-1914." Find the application jacket associated with your ancestor's Dawes Roll application. (See also the order copies section above.) - Available via Ancestry.com
  
• M1650 - "Applications from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Muskogee Area Office, Relating to Enrollment in the Five Civilized Tribes Under the Act of 1896." - Available via Ancestry.com
  
• M1104 - Check the Guion Miller Rolls. These include 45,847 applications by Eastern Cherokees to share in an award granted by the U.S. Court of Claims on May 28, 1906. See Guion Miller Roll, 1906–1911 for more information.

  You may then also want to pursue earlier records in NARA:

• Review Cherokee census and payment rolls from 1867-1896. They are available from NARA's Fort Worth facility on microfilm 7RA25.- Available via Ancestry.com
  
• Search for possible military service.

For more comprehensive microfilm lists:

• See NARA's Microfilm Catalog, American Indians: A Select Catalog of National Archives Microfilm Publications online.
  To search this catalog online:
  1. From the main Microfilm Catalog page, click Advanced Search (next to the Search button)
  2. In the righthand column, under Subject Catalog, select "American Indians"
  3. Hit "Search"
• See also the list of Microfilm Rolls pertaining to American Indians available at the National Archives at Fort Worth
  
• You can also search NARA's Microfilm Publications Catalog to find out the availability of specific microfilm in various locations.
  
• Also view the Catalog of Microfilm Publications from the Oklahoma Historical Society.

You can buy rolls of microfilm from NARA once you have used the indexes and roll list for the census card number, so you know what you need: call 1-866-272-6272.

You can also buy the Dawes Rolls and other American Indian records on CD from the Oklahoma Historical Society. The "Native American Collection" CD, for example, includes searchable databases. You can view these records at no cost at a National Archives research facility.

Contact the National Archives

• Contact Us Online Form
  
• Mail: Please mail your inquiry to:
  The National Archives and Records Administration
  8601 Adelphi Road
  College Park, MD 20740-6001
  
• For specific questions about the Dawes Rolls, you can contact:
  National Archives at Fort Worth, Texas
  (817) 831-5620
  
• For general NARA inquiries, call (toll-free):
  1-86-NARA-NARA (1-866-272-6272), 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. EST