Using the Dawes Rolls to find your Cherokee ancestor - 5 -

*Answer to a recent e-mail question on how to find "Grandfather" REAMS or REAMES on the Cherokee Rolls. This person had contacted the Cherokee Nation in North Carolina and had found ‘nothing useful’. *

The Cherokee Nation (Eastern Band) of North Carolina completed their registration Roll in 1924. This was called the Baker Roll, and it used several previous Rolls in North Carolina as a basis for admission. Not all Cherokee descendants registered. They may not have been living in that area at that time, they may not have wanted to identify themselves as Indians, or they may not have had enough money to pay the application fees. These application fees were approximately equal to two to three
months wages at the time.

This persons ancestors may have applied for the Miller Roll in 1906, which was voluntary and covered the whole US and its possessions. The application fee was a bit less expensive and there was a chance of receiving some money from the Miller Roll. This Roll listed the names ofthe Heads of House, Maiden names of spouses, Year and Place of birth, and their residence in 1906, town, county, and state.

To start any search, you need to know about what year your ancestor was born and about what year they died. You also need to know where they lived during their life. Especially important is where did they live during the dates of the various Rolls. If they lived in the right area at the right time, they have a good chance of them being on that Roll.

Going back in time, the Rolls were

1924 - Baker Roll - North Carolina and surrounding states

1908 - Churchill Roll - North Carolina and surrounding states

1906 - Miller Roll - anywhere in the US or its possessions

1900 - Dawes Roll - Oklahoma Territory and surrounding states

1883 - Hester Roll - North Carolina and surrounding states

1880 - Cherokee National Census - Oklahoma and surrounding areas

1869 - Swetland Roll - North Carolina and surrounding states

1852 - Chapman Roll - Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina and surrounding states

1852 - Drennen Roll - Oklahoma and surrounding areas

1851 - Siler Roll - Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina and surrounding states

1851 - Old Settlers Roll - Oklahoma and surrounding areas

1848 - Mullay Roll - North Carolina and surrounding states

1835 - Henderson Roll - Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina

1817 - Reservation Roll and the Emigration Roll - Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina and surrounding areas

For instance, if your ancestor was living near North Carolina in 1900 to 1924, he/she may be listed on the Miller Roll, the Churchill Roll, or the Baker Roll.

In the case of a family named REAMS / REAMES on the Miller Roll of 1906. Quite often it is necessary to check alternative spelling, as most people in the US were illiterate during this period. Their names were recorded by the census takers based on the way the name sounded. REEMS was not a common Cherokee family name, however, REEVES was very common. Depending on your ancestors 'regional accent' and the phonetic ability of the census takers, Reeves and Reams can easily be confused. Just
think of your own experience of people misspelling your family name when you are speaking on the phone.

This list shows the Miller Roll Application Number, Family name in 1906, Given name, Maiden name, Year and State of birth, - Residence in 1906

21493 REAMES, Luvine Eve MELTON, born 1886 in AR - Booneville, Logan Co, AR

37829 REAMS, Bert, b 1879 MO - CENTRALIA, Boone Co, MO

37827 REAMS, Catherine CANNON, b 1843 MO - STURGEON, Boone Co, MO

37831 ROBERTS, Gertie REAMS, b 1879 MO - CENTRALIA, Boone Co, MO

37828 REAMS, John, b 1873 MO - STURGEON, Boone Co, MO

37832 FOUNTAIN, Maggie REAMS, b 1864 MO - STURGEON, Boone Co, MO

37830 DOWNEY, Minnie REAMS, b 1876 MO - SALINE, MERCER Co, MO

This list shows people with this family name that claimed Cherokee blood, and lived in or near Missouri which was part of New Indian Territories from 1804 to 1850. People with Cherokee or any other Indian blood, who lived in Missouri after 1850, kept their mouths shut in fear of 'discovery' by their neighbors. There were strong Anti-Indian laws in effect all over the US from 1840 to about 1935, that were designed and enforced by the federal and state governments to force Indians to live
on reservations.

In nearly every case, you should obtain a copy of your ancestor’s birth or death certificate to find out what their parents names were. Birth and Death certificates were 'uncommon' prior to 1920. If an ancestor was born prior to 1920, the best bet is to find a death certificate for this person or possibly a 'delayed birth certificate' that would have beenissued when the person was an adult.

