Five Civilized Tribes

History
The Five Civilized Tribes consist of the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole Indian Tribes.

They became commonly referred to as the Five Civilized Tribes......

These tribes had Freedmen who were former African American slaves of tribal members or descendants of former slaves living among them.

Records
Dawes Commission Enrollment Records.

In 1893 Congress established a commission to exchange Indian tribal lands in the southeastern United States for new land allotments to individuals in Oklahoma. The Commission to the Five Civilized tribes was called the Dawes Commission after its chairman, Senator Dawes. More than 250,000 people applied to this commission for enrollment and land. Just over 100,000 were approved.

Content of the Records

Enrollment Cards(also called census cards) include residence, roll numbers, names of family members, relationships, ages, sex, degree of Indian, enrollment date, place and number, parents and their enrollment date or plane, spouses, divorces, children or grandchildren.

Applications for enrollmentinclude affidavits, vital records, letters, questionnaires, and decisions mentioning relatives, dates, and places.

Letter Logs include name, address, date of letter, file number, date received, subject, and action taken. Letters are with the applications.

Eastern Cherokee or Guion Miller Roll

This is a list of Eastern Cherokees who applied for money awarded in 1905 because of a law suit.