How to Follow-up Leads for Possible Native American Ancestors
One of the most
difficult tasks in creating a family tree is
following up leads in your Native American
ancestry. Many modern tribes today do not
keep records that go back very far. One of
the first places you should begin to look is
the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The BIA was
established in 1824 and was originally part
of the War Department. Most of the bureaus
tasks included treaty making and breaking
and recruiting other tribes to help fight in
the war.
According the Bureau of Indian Affairs, they
do not keep a national Indian registry or
any kind of database. They also do not do
any genealogy research. They will tell you
that some offices around the country have
records concerning Indian ancestry, but they
will still insist that there is not any list
or database. However, some branches of the
Bureau of Indian affairs will tell you that
there are "current records of lists
commonly called rolls", but there is no
supporting documentation to go along with
these rolls. When you call the Bureau of
Indian Affairs you should be prepared to
give the name of the tribe, names and
birthdates of the person, and relationships.
You must provide specific information
otherwise offices will not provide useful
information.
Another good place to look is by checking
microfilm census records. Annual census
rolls were taken of individual tribes by
government agents, usually under the
supervision of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
The census data was gathered and the amount
of information is different with each
record. All of them include names, either
American birth names in English, Native
American or both; age and/or date of birth,
gender, the person's relationship to the
head of household, and a roll number.
Beginning in 1930, (and in some cases even
earlier), many censuses also designate the
person's degree of Native American blood,
their marital status, and often the place of
residence.
I
The key to using these microfilms will mean knowing how to
use them, and to know which one you want to look at. The best method for
this is to know what geographical area to start looking in. You should
also know the name of the agency that made the original record. Historical
records will also help guide you in the right direction. The more
information you have when you start, the easier it will be to locate the
right micro film. A list of microfilm rolls for the tribes named below may
be found on most libraries record page.
You can also contact some local offices that deal with Indian archives for
information. Unlike the Bureau of Indian Affairs, these tend to have more
information and usually are more willing to work with people doing their
own research. You will have a better chance by contacted them than you
will by contacting the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Here are some addresses of places to contact for more information on
Indian Ancestry:
The Oklahoma Historical Society 2100 N. Lincoln Oklahoma City, OK 73105,
Chief, Archives Branch Federal Archives and Records Center P. O. Box 6216
Fort Worth, TX 76115
Heart of America Indian Center 1340 E. Admiral Boulevard Kansas City MO,
64124 (816) 421 - 7608, fax (816) 421 - 6493
American Indian Center 4115 Connecticut Street St. Louis, MO 63116 (314)
773 - 3316
Northern Cherokee Nation of the Old Louisiana Territory 1012 Business
Highway 63 North Columbia, MO 65201 (573) 44 3 -8424
Southwest Missouri Indian Center 2422 W. Division Springfield, MO 65802
(417) 869 - 9550, fax (417) 869 - 0922
Saponi Nation of Missouri Mahenips Band c/o 3445 CR 4990 Willow Springs,
MO, 65793 (417) 469 - 2547
Cherokee National Historical Society and Cherokee Registration Office P.
O. Box 515 Tahlequah, OK 74464 - 0515 (918) 456 - 6007
For Delaware, Osage, Shawnee and Kaw tribes: Kansas State Historical
Society 120 West Tenth Topeka, KS 66612 - 1291
Bureau of Indian Affairs Muskogee Agency, 4th Floor Federal Bldg. Muskogee
OK 74401
LDS Library 35 North West Temple Street, Salt Lake City, UT 84150
Newberry Library 60 West Walton Street Chicago, IL 60610 - 3394
Using all of these sources, as well as your local library will enable you
to get a lot of useful information for you ancestral search.
About the Authors
Paul Duxbury and Kevin Cook own www.amateur-genealogist.com and
www.our-family-trees.co.uk two of the leading Genealogy Websites. In
addition Paul owns a wide range of exciting websites which can be viewed
at www.paulduxbury.com