If you find an ancestor or any relative on the Miller Roll, you should order a copy of their Application Jacket from the US National Archives in Fort Worth, Texas. Photo copies of the original paperwork will cost you an average of $10 per application number (includes all members of the family that were living in that household, including their siblings,children, parents and grandparents names and dates of birth). In many cases, all you can find is someone of the same family name who was
living in the same part of the country. Since families tended to live close together, it is possible that people with the same family name living in the same area, were related by blood or marriage.

If you need to order copies of these papers, be sure to list your ancestor’s name, that they were members of the Cherokee Tribe, they were listed on the Miller Roll, and their Miller Roll Application number. The National Archives office in Fort Worth (Southwest Division) also keeps records of all Indians who were in the New Indian Territories back to 1850, and in some cases, much earlier. The original "New Indian
Territory" covered everything west of the Mississippi and south of the Missouri River, down to the border of New Spain (Republic of Texas).

Using the Dawes Rolls to find your Cherokee ancestor - 4 -

Blood quanta was not a major concern among Cherokees before this time. If a person had a Cherokee mother or if the person was living like a Cherokee, then they were considered Full Blood. If they had a white mother, or were living like whites within the Cherokee Nation, they were considered ‘mixed blood’. When the Dawes Roll was taken in 1900, the US government stressed Blood Quanta and asked each applicant to state how much Cherokee blood they had. Most Cherokees either did not know or did not care, but they found out quickly that if they put down ½ blood or more, the government agents treated them like idiots, incapable of handling their own affairs.

The government assigned a white ‘overseer’ to manage all legal and financial arrangements of Cherokees who were ½ to Full Blood. In many cases, these Cherokee families became virtual slaves to the white overseer, who rapidly ran their farms and bank accounts into ‘false bankruptcy’, so the overseer and his friends could buy-back the fake papers for pennies on the dollar, and claim the land for themselves.

Before the Dawes Roll was finalized in 1917, the government adopted a rule that stated a Cherokee descendant could not claim more blood quanta than what was claimed by their ancestor on the Dawes Roll, divided by 2 for each following generation. Fortunately, the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma has not yet adopted a minimum blood quanta requirement for Tribal membership.

Census Card #5630 belonged to a married daughter Maude Rogers –

Lane Cap L 35 1865 M IW 5630 NR CHELSEA

Lane Maud 31 1869 F 1/16 5630 13515

Lane Estella 8 1892 F 1/32 5630 13516

Lane Ethel L 6 1894 F 1/32 5630 13517

Lane James G 3 1897 M 1/32 5630 13518

The parents of Cap Lane were R.A. & Mattie Lane

Maude Rogers, born ~1869, a resident of Chelsea, OK, married a white man named Cap Lane. They had three children listed above, born between 1892 and 1897. Since Maude and Cap were married after 1875, Cap Lane was not issued a Dawes Roll Number. Cap's name, age and birth date will not appear on the Final Dawes Roll. A listing for his 'numeric position' will simply say "Stricken". Mattie could have claimed ¼ blood but probably not absolutely sure of her parents blood quanta, she just put
down 1/16th, just like her sister who was living near by in the same town.

Now I could follow this family back to the Cherokee National Census of 1880, then to the Old Settlers Roll of 1850 or the Drennen Roll of 1851, and track down Mary America Schrimsher’s family line as well. Since Clement Vann Rogers was born in 1839, his name will not appear on the Trail of Tears Roll of 1835, but his father will be on this Roll.

Using the Dawes Rolls to find your Cherokee ancestor - 3 -

To explain some of the ‘alphabet soup’ you see, I am going to take two
men with a birth date close to your William Rogers and explain the data….


_/Example 1/_


  CHER, FRR, Rogers, William, 21, 1879, M, NR, FRR963, NR

CHER – Cherokee Tribe, CHOC – Choctaw, DEL – Delaware, OS – Osage

NOTE – the Cherokee Dawes Roll initially listed these Tribes separately,
but the Delaware and Osage were combined with the Cherokee on the Final
Dawes Roll in 1917.

