Indigenous Peoples of Tennessee

The most prominent early Indian tribes in Tennessee were the Cherokee and the Chickasaw. The Chickasaws claimed most of western Tennessee as their hunting grounds. The Cherokees claimed southeastern Tennessee and northeast Georgia as their homeland. By 1818, the Chickasaws had ceded their land away by treaty to the State of Tennessee.

The majority of Cherokees living in Tennessee were forced to go to the Indian Territory (now a part of Oklahoma) in the 1830s. A few hid in the mountains bordering Tennessee and North Carolina.

See Oklahoma Native Races for information about the five civilized tribes and their records in Oklahoma.

For a map showing tribe lands in Tennessee, see:

Aboriginal Map of Tennessee. Signal Mountain, Tennessee: Mountain Press, 1996. (FHL map 976.8 E7a.) This map shows the location of American Indian towns and shows when forts, towns, and stations were created by white settlers.

There are many sources with information about the Cherokees; for example:

Allen, Maud Bliss. Census Records and Cherokee Muster Rolls. Washington, DC, N.p., 1935. (FHL book 970.1 A1 no. 54; film 908999 item 2.) This contains the Cherokee census of 1835 of Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee. The record also includes Cherokee muster rolls for 1834, 1837, and 1838.

Finger, John R. The Eastern Band of Cherokees, 1819–1900. Knoxville, Tennessee: University of Tennessee Press, 1984. (FHL book 970.3 C424f.) The record includes a bibliography, maps, and an index.

Blankenship, Bob. Cherokee Roots. Two Volumes. Cherokee, North Carolina: B. Blankenship, 1992. (FHL book 970.3 C424bL 1992.)


 * Volume 1 has rolls of Cherokees east of the Mississippi for the years 1817; 1818–1835; 1848; 1851; 1869; 1883; 1908; 1909; and 1924.
 * Volume 2 lists Cherokees west of the Mississippi from rolls prepared in the years 1851; 1852; 1898–1914.

The name of the person and the roll number are given. A transcript of the 1851 list is also in The Eastern Cherokees: A Census of the Cherokee Nation in North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia in 1851, described below.

1835:  Lists were made by white census takers in 1835 of Cherokees in Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee. Anyone who was at least one-fourth Indian was considered Indian. See:

United States. Bureau of Indian Affairs. Census Roll, 1835, of the Cherokee Indians East of the Mississippi and Index to the Roll, Tennessee, Alabama, North Carolina, Georgia. Washington, DC: National Archives, 1960. (FHL film 833322.) This census lists heads of families; their residence; and the number of males, females, and slaves in the household.

Tyner, James W. Those Who Cried: The 16,000: A Record of the Individual Cherokees Listed in the United States Official Census of the Cherokee Nation Conducted in 1835. Salt Lake City, Utah: Chicago, Illinois 1974. (FHL book 970.3 C424tj.) Entries list heads of households; number of full-bloods, half-breeds, quarter-bloods, or whites in the home; occupations; number of slaves; whether they read English or Cherokee; or if they owned property. The book is indexed and has maps of the period. There are some errors because census takers did not understand the native languages.

For a history of the Cherokees to about 1835 in the Tennessee area, see:

Malone, Henry Thompson. Cherokees of the Old South: A People in Transition. Athens, Georgia: The University of Georgia Press, 1956. (FHL book 970.3 C424ma.) See the maps before the preface. At the end of the book there is a bibliography.

1851:  A list of the Cherokees living in Tennessee in 1851 is:

Siler, David W. The Eastern Cherokees, A Census of the Cherokee Nation in North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia in 1851. Cottonport, Louisiana: Polyanthus, 1972. (FHL book 970.3 C424sd.) It contains the names of all family members, with their ages and relationship, for De Kalb, Jackson, and Marshall Counties. An index is included.

Some additional Cherokee records that you might find useful are:

Chickamauga Cherokee Indian Nation (Oklahoma). Application for Chickamauga Tribal Enrollment. Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1992, 1997. (On 19 FHL films beginning with 1597951.) This source contains vital records certificates, pedigree charts, family group sheets, and numerous miscellaneous records.

United States Bureau of Indian Affairs. Cherokee Agency. Records of the Cherokee Agency in Tennessee, 1801–1835. National Archives Microfilm Publication, M0208. Washington, D.C.: National Archives, 1952. (FHL films 1024418–31.) These records deal with the entire Cherokee nation. They contain information about passes for whites who wanted to pass through Cherokee lands from 1801–1804; claims filed 1816–1833; Army officers at posts; unauthorized settlements on Indian lands; land office records; names of traders, settlers, missionaries, chiefs, and members of the tribe. An introduction on the first microfilm describes the contents of these records.

United States Office of Indian Affairs. Letters Received, 1824–1881; Registers of Letters Received, 1824–1880. National Archives Microfilm Publication, M0234. Washington, D.C.: National Archives, 1942, 1956. (On 1088 FHL films beginning with 1638620.) These letters, pertaining to each of the major tribes, contain many names but are not indexed.

For more sources on specific tribes, use the Subject Search of the Family History Library Catalog under the name of the tribe. Other sources are listed in the Place Search of the Family History Library Catalog under:

TENNESSEE - NATIVE RACES

Web Sites
http://www.tanasijournal.com/main/index.php?option=com_magazine&amp;func=show_magazine&amp;id=15&amp;Itemid=1

http://www.nativenashville.com/census_data.htm