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How to Find Native American Ancestors Using the U.S. Census Records and Indian Census Rolls

This article is primarily for novice family history researchers and aspiring genealogists who are researching their Native American ancestry. However, it can be beneficial for all who desire to find their native ancestors by searching the U.S. Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 and the U.S. census collections.

As with any genealogical research, it is best to always go from the known to the unknown. Known information will provide clues that will help with the research plan before beginning the actual research. This preliminary background research is important for any family history research; but critical for Native American ancestry research! Therefore, gather family records, oral history, traditions, and memorabilia, which will provide information about the Native American ancestor. Find out the ancestor's tribal membership, and if he had a native name(s) in earlier years before Native Americans received their American name. Become familiar with the location, geography, and history of your ancestor's tribe and residence(s), both on and off the Native American reservation during his or her lifetime. While gathering information about the ancestor, gather information about his parents and siblings too. Finally, record when, where, and what was found onto a research log, family group record, and pedigree chart. Identify any missing information by evaluating all the possible evidences gathered. These holes will help the researcher determine and select records that may provide the needed information.

Part of this preliminary research or background research is searching the census records in the locations where your ancestor lived whether it is off or on the Native American reservation. Study the changes in the jurisdictions on each level of the federal, state, and county governments. In early 1800s, the Bureau of Indian Affairs was established by the federal government to oversee Native American matters. Many Native American tribes were forced to migrate. Learn the history of the ancestor's tribe and the geography of where the tribe lived.

U.S. Census Records Collection

Census records, particularly 1900 to most recent, provide a great deal of information about Native American individuals and their families. The kinds of information on the U.S. censuses vary from census year to census year. As an example, the kinds of information that could be gleaned from the U.S. census records are as follow: when and where ancestors resided; their economic status; their neighbors; their gender, age, relationship to head of household, and marital status; their occupations, education, military service, and place of birth, and sometimes degree of Indian blood. In addition, evaluation of censuses from different years may reveal the ancestor's migration pattern in United States.

This section of the article will explain how to navigate to the U.S. Federal Census, 1790-1940 on FamilySearch.org and how to navigate to where the Native American ancestor lived based on information gathered from the preliminary research or background research. There are a couple of ways to search the Native American ancestor on the U.S. census. The easiest way is by entering the ancestor's American first and last name along with a birth year and the state of residence for a particular year. Some heads of families and some family members had an American name. For reasons of employment or school, their names were changed from a native name to an American name. Therefore, if his American name is entered, his name may appear in the search result. Also, one could search the Native American ancestor by the American name and still bring up the entire family whether they had native or American names. However, if the ancestor has a native name, the census records will require browsing from page to page. The enumerators who recorded the native names spelled them phonetically with English letters as they heard it. Consequently, each enumerator would spell the native name differently as they heard it. In addition, a researcher would spell it differently than how the enumerator spelled the native name. As a result of these spelling difficulties, it would become advisable to use the second way to search the Native American ancestor on the U.S. census - browsing. Pull up the selected census in FamilySearch Records. Scroll below the Search Collection fields to the View Images in this Collecton and click on the Browse link. This type of search will require you to know the Enumeration District (ED); therefore, a knowledge of the local geography would be beneficial. The computer will bring up image up image 1 of the district. The research will then browse through each page looking for familiar family names. (Each ED usually contains a manageable quantity of images.)

How to Navigate to the U.S. Census

Some sections of the article are going to be a hands-on experience in navigating to an actual family census record. For the purpose of this article, we will be searching for my Native American paternal grandparents. In the URL field at the top of the computer screen, type FamilySearch.org and enter. On the FamilySearch homepage, sign in or sign up for a free personal account. To search the U.S. census online, it is not necessary to sign in. However, if the researcher's family tree is online on FamilySearch Family Tree, it will be necessary to sign in so that when the document is found for the ancestor it can be easily attached to the person's detail page.

There are several ways to navigate to the collection, U.S. Federal Census, 1790-1940, in FamilySearch.org. For the purpose of this article, we will search the Historical Records. To begin, click o the link Search at the top main menu on the homepage. In the down menu, click on the link Records. In the middle of the page and under the heading "Find a Collection," type United States Census. A drop-down menu will appear with a list of U.S. census. Select and lick on the link "United States Census, 1930."

1930 U.S. Census

Once in the 1930 U.S. census and on the next page, enter the ancestor's American name, Jim Puggy, along with other data: Sex: Male, Race: Native American , Marital Status: Married , Residence Place: New Mexico ; and then search. There should be two search results. The search result is Jim Puggy who is a brother to the head of the household in the United States census, 1930. His birth was in 1898 in New Mexico. His place of residence in 1930 was in Precinct 13, San Juan County, New Mexico, United States. The search results also list some of the people in the household.

