How do you track down Choctaw and Cherokee Indian ancestry?

Question

I have family in Oklahoma and Arkansas that are totally unable to go very far looking into the ancestry of their family. Any help would be appreciated...

Answer 1

Maybe we are related? My mother has been doing our geneaology for the last 16 years. My Dad's side has Choctaw and my Mother's side has Cherokee. All of our descendants have been traced to Oklahoma and Arkansas. Some of the names the search came up with were anglo names due to missionaries baptising them - Martin and Miller being the most common. You should ask every living relative to give you as much information as they have about all the older relatives and where they came from. You should also know, that some Arkansans and even Oklahomans are not proud of that heritage so they lie about it or make up stories, which is too bad. Birth and death certificates, old Bibles have family history, old trunks in attics that are dusty and forgotten about. Good luck, it takes time and tenacity to get it pieced together because it really is like a jigsaw puzzle.

Answer 2

1st. You have got to be ready to exhibit a right away lineage, with Birth, Death, Marriage and many others certificate. You have got to have direct lineage to anybody on both the Dawes or Baker Rolls, Dawes for the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, and Baker for the Eastern Band of Cherokee in NC. 2d There are not any reparations for having Native blood, the Nations or Tribes obtained cash from the federal government to manage the methods at the reservations, Some of this cash would possibly trickle right down to person individuals of the tribe or country. These monies were lowering by way of the years, in order that the tribes or country have needed to appear in other places to get the money they have got to aid the methods at the rez. third. No Federally Recognized Tribe or Nation accepts DNA checking out as evidence of Native American ancestry.

Answer 3

Difficultly, unfortunatly. Check the Dawes Rolls if they're at the right time for any names that are right, but you probably won't have much luck; a lot of people never registered on them, or they used a different name (usually their native name, rather than their English one.) I've been stuck on two Native American Cherokee women on my family tree for quite some time.

If you/they haven't already, and the times are right, try searching the 1870 and later census records. Each person surveyed on them lists their parents' birth places. Also, pull marriage, birth, and death records if you can find them; sometimes they have parents' names listed. Also, if you know where it is, check their tombstone and the records at the cemetery.

Answer 4

It depends on how your ancestors felt about registering on the Indian rolls. If they signed up then you can look through them and find a connection. But, if they were like mine you won't have much luck. My ancestors were stubborn and refused to sign the Indian rolls - the reasoning was, why should I have to sign for land, etc. that rightfully belongs to our tribe? Good luck!

Answer 5

Try going to the reservation council of the state you are looking for. I found answers there. They will help you anyway they can if you have good information for them.