Oklahoma, Applications for Enrollment to the Five Civilized Tribes - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States Oklahoma

What Is in This Collection?
These records cover the years 1898 to 1914. They list the individuals who were accepted as eligible for tribal membership in the "Five Civilized Tribes": Cherokees, Creeks, Choctaws, Chickasaws, and Seminoles. This record set is also known as the "Final Rolls of Citizens and Freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes" and make up NARA publication M1301: Applications for Enrollment of the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes, 1898-1914. The records include 101,000 names from 1898-1914 (primarily from 1899-1906) and provide the enrollee's name, sex, blood degree, and census card number. Index provided by Fold3.com.

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). They are generally reliable.

What Can These Records Tell Me?
The information usually included in the index includes the following:


 * Name of individual applying for enrollment
 * Tribe or Nation
 * Sex
 * Blood degree
 * Census card number
 * Case number
 * Film number
 * Image number

How Do I Search the Collection?
To begin your search it is helpful to know at least some of the following:
 * The name of your ancestor.
 * The tribe affiliation.
 * The census number assigned to your ancestor.

How Do I Analyze the Results?
Compare each result from your search with what you know to determine if there is a match. This may require viewing multiple records or images.

Remember to:
 * Whenever possible, look at the original record. If often has more information than the indexed record.
 * Print or download a copy of the record, or extract the genealogical information needed.
 * In case you need to find this record again later, copy the citation found on each record or image. Familysearch wiki has a Example Research Log that you can download and use for this purpose.

For tips about searching on-line collections see the on-line article FamilySearch Search Tips and Tricks.

I Found Who I was Looking For, What Now?

 * Use the age to calculate a birth date and to find other records such as birth, christening, census, land and death records.
 * Use the Indian census card number to help you locate your ancestor in the Indian census.
 * Repeat this process with additional family members found, to find more generations of the family.
 * Church Records often were kept years before government records were required and are a good source for finding ancestors before 1900.

I Can’t Find Who I’m Looking For, What Now?

 * Try viewing the original record to see if there were errors in the transcription of the name, age, residence, etc. Remember that there may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * Collect entries for every person who has the same surname. This list can help you identify possible relations that can be verified by records.
 * If you cannot locate your ancestor in the locality in which you believe they lived, then try searching records of a nearby locality in an area search.
 * Standard spelling of names typically did not exist during the periods our ancestors lived in. Try variations of your ancestor’s name while searching the index or browsing through images.
 * Remember that sometimes individuals went by nicknames or alternated between using first and middle names. Try searching for these names as well.
 * Search the indexes and records of Oklahoma, United States Genealogy.
 * Search in the Oklahoma Archives and Libraries.

Citing this Collection
Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image.

Collection Citation:

Record Citation (or citation for the index entry): Top of Page