INTRODUCTION
What are the Dawes Rolls?
The Dawes Rolls, also known as the "Final Rolls", are the lists of individuals who were accepted as eligible for tribal membership in the "Five Civilized Tribes": Cherokees, Creeks, Choctaws, Chickasaws, and Seminoles. (It does not include those whose applications were stricken, rejected or judged as doubtful.) Those found eligible for the Final Rolls were entitled to an allotment of land, usually as a homestead.
The Rolls contain more than 101,000 names from 1898-1914 (primarily from 1899-1906). They can be searched to discover the enrollee's name, sex, blood degree, and census card number. The census card may provide additional genealogical information, and may also contain references to earlier rolls, such as the 1880 Cherokee census. A census card was generally accompanied by an "application jacket". The jackets then sometimes contain valuable supporting documentation, such as birth and death affidavits, marriage licenses, and correspondence.
Today these five tribes continue to use the Dawes Rolls as the basis for determining tribal membership. They usually require applicants to provide proof of descent from a person who is listed on these rolls.
To use the Dawes Rolls, you must know the English name of the Native American and the tribe.
This site will use the example of the Cherokee Native American with the English name of George Guess.
FOOTNOTE - Step-by-step - Dawes Rolls - George Guess Example
Footnote (http://www.footnote.com/) is an internet site that has 99.9% of the Dawes Rolls applications on line. At home, one must pay money to access this internet site. At the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, Footnote can be accessed for free. The following is a step-by-step example of how to use Footnote to find the application for George Guess.
The same application for George Guess can be found at the Family History in Salt Lake City. The following is a step-by-step tutorial to use the Dawes books to find the Dawes Application and the Enrollment Card to get a wealth of information on George Guess. The Application gives the most information. The Enrollment Card is one page of information.
FIND THE APPLICATION
To find the APPLICATION do the following:
1. Use the Index to the Rolls Book to get a roll number.
2. Use roll number in the Final Rolls Book to get the Applicaton Number
3. Use the Application Number in the Application Section of the Native American Register book to get the Family History Library Film Number.
4. Find the film Number and using the Application Number find the Application Number.
FIND THE ENROLLMENT CARD
To find the ENROLLMENT CARD do the following:
1. Use the Application Number in the Enrollment Card Section of the Native American Register book to get the Family History Library Film Number.
2. Find the film Number and using the Application Number find the Enrollment Card.
STEP-BY-STEP
These step-by-step instructions are for use at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.
As an example, these step-by-step instructions will use a Native American full-blood Cherokee with the English name of George Guess.
1. Use the INDEX Book on the 2nd or 3rd Floor Reference Area – 970.1 Un3c
(Note: Make sure you are using the “INDEX” and not the “FINAL ROLLS”:
2. Find George Guess in the Index for CHEROKEES BY BLOOD.
3. Go to the FINAL ROLLS Book on the 2nd or 3rd Floor Reference area 970.1 Un3c
(Note: Make sure you are using “The FINAL ROLLS” book not the “INDEX”:
4. Find Roll Number 16640 in the Final Rolls Book:
Write down the Census Card Number 6972 for George Guess
5. Go to the Native American Register on the 2nd or 3rd Floor Reference area:
6. Notice the pages for the Application Section for DAWES RECORDS are 11 - 23
7. Find the range for 6972 in the pages 11-23:
Write down 1,492,800 which is the FHL Film Number
8. Look for Application Number 6972 on film 1,492,800 to give the following.
9. Notice the pages for the Enrollment Cards for Dawes Records are 24-27
10. Find the range for 6972 in the pages 24-27
Write down the FHL Film # 1,490,270
11. Look for the Application Number 6972 on film 1,490,270 to give the following:
THIS IS THE ENROLLMENT CARD
Note: This lists the parents of George Guest as William and Mary as well as the ages of George and Betsy (his wife) in 1880. George is 44 and Betsy is 55 in 1880.
CONCLUSION:Notice that the amount of information you get from the APPLICATION is more than the amount of information you get from the ENROLLMENT CARD. However, there is information on the ENROLLMENT CARD that you do not get on the APPLICATION.
On the ENROLLMENT CARD you get the names of the parents of the applicants.
SUMMARY:
Get the Roll #:
Use the Book INDEX to the Final Rolls (Ref 970.1 Un3c). e.g. 16640 (roll #)
Get the Application # by using the Roll Number:
Use the Book FINAL ROLLS (Ref 970.1 Un3c). e.g. 6972 (application #)
Use this Application # 6972 to get the Application and the Enrollment Card,
To get the Application:
Use the book Native American Register (Ref 970.1 B585n)
Search the APPLICATIONS section of the DAWES RECORDS using 6972
Find the Film # that has the correct range of Applications Numbers
e. g. 1,492,800
Get the Film and search the film by Application Number (6972)
To get the Enrollment Card:
Use the book Native American Register (Ref 970.1 B585n)
Search the ENROLLMENT CARDS section of the DAWES RECORDS using 6972
Find the Film # that has the range of Application Numbers
e.g. 1,490,270
Get the Film and search the film by Application Number (6972)
Cherokee Indian Proof
This is would be an important part of proving that a person was a Cherokee Indian. If you are interested in proving that you are a Cherokee Indian go to http://www.cherokeeindianproof.com/.