In my preliminary research since 1970s, Jim Puggy's name was never mentioned in any family discussions. In the Navajo culture, particularly parents who were born in the 1940s and previous generations, it was forbidden to speak of deceased members of the family and ancestors. In the 1970s, I was fortunate to receive original documents which had my paternal grandparents' names on them along with their Navajo census numbers. On the 1930 U.S. census, my paternal grandmother's name was Hosteen-nez-benally. I have always known he as Mary Louise Head, which she received later in her years. If we were to search under her American name, there would be no search results.

If Jimmy Puggy's name was not known or given during the preliminary research, but I wanted to find my paternal grandmother, I would have to search the census records page by page. To do this, follow the following steps in how to navigate from the federal jurisdiction level to the local jurisdiction level which would be the election precinct. Let's do another search, by following the above steps in searching in the Historical Records. Select "United States Census, 1930). In order to browse, click on the link at the bottom of the page "Browse through 2,957,015 images." On the next page there will be a list of states. Click on the state of New Mexico. On the next page there will be a list of counties within the state of New Mexico and click on the San Juan County in which my ancestor lived. On the next page there will be a list of townships within San Juan County. Click on Precinct 13 and for this census year it did not mention the names of the communities. On the next page there will be a list of enumeration districts within the respective township or precinct; click on ED (Enumeration District) 16. On the next page there will be a display of images of enumeration pages within the respective enumeration district. In my initial research, I browsed each page of both enumeration districts to find my paternal grandparents. For the sake of time, go to page 8B (Image 17). On the enumeration page and in the column "Place of Birth," it indicates county and state in which the ancestors were born, and also his or her degree of blood with a specific Native American tribe.

My paternal grandparents, Jim Puggy and Hosteen-nez-benally are in household number 131. Their two sons Tah-yee-gahl and Haska-yil-hil-wudt. The first son is my father, who later in life changed his native name to an American name, Wilson Buck, and his brother's Navajo name was changed to Tom Buck. In this household, they lived in their paternal uncle's home. As I had previously browsed the pages, I noticed that in other households the wife had the same name as my paternal grandmother, Hosteen-nez-benally. However, I can distinguished one from another according to the make-up of each family, which I gathered from my preliminary research. As I analyzed the records, I came to the conclusion they are all sisters. I have in my possession my paternal grandparents' probate record which list all the children with their Navajo census numbers. The information on the 1930 U.S. census and probate record all matched. Also, in the 1930 U.S. census, there is a unique identifier in this particular census. Notice the Navajo census number written next to each person's name. These numbers matched the numbers in the records I have in my possession. The enumerator chose to put each person's Navajo census number beside his or her name.

In years past, I had been collecting information from my relatives while they were living. Even now, I have questions that I still want to ask them, but most of them are deceased. It is so vital to do a preliminary research. Without the continual preliminary research, I would have been clueless in finding my relatives in the U.S. census records.

1940 U.S. Census

Begin another search by following the above steps in searching the Historical Records. Select 1940 U.S. census. Click on New Mexico and click San Juan County. On the next page, the list consists of sixteen Election Precincts with names of the communities. Looking at the list and since I know the geography of the county, I can identify which communities are on and off the Navajo reservation. Precincts on the Navajo Reservation in San Juan County, New Mexico include: Election Precinct 12 Southwest Farmington, Navajo Indian Reservation; Election Precinct 13 Shiprock; and Election Precinct 14 Toadlena. Also, eastern and southern communities in San Juan County are known for checkerboard areas where plots of land are considered part of the Navajo Reservation. In addition, previous to 1940, most Navajos lived on the reservation. Thereafter, many began living off the reservation for whatever reasons, such as for school, military, or employment. I have yet to search each community in other precincts in San Juan County to find more family members who may have lived off the reservation.

In order to find my paternal grandmother, click on the link "Precinct 13 Shiprock" within San Juan County, New Mexico. Within this precinct, there are three enumeration districts. Again, because I know where my ancestors lived, I can find them in the "23-21 Election Precinct 13 Shiprock N and E of San Juan River, Northern Navajo Hospital, Shiprock." In my initial research, I browsed each page to find my paternal grandmother and her family. For the sake of time, click on page 8A. My widowed, paternal grandmother and her children are listed in household number 100. The children's first names are listed with their American names except for the youngest child. In this census, my widowed paternal grandmother was known by another Navajo name. In the 1930 U.S. census, my grandmother is known as Hosteen-nez-benally. The English translation means paternal granddaughter of Tall Man. In the 1940 U.S. census, she is known as Joe Head Bitcite and the English translation means she is the daughter of Joe Head. Browsing through the pages of this precinct, I can also identify many of my paternal and maternal families. I have yet to explore other precincts to find more families connected to me.

