Early Records – What are the ROLLS? - Part 4

*Drennen Roll of 1852 (Treaty of 1846)* This Roll was comprised of the survivors of the Trail of Tears on 1837-1838, and their descendants, who had remained in the prescribed area until 1852. They were considered as a separate political group and not combined with the Old Settlers. These people had not been paid for their Cherokee land claims before leaving. The Drennen Roll lists 13,905 Cherokees which were paid an average of $93 for their Cherokee land Claims. The distribution of these funds was conducted by Colonel John Drennen at Fort Gibson, Indian Territory. This Roll lists families by Postal District, starting with the Head of the House, and listing the Cherokee spouse and any children in order of their ages. Their ages were not actually recorded, only their ‘order’ of birth. These postal districts were Canadian, Delaware, Flint, Going Snake, Illinois, Saline, Skin Bayou, Tahlequah, and a Disputed Roll for non-residents.

*Dawes Roll 1898-1914* Currently, the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma (western band) used the Dawes Roll for new members. In order to apply for Tribal Membership or a Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Certified Degree of Indian Blood (CDIB) card, you must have a direct ancestor on the Final Dawes Roll (your ancestor was issued a Dawes Roll number and their degree of Indian blood (blood quanta) must have been recorded. They require you to produce certified state original birth or death certificates to connect yourself to that ancestor. Each of the Five Civilized Tribes (Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, and Seminole) had similar Dawes Rolls taken at about the same time, and recorded the same type of information. Most of these Tribes have similar requirements for a person to apply for Tribal Membership. Being ‘on the Dawes Roll’ is typically what is meant if you say your ancestors were “On The Roll”, because it was the most important Roll of the Western branch of the Cherokee Nation. This Roll was open to survivors and descendants of the Old Settlers Roll of 1851 (descendants of the Emigration Roll of 1817) and the Drennen Roll of 1852 (descendants of the Trail of Tears Roll of 1835). This list covers approximately 26,000 individuals and is divided into five sections …

*By Blood* - included Cherokee, Assimilated Osage, Assimilated Delaware, and Assimilated Shawnee.
*Intermarried Whites* - covered spouses that were either white or had blood quanta from another Tribe. This section was culled in 1814 to only list those that had been married to their Cherokee spouse prior to 1875.
*NewBorns* – taken in 1905 to cover children born after the registration cutoff date of 1902. Parents of these children had to have been previously registered under the By Blood section.
*Minors* – taken in 1906 and covered all Minor children (under the age of 18) that had not been previously registered. Parents and older siblings that attempted to enroll at this time, were Stricken from the Final Dawes Roll.
*FreedMen* – Free blacks, mulattoes, ex-slaves, Black Indians. Many of these people had Cherokee blood quanta, but were not allowed to report that information to the Dawes Commission.
(to be continued)