FRR – FR – FreedMan, R– Rejected, D - Doubtful

Name -Rogers, William

Age 21, at the time of application

Born ~1879 (estimated based on the average date of Tribal application 1900)

Male

Blood quanta – NR - Not Recorded

Census Card #FRR963

Roll # NR - Not Recorded

Using his Census Card # FRR963, I find on my CD, that his father was
Charley Rogers. His mothers name was not listed on the Census Card. He
did not list a spouse, minor siblings, or any children on his
application. This means he was probably living alone.


_/Example 2/_


  CHER, BB, Rogers, William P, 20, 1880, M, ¼, 4747, 11384

CHER – Cherokee Tribe

BB – By Blood (born Cherokee)

Rogers, William P

Age 20, at time of application

Born ~ 1880

Male

1/4 blood

Census Card #4747

Roll #11384

Using his Census Card #4747, I find on my CD, that his parents were
Clement V and Mary Rogers, and his father Clement was still alive and
living with him. Clem V Rogers and Mary Rogers matches up with the
family information I found on my ancestors death certificate. William’s
estimated date of birth was listed as 1880 instead of 1879, so his
family probably applied for the Rolls in 1899 or, he was only 19 ½ years
old when the application was filed, not yet 20 years old.

This is the ancestor I was looking for, and he was on the Dawes Roll.
With the birth and death certificates I have collected, I can apply for
Tribal membership with the Cherokee Nation, apply for a Certified Degree
of Indian Blood Card (CDIB) from the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), and
I can order several personal documents including a fairly complete
family history of my ancestor from the US National Archives, by using
his Dawes Roll number or his Census Card number.

Additional information on this Census Card, shows Clement V Rogers was
61 in 1900, born ~1839, also ¼ blood Cherokee, Dawes Roll #11383, and
was living in Claremore, Oklahoma when he applied. His wife Mary
Schrimsher did not have a date of birth listed because she had died
prior to the enrollment date.

His census card showed no other children living at home and William was
not listed with a wife or children of his own. I checked other ‘family
records’ and find that his child that I am descended from was born in
1909, so William was not married at the time of the Dawes Roll in 1900.

However, by analysis of his parents Census Card Numbers I can see all of
their other children who claimed them as parents when these children
filed their own Dawes Roll Applications.

CLEM V ROGERS is listed as a ‘Parent’ of these Census Card numbers 4899,
5461, and 5630.

Searching my CD for Cherokee Census Card numbers I find –

Census Card #4899 belonged to a married daughter May Rogers, a resident
of Talala, OK

Stine May 27 1873 F 1/4 11696

Yocum John V 7 1893 M 1/8 11697

Stine Edward J 1 1899 M 1/8 11698

Stine Frank ( father of Edward Stine)

Yocum Matt (father of John V Yokum)

May Stine listed her parents as Clement V and Mary Rogers. She was born
~1873, she had married Matt Yocum and had a son John V Yocum in 1893,
then she married Frank Stine and had a son Edward J Stine in 1899. She
and her children were registered on the Dawes Roll, she was 1/4 blood,
her children were 1/8th blood and her husbands blood quanta, dates of
birth etc were not listed. This indicates they were probably white men.

Census Card #5461 belonged to a married daughter Sallie Rogers -

McSpadden John T 48 1852 M IW 175

McSpadden Sallie C 36 1864 F 1/16 13071

McSpadden Clem M 13 1887 M 1/32 13072

McSpadden Maud I 4 1896 F 1/32 13075

McSpadden May 9 1891 F 1/32 13073

McSpadden Herbert T 7 1893 M 1/32 13074

McSpadden Helen 1 1899 F 1/32 13076

McSpadden Pauline 1 1899 F 1/32 13077

McSpadden Tom (father of John T McSpadden)

McSpadden Elizabeth J (mother of John T McSpadden)

Sallie C Rogers was born ~1864, married a White man John T McSpadden,
b~1852 (listed as IW = Intermarried White) and had several children
(listed above) and was living in Chelsea, OK in 1900. Her husband was
initially issued an “Intermarried White” Dawes Roll #IW-175. In 1917,
when the Dawes Roll was finalized, the government 'Struck' the names of
Intermarried Whites who had not married Cherokees prior to 1875, so his
name will not appear on the Final Roll. Sallie could have claimed ¼
blood but probably not absolutely sure of her parents blood quanta, she
just put down 1/16th.
(TO BE CONTINUED)

Using the Dawes Rolls to find your Cherokee ancestor - 2 -

Now go to the Dawes Rolls and search for William Rogers. I use my CD on “The Five Civilized Tribes – Dawes Rolls Applications” because everybody is listed alphabetically with estimated dates of birth, Tribal affiliation, degree of blood, Roll numbers and their Census Card Numbers. With Census Card numbers, you can discover every member of the family that was living together when the Dawes application was taken (1896 to 1902).

