Researching Native American Heritage

RESEARCHING Native American HERITAGE

A Native American Genealogical Journey

 By Jamie K. Oxendine, Lumbee/Creek

Editor, PowWows.com

Director, Black Swamp InterTribal Foundation

Prelude and Disclaimer Powwows.com has received many a request from groups and individuals for help in investigating ones Native American Heritage.  This article is for informational purposes on the logistics and projection of such a task.  This is just a beginning in a series on Native American Genealogy. WHY Regardless of whether you are already a Native ...

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Cherokee of Today

The Cherokee Tribe of today is made of 3 different groups that all descend from the same common tribe. Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma citizens resides within 14 counties in  Northeastern Oklahoma, the tribe composes of descendants of those that were forced removed from lands in Southeastern United States during 1838-1839 time period. In addition to those descendants the tribe also comprises of  descendants of 'Old Settlers' which were those that had moved from lands in the east prior to 1833 and are subject to the 1828 and ...

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Missouri/Arkansas Cherokee

Perhaps one of the most common family stories I hear as I travel throughout Missouri and Arkansas goes something like this: My Great great great Grandmother was "part" Cherokee and escaped from the "Trail of Tears" or something along these lines: My great great great great grandmother hid out in the hills of Arkansas or Missouri or "escaped" from Indian territory. Apparently large groups of Cherokees were "escaping" for today we have seen an explosion of Heritage groups that have ...

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THE ANI-KIT-U-WAH PEOPLE: AKA THE CHEROKEE

The Ani-Kit-U-Wah People

 By: Josiah Hair

The Cherokee Tribe of today is made of 3 different groups that all descend from the same common tribe. The Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma These citizens reside within 14 counties in Northeastern Oklahoma.  The tribe composes of descendants of those that were forced removed from lands in Southeastern United States during the 1838-1839 Removal.  In addition it also comprises of descendants of “Old Settlers” which were those that had moved from lands in the east prior ...

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What is a Native American?

WHAT IS NATIVE AMERICAN? 

By Jamie K. Oxendine, Lumbee/Creek

Editor, PowWows.com

Director, Black Swamp InterTribal Foundation

  PRELUDE What is Native American?  What an encumbered question.  One might as well ask “Why is the sky blue?”  Obviously a rhetorical question to be profound as one does not need the technical scientific answer to “Why the sky is blue?” The author has been asked the above question concerning Native America many times and each ...

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Am I Native American? How to Find My Indian Ancestors – Native American Genealogy

Finding Your Native American Heritage Many people in the US and Canada have at least one Indian ancestral line in their family.  Lots of people grew up hearing the family legend about a family member that was Native American.  Proving that legend to be true or false can be tough.  There is very little official records about early Native American. Starting your search on Native American Genealogy can be very challenging. You will need to build a family tree using a ...

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Guion Miller Roll of the Eastern Cherokee: 27.Aug.1906 – 18.May.1909

Guion Miller Roll of the Eastern Band of Cherokee

27. August. 1906 - 18. May .1909

 By: Josiah Hair

One may argue that the Guion Miller Roll is perhaps one of the most important Rolls ever done of the Cherokee Nation in a Genealogical sense.  This roll is more formally referred to as the Eastern Cherokee Emigrant Payroll.  The roll was taken roughly the same time as the famous Dawes Roll, but the similarity's end there.  The Roll is a ...

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Final Roll of the Cherokee Nation & Freedman

Final Roll of the Cherokee Nation & Freedman

 By: Josiah Hair

Today we call this the Dawes Rolls, although it encompasses the original Five Civilized Tribes of the South East (Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek and Seminole). This article is specifically about the Cherokee Roll.  To describe this roll and purpose, first we must do a bit of history and hopefully give the reader a better understanding of this particular Roll. Dawes Commission & General Allotment Act, or Dawes Severalty Act An act of ...

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Holdout, Doubtful and Reject of the Dawes Rolls

Holdout, Doubtful and Reject of the Dawes Rolls

Cherokee Nation Citizenship 

By: Josiah Hair

Prelude Previous articles gave overviews and some tips on navigating through the Dawes Rolls. This article follows up on some information on those common arguments on who is and who is not Cherokee because of three classifications: Holdout, Doubtful and Reject. Holdout Holdouts were a group of Cherokees that belonged to several societies in the Cherokee Nation mostly made of Full-Bloods. The Nighthawks was one such society that was very ...

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…MY GRANDMOTHER WAS A CHEROKEE INDIAN PRINCESS…

“…MY GRANDMOTHER WAS A CHEROKEE INDIAN PRINCESS…”

CHEROKEE CITIZENSHIP/MEMBERSHIP

By Jamie K. Oxendine, Lumbee/Creek

Editor, PowWows.com

Director, Black Swamp InterTribal Foundation

PRELUDE To any Native American that travels a great deal and attends and participants in a large amount of cultural events, it would appear that everybody has an “Indian Princess” in the family. Usually this person is a “Cherokee Indian Princess” … or at least it would seem so with the many stories ...

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