Tawodi's Native American Genealogy
GETTING STARTED
Vague stories of a grandmother who was an "Indian Princess" abound in our country. Some have more information than that to begin with while others are not so lucky. I've known people who begin their research and have enough information within a month to be able to apply for tribal recognition. On the other hand, I've known people who have been searching for years and years and still have not found the "proof" required to enroll. Most people fit somewhere in the middle.
In some respects, researching Indian ancestors is much the same as researching non-Indian ancestors. In fact, many of the steps and resources used in researching non-Indian ancestors will also be used in tracing Indian ancestors. The methods diverge once you reach the point where you "should" be able to prove the Indian connection. At that point, it is necessary to know some of the history and culture of the tribe your ancestor belonged to in order to know which sources you need to be looking at.
Often, people who are just beginning to research their Indian heritage try to go immediately to the Indian rolls to find their ancestor's name. Most of the time, they meet with disappointment and have no idea what to do at that point. Some give up for lack of further ideas. I strongly urge everyone to keep looking. The fact that their ancestor's name is not on an "Indian roll" doesn't mean they were not Indian. Many of our Indian ancestors were never on a roll because they feared and hated the American government, distrusted white people and wanted only to be left alone. That makes the search more difficult, but still not impossible.
With that in mind, here is a quick guide to researching Native American ancestry. Because there are so many Indian tribes and they are all so different each one has resources and records that are slightly, and sometimes dramatically, different from the others. For that reason, this guide can only give a general sense of what to do. By following the basics, and then following up with the links provided on the link page, you will be able to tailor your search to meet your own needs.
FIRST THINGS FIRST
Begin with yourself and your immediate family. List the full names of your parents, brothers and sisters. Also list the full names of spouses. Write down their dates of birth, marriages, divorces and deaths where appropriate. Use birth certificates, marriage licenses, baptismal records, newspaper articles such as wedding announcements and obituaries, cemetery headstones, U.S. census records, land deeds, military records and other legal and published records as sources. In addition, write down where the information came from. Sooner or later, you will want to know where you got a particular piece of information and may not be able to remember, especially when you have accumulated a large database of facts. Having that noted from the beginning can save much time later on if a question or conflict of information arises.
BRANCH OUT
Once you have your immediate family recorded, begin the same process for your grandparents' families. Record the information for all your aunts and uncles, including the maiden and married names of all the female ancestors and cousins. Keep working backwards, one generation at a time, making notes about what documents were used to obtain the information for each person. Also record any family stories that you know about each person. Such personal history helps each person to "come alive" as an individual instead of merely being a name on your family chart. Such family stories also provide clues to locate and identify other family members.
Use a "Family Group Sheet" form to record the information on births, deaths, marriages and children of each family unit. These forms can be obtained from genealogy libraries, the Mormon's Family History Center, or photocopied from one of the many "beginning genealogy" books available at libraries and bookstores. Most computer genealogy programs also have blank forms you can print out to record the information. Using a computer genealogy program is helpful for collecting and keeping track of information, but is not required.
USING INDIAN RECORDS
When you reach the ancestor who is said to be Indian, you will have enough information on parents, descendants and siblings to begin looking for the family in Indian records. At that point, you will need to have a general idea of which tribe(s) to search for your ancestor. Knowing some of the history of the tribes in the area where your ancestor was born will help in making that decision.
Once you've established which tribe(s) your ancestor may have belonged to, you will need to learn which records are available for that tribe or tribes. One of the places to search for records is the National Archives microfilm collection. They have an extensive collection of microfilmed records of reservation censuses, payment records, school records, BIA agent reports and other records and documents pertaining to American Indians. A catalog of Native American records on microfilm can be ordered by calling 1-800-234-8861. The catalogs are also online at http://www.nara.gov/genealogy/. In addition, the National Archives has a searchable database of records online at http://www.nara.gov/nara/nail.html. This database is incomplete, but they are adding more information on a regular basis.
The Family History Library of the Latter Day Saints (the Mormons) has records pertaining to American Indians on microfilm and in books. These microfilms and books can be borrowed through the Family History Centers of the LDS. Some larger colleges and universities also have collections of Indian records. Search all the tribal records and census lists for your ancestor's name as well as the names of their parents, siblings and children. If you don't find them on the records of the tribe you believe they may have belonged to, extend your search to nearby and allied tribes. Some people registered with a tribe that was close by instead of registering with their ancestral tribe, particularly if their parents belonged to different tribes.
Other sources to check are:
Military records: Many Indians served in the United States military forces, from the Revolutionary War up to the present. Important items listed on military records are race, physical description, and birth information. They may also contain the names of parents and/or spouse.
Schools, particularly Indian Schools: School records will usually give birth information and parents. Indian school records will also list the tribe or nation the student belonged to and often will show both white and Indian names.
Passports: In the 17th and 18th century passports were often needed to travel around the North American continent, through the Indian territories, through French and Spanish territories and into Canada and Mexico.
Tax lists, voting lists: Finding an Indian ancestor on a tax or voter registration list doesn't mean they weren't Indian - but it does indicate they had successfully "passed" into the white community. In most states, Indians were not allowed to vote until sometime after World War II - late 1940's and 1950's, and as late as the 1960's for some states.
Use the links on the "LINKS PAGE" for information and history of the different Indian tribes.
For information on tracing Cherokee ancestors of the 1700's, see Yanusdi's Guide.
E-mail:Tawodi@aol.com