This CD covers Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, Seminole Tribes and the Adopted or Assimilated Delaware, Osage, Shawnee Tribal members as well as white spouses (Intermarried Whites) and Assimilated FreedMen (ex-slaves that had been adopted by the various Indian Nations). The CD covers everybody who was listed on any application, even if they were a dead parent, or the applicant was Rejected, found Doubtful, or even Stricken from the final Roll.

This copyrighted CD is available for $27 on my web site at
www.CherokeeByBlood.com/cd.htm 

If you are fortunate, you may find a copy of the Final Dawes Roll on the  web. It is 650 pages long and is listed by Tribe and Dawes Roll Number. It will drive you nuts or blind while searching for each person named William Rogers, then researching the entire Tribal listing for matching Census Card numbers to see who their family members were. Just imagine your local phone book being listed in numerical sequence instead of alphabetical order.

Findings - William Rogers listed on the Dawes Rolls (25 individuals)

This data is in the following order - Tribe, Application Type, Name, Age at time of Application, approximate Year of birth, Sex, Blood quanta, Census Card #, Roll #, District of residence

CHER BB Rogers William C 51 1849 M 1/4 6199 14781

CHER BB Rogers William R 42 1858 M 1/4 5445 13038

CHER BB Rogers William H 37 1863 M 1/8 3172 28707

CHER BB Rogers William G 35 1865 M 1/4 4236 10205

CHER BB Rogers William 32 1870 M 3/4 9205 21015

CREK BB Rogers William P 28 1872 M 7/8 24 89

CHER F Rogers William 26 1874 M NR F1505 4123

CHER FD Rogers William 26 1874 M FD806

CHOC BB Rogers William F 25 1875 M 3/32 1774 5030

CHER BB Rogers William O 25 1875 M 1/4 4655 11159

CHER F Rogers William 25 1875 M F584 1470

CHER FD Rogers William 21 1879 M FD652

CHER FRR Rogers William 21 1879 M NR FRR963 NR

CHER BB Rogers William P 20 1880 M 1/4 4747 11384

CHER BB Rogers William M 15 1885 M 1/8 831 22687

CHER BB Rogers William E 11 1889 M 1/16 2963 23699

CHER BB Rogers William P 9 1891 M 1/4 1035 2827

CHER AD Rogers William E 6 1894 M 3/8 10469 31111

DEL OS Rogers William E 6 1894 M 3/8 OS88 NR

CHER BB Rogers William L 5 1895 M 1/16 2829 7093

CHER BB Rogers William 4 1896 M 1/2 1880 4976

CHER BB Rogers William Jr 3 1897 M 1/8 6199 14782

CHER M Rogers William Penn 3 1903 M FULL M2405 2684

CHER M Rogers William E 2 1904 M 1/16 M2878 3328

CHOC BB Rogers William F Jr 1 1899 M 3/64 1774 5031

Start ‘thinning the herd’ by rejecting those that are way too old or way too young. I typically use a spread of ± 10 years because the estimated dates of birth are ESTIMATES based on an ASSUMED average date of application of 1900.

