Tracing American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) Ancestry | Indian Affairs

We receive so many requests for information on how to trace Cherokee Indian ancestry, therefore we have included this special section for it.  About 200 years ago the Cherokee Indians were one tribe, or “Indian Nation,” that lived in the southeast part of what is now the United States. During the 1830’s and 1840’s, the period covered by the Indian Removal Act, many Cherokees were forcibly moved west to what was then termed “Indian Territory” and that is now the state of Oklahoma. A number of Cherokees remained in the southeast and some gathered in North Carolina, where they purchased land and continue to live to this day. Today, individuals of Cherokee ancestry fall into at least one of the following categories:

1. Living persons who were listed on the final rolls (Dawes Commission Rolls) of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, now known as the Cherokee Nation, that were approved and their descendants. These final rolls were closed in 1907.
2. Individuals enrolled as members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians of North Carolina and their descendants who are eligible for enrollment with the Band.  
3. Persons on the list of members identified by a resolution dated April 19, 1949, and certified by the Superintendent of the BIA’s Five Civilized Tribes Agency, and their descendants who are eligible for enrollment with the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians of Oklahoma.
4. All other persons of Cherokee Indian ancestry.   

After about a half century of self-government, a law enacted in 1906 directed that final rolls be made and that each enrollee be given an allotment of land or paid cash in lieu of an allotment. The Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma, a federally recognized tribe, formally organized in 1975 with the adoption of a new constitution that superseded one from 1839. The new constitution established a Cherokee Register for the inclusion of any Cherokee person for membership purposes in the Cherokee Nation. Members must be citizens as proven by reference to the Dawes Commission Rolls, which outlined the membership of the Five Civilized Tribes in Oklahoma – the Cherokee Nation, the Chickasaw Nation, the Choctaw Nation, the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and the Seminole Nation. These are the only federally recognized tribes who use the Dawes Rolls as their base membership rolls.

• Any questions with regard to Cherokee Nation ancestry and/or enrollment should be referred to:

  Cherokee Nation
  PO Box 948
  Tahlequah, OK 74465
  Phone: (918) 456-0671
  Fax: (918) 458-5580www.cherokee.org

• For the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in North Carolina, inquiries about the tribe’s enrollment criteria or information shown in the records may be addressed to the tribe at:

  Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, Qualla Boundary, P.O. Box 455
  Cherokee, NC 28719
  Phone: (828) 497-7000
  Fax: (828) 497-7007https://ebci.com/

• By the Act of August 10, 1946 (60 Stat. 976), Congress recognized the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma (UKB) for the purposes of organizing under the Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act.  Information about ancestry from this tribe and its enrollment requirements may be obtained by contacting:

  United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma
  P.O. Box 746
  Tahlequah, OK 74465
  Phone: (918) 431-1818
  Fax: (918) 431-1873http://www.keetoowahcherokee.org

• Persons without affiliation to any of these tribes but still of Cherokee ancestry are best served looking through the Dawes Commission Rolls for their ancestor’s listing.