In the fall of 2016, I had the opportunity to interview one of the enumerators for the 1940 U.S. census, Stewart Hatch, a trader. He is in his nineties and still living in San Juan County, New Mexico with his wife. He said when he was an enumerator in 1940 he and his brother Claude Hatch, traveled together with a horse and covered wagon through rough terrain in rural northwestern part of the San Juan County which was part of the Navajo reservation. Claude was his cook and they camped from place to place. It took them nearly a month to complete the enumeration for the 1940 U.S. census for this precinct. Stewart and Claude are part descendants of Native American ancestry and they knew the people, and their culture and language. Before the 1960s, the Navajo written language was not yet standardized as it is today. Therefore, Stewart, as well as other enumerators at the time, wrote the names phonetically using English letters as close to how they heard each Navajo name.

U.S. Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 Records Collection

Next to the U.S. census, the U.S. Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 is another collection of records that can be used in conjunction with the U.S. census. This collection has over 7.5 million records. The original holder of this collection is the National Archives and REcords Administration in Washington, D.C. The U.S. Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 was enumerated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs annually as required by an act of 4 July 1884 (23 Stat. 98). Following information can be found on the database: Name (Indian and/or English), gender, age, birith date, relationship to head of family, marital status, tribe name, agency and reservation name. The BIA jurisdiction differs from the U.S. census. The BIA jurisdictions are known by the name of the agency or agencies for a particular tribe or groups of tribes. The collection is arranged laphabetically by agency or other jurisdiction with the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA).

FamilySearch.org

The following are directions in how to navigate to this collection on FamilySearch.org. Once on the FamilySearch homepage, select Search in the top menu and selection Catalog in the down menu. Do a Keyword search by typing "Indian Census Rolls" and then update. Towards the top of the search results, find the link "Indian census rolls, 1885-1940." The microfilms have all been digitized and are therefore available to view online. To view each film, click on the camera icon to the right of each film number. The value of searching in FamilySearch is in the Notes column which gives the specific name of the agency, tribe(s), and year range. Unfortunately, some of images of the records are poor in quality.

Ancestry.com

Ancestry.com has quality images and can be accessed at any Family History Center or Family History Library if one does not have a subscription to Ancestry.com Do another search by logging into Ancestry.com Click on Search at the top of menu and in the down menu click on Card Catalog. Do a Keyword search by typing Indian Census Rolls. In the search results, click on the link U.S., Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940. On the right, under the heading "Browse this collection," scroll down and find the jurisdiction Northern Navajo (do not select Northern Navajo Reservation).

The Navajo tribe was the largest tribe in memberships and land compared to other tribes and reservations throughout the United States. The BIA jurisdictions for the Navajo tribe are divided by cardinal directions: Eastern Navajo, Southern Navajo, Western Navajo, and Northern Navajo. These jurisdictions are found alphabetically with other agencies in the collection. In order to know what communities are included in each agency, one would need to be familiar with the geography and location of where the Navajo ancestors lived.

The BIA jurisdiction of where my ancestors lived was in Northern Navajo. The years of enumeration for this jurisdiction was from 1930 through 1935. Click on the year 1933 and then go to page 476 (Image 477). Jim Puggy and Hosteen-nez-benally and their two sons, Tah-hee-gahl and Haska-hil-nil-wudt are listed on this page. The Bureau of Indian Affairs agencies were mandated to enumerate the people every year. Unfortunately, the Northern Navajo Agency copied all the information for the following year and changed only the Age at Last Birthday and additional children were not added. However, this may not be true with all agencies. The positive aspect of these census rolls is the numbers located in the last column matched the Navajo census numbers written next to my paternal grandparents' names as well as their two sons' names in the 1930 U.S. census.

This experience in searching in the U.S. census and the U.S. Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 for Native American ancestors will vary from state to state, from tribe to tribe, and from census year to census year. Searching census records can provide additional background information to add to home and family sources. The preliminary research will provide clues about the location of where the ancestors lived, that will lead to U.S. record types and collections to search, which will help to fill in holes in the research process.

About the Author

The article was written by Helen B. Bileen, an aspiring professional genealogist and a full-blooded Native American.