Those William Rogers born about 1869 to 1889 (1979 ± 10 years)

CHER FD Rogers William 26 1874 M FD806

CHOC BB Rogers William F 25 1875 M 3/32 1774 5030

CHER BB Rogers William O 25 1875 M 1/4 4655 11159

CHER F Rogers William 25 1875 M F584 1470

CHER FD Rogers William 21 1879 M FD652

CHER FRR Rogers William 21 1879 M NR FRR963 NR

CHER BB Rogers William P 20 1880 M 1/4 4747 11384

CHER BB Rogers William M 15 1885 M 1/8 831 22687

CHER BB Rogers William E 11 1889 M 1/16 2963 23699

Now I have only 9 ‘likely suspects’ and I am going to solve this puzzle with ‘forensic genealogy’ or a ‘family fingerprint’. I will compare the names of his parents, spouses, and any children born before the application date.
(TO BE CONTINUED)

Using the Dawes Rolls to find your Cherokee ancestor - 1 -

Start a ‘Family Tree’ or ‘Pedigree Chart’ and fill in the names, dates and places of birth of your parents, then your grandparents, and your great grandparents. You need to go back far enough to find your ancestors that were living at the time of the Dawes Roll (1900-1906). The Dawes Roll covered the modern day states of Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and parts of Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. The
Tribes or Indian Nations that were included were Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, and Seminole.

The Cherokee Roll included Adopted or Assimilated Delaware, Osage, and Shawnee who had married into one of the other Tribes and were living in that area. The Roll included Assimilated or Adopted FreedMen who were ex-slaves, mulattoes, and other ‘mixed bloods’ that were generally called “Black Indians”. Whites who had married into the various Tribes prior to 1875, were listed under the individual Tribes as “Intermarried Whites”. Whites that married an Indian after 1875 were initially given
Roll Numbers which were ‘Stricken From The Roll’ before final publication in 1917.

Thousands of Indian families applied for the Dawes Roll but were classified as Doubtful or Rejected on the Final Roll. Generally speaking, these people were ‘stricken’ because the government could not identify their ancestors on one of the earlier ‘qualifying Rolls’. In many cases, it was simply a matter of spelling of the family name or the name their ancestor was using at home did not match their ‘legal’ name
listed on earlier records. All of these people and the ‘Stricken’ Intermarried Whites are listed on the Dawes Applications Rolls which is available on a CD.

Search for information by asking your relatives to help you with the information and collect birth and or death certificates. These documents show the names of the person’s parents. Bible records, church records, cemetery records, military service records, obituaries, wills and other court documents will reinforce the data you find.

Warning, some of your elder relatives might resent your asking about Indian ancestors. Strong Anti-Indian laws were in effect from 1840 to 1935 that were primarily designed to force Indians to live on Reservations. Some of your elder relatives may have had this discrimination taught to them as children. My advice is not to mention Indian ancestors unless your relative says it first.

In this pile of information you collected, you discover you are descended from a William Penn Rogers that was born in Oklahoma in 1879. Oklahoma was where the Five Civilized Tribes were living at the time, and 1879 was before the Dawes Roll, so he is a ‘good candidate’ for being on the Dawes Roll. From his death certificate, you find his parent’s names were Clement Vann Rogers and Mary America Schrimsher.

- to be continued -

How to Start Your Cherokee Search -3-

Most Counties recorded Birth and Deaths at the "County Seat" as far back as 1850. These old records were stored in the Court House basement where these paper records, with water soluble ink, slowly rotted away. In the years before electricity, the county clerks reviewed these records with kerosene lanterns or open candles, just begging for a fire. I suppose you have heard the term "100 year flood". Since 1850, nearly every county court house in the country has had some sort of flood in their basement.

A County record can be used to fill in the Pedigree Chart. If you find your ancestors on the ‘Right Roll’ that would enable you to apply for Tribal membership, a County record is not permissible. The Tribe and the BIA require a State Certified certificate as 'proof of descent', but there are loopholes and ways around this requirement. A few of my clients have been able to get County Clerks to present the data from earlier birth records to officials in local State offices and have the information transcribed to official State embossed paper, and use those documents as their ‘proof’. The Bureau of Indian Affairs say these birth and death records must be on official State stationary (embossed or with a Raised Seal) that is not subject to editing. A black and white photo copy can be edited, but the embossed State papers cannot.

If you are not collecting genealogical information for Tribal Membership, then you do not need official Birth and Death certificates. They may be ‘nice to have’ as in many cases, they are the only ‘official records’ of your ancestor’s existence.

A ‘*Back Door*’ to Native American family history

If you cannot find direct evidence of your direct ancestors (grandparents, great grandparents, etc) on the official Rolls, it can be helpful to find their siblings or other close family members, since a sibling’s or cousin’s family history will be the same as your branch of the family. Additional sources for finding your ancestors or their siblings can be found in several Cherokee genealogy books, written by Cherokees for Cherokees, between 1825 and 1900, when the information was still 'fresh' in the memory of the elder ladies of the Tribe.

