Dawes Commission Enrollment
Records
The Dawes Commission, was
created by the United States Congress in 1893 under the Dawes Act
with Senator H. L. Dawes as chairman. The goal of the commission
was to exchange Indian tribal lands in the southeastern United
States for new land allotments to individuals in Oklahoma. The
Dawes Commission was also known as the "Commission to the Five
Civilized Tribes". This process was to be accomplished by securing
the consent of the various Indian Chiefs to the extinguishing of
tribal land titles and by allocating lands to individuals. Between
250,00-300,000 people applied to this commission for enrollment
and land. Just over 100,000 applications were approved.
Genealogists would find these
records most useful if your ancestor was:
a. A member of either the
Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek or Seminole Indian tribes in the
southeastern United States
b. Alive during the enrollment
period between 1896 and 1905. If your ancestor died prior to 1893,
you could search for surviving children or grandchildren using the
Dawes Commission records as well.
The content of Dawes Commission
Records would normally include the following types of information:
a. Enrollment Cards
(also known as census cards) include residence, roll
numbers, names of family members, relationships, ages, sex, degree
of Indian blood, enrollment date, place and number, parents and
their enrollment date or place, spouses, divorces, and children or
grandchildren.
b. Applications for
Enrollment include affidavits, vital records, letters,
questionnaires. decisions mentioning relatives, dates, and places.
c. Letter Logs
would include the name of applicant, address, date of
letter, file number, date received, subject of letter, and action
taken. letters are normally filed with the applications.
The most useful reference tools
for accessing information for Dawes Commission Records are the
following titles:
United States. Commission to the
Five Civilized Tribes. Index to the Final Rolls of
the Citizens and Freedman of the Five Civilized Tribes in Indian
Territory. Washington, DC: Govt. Printing Office.,
1907.
United States. Commission to the
Five Civilized Tribes. Final Rolls of Citizens and
Freedman of the Five Civilized Tribes in Indian Territory.
Washington, DC: Govt. Printing Office., 1907.
United States. Commission to the
Five Civilized Tribes. Enrollment cards for the Five
Civilized Tribes, 1898-1914. National Archives
Microfilm Publications, M1186, Washington, DC.: National Archives,
1981.
United States. Commission to the
Five Civilized Tribes. Applications for Enrollment of
the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes, 1898-1914.
National Archives Microfilm Publications, M1301. Washington, DC:
national Archives, 1981.
United States. Bureau of Indian
Affairs. Index to Letters Received by Commission to
the Five Civilized Tribes, 1897-1913.National
Archives Microfilm Publications, M1314. Washington, DC: National
Archives, 1983.
If you fail to find your
ancestor's name in the index you may need to be creative in the
spelling of names. Also consider looking for your ancestor by his or
her English name, Indian name, middle name, nickname, initials,
married name, or maiden name. Consider the possibility that he or
she was listed under a different tribe or category than you
expected. Look through each of the 29 sections of the index.
Your ancestor's application may
also have been rejected. The Dawes Commission ultimately rejected
over 60% of the applications. An index to most rejected applications
can be found using the National Archives website for the NARA
Archival Research catalog assistance homepage at
www.archives.gov/research_room/arc/arc_info/genealogy_search_hints.html.
Upon entering this page, scroll down until you reach the
Native Americans section and follow the
instructions.
Bryan L. Mulcahy
Reference Librarian
Fort Myers-Lee County Library
2050 Central Avenue
Fort Myers, FL 33901-3917
Tel: (239)- 479-4651
Fax: (239)- 479-4634