In some cases, you will only be able to find people with the same Family name, that were living in the same State or town as your ancestors, who applied for one of the Rolls. Since people in this period tended to travel in 'packs' and living close to a relative was essential for farm labor and health care, these people will be Kin-Folk to your relatives, and their family history will be nearly the same as yours.

When people Applied for these Rolls, they had to submit the names and birth dates of their parents and their grandparents, and where they were born or living in 1850. They also had to submit letters stating their family history and a connection to the Cherokee Nation. All of their information is still on-file in the National Archives (only in Washington DC and Fort Worth, Texas). Photo-copies can be ordered for as little as $10 for each Application Number or Roll Number, which will include all of the members of the family living under the same roof.

In the case of the Miler Roll of Eastern Cherokees, the applicants listed names, dates of birth and residences of their siblings, married children, children living at home, their parents, their grandparents, their spouse and his immediate family. Quite often, you can find several people with your family name who were living in the same county as your ancestors in 1906. These people are most likely siblings or cousins of your ancestors

Not everyone applied for these Rolls. Many Cherokees disagreed with the terms of the Treaties and thought by ‘picketing’ they could force the government to grant better conditions. Others simply disagreed on political grounds, lived in the wrong State or Territory, or misspelled their ancestors family name. Other people thought some of these government Rolls were scams to trick them into identifying themselves so they could be rounded up and exiled to a reservation.

How to Start Your Cherokee Search -2-

Cemetery and Church records can be a big help. In some cases, cemetery records will show all the members of a family that are in that cemetery and their relationships to each other. Some tombstones will have inscriptions listing family relationship. From these records, dates and places of death will enable you to order death certificates or will assist you while scouring County records.

Beware of Census Records. Prior to 1850, these records only listed the name of the Head of the House with all other family members reduced to statistics. 1850 was the first year that each family members name and age was recorded. Spelling of names vary tremendously from one census to the next. In some cases, a John Bedford Phipps would be listed as John, Jim or James, or Bedford, using his middle name instead of his given name. Phipps could be spelled Phips, Fips, Fipps or Fitts. Since most people in the US were illiterate, they had no idea how to spell their name and it was up to the census taker to write it down the best way they could.

Around 1850, it became obvious to the census takers that most people had no idea what year they were born in or exactly how old they were. The census takers were instructed to put down how old they looked. When you find gross inconsistencies between one census and the next, be aware that when the census takers ‘came calling’ families were not very forthcoming with what they considered as ‘personal information’. In most cases, if a family was not at home, the census taker would collect the information from their next door neighbor. This was done under the assumption that neighbors were closely related or intimately familiar with each other.

If you can locate Social Security numbers for any deceased ancestor, write the info down on the Pedigree Chart or in an associated file. Please do not record social security numbers for living persons, as it can lead to identity theft if the file is lost or accidentally disposed of. When people apply for a Social Security Card, they have to fill out an application on a "Form-5" and list their parent’s names and their dates and places of birth. Any local social security office can process your request for an ancestors Form-5, or can give you’re the proper form and an address to contact.

If your ancestor’s family applied for any Death Benefits, burial assistance, financial support for minor children, support for an elderly spouse, etc, there will be a record of them in the Social Security Death Index (SSDI), which is on-line. Just type SSDI into your search engine. If you find an ancestor on this list, the information on their death will enable you to order a copy of their SS Form-5 or and/or a copy of their death certificate from the state archives.

If Birth or Death Certificates need to be ordered, most on-line SSDI sites have listings of the Bureau of Vital Statistics offices for most states. Under recent provisions of the Patriot Act, only a blood relative can order copies of these documents. You typically need to include a photo copy of your drivers license with your request and specify how you are related to the person.

Death certificates are important as they will list the persons age and year of death, so it is easy to calculate their Year of Birth. Most importantly, this certificate will show the names of their parents, and usually the maiden name of their mother. Birth and Death Certificates were not kept by most states until they were mandated by federal law in 1920. If an ancestor was born before 1920, there will be no Birth Certificate at the State level, but there will probably be a Death Certificate.