Untitled Document
Cherokee Rolls
Reservation Rolls
1817: A listing of those desiring a 640 acre tract in the east
and permitted to reside there.
Emigration Rolls
1817-35: Those who filed to emigrate [from the East] to Arkansas
country and after 1828, to Oklahoma.
Henderson Roll 1835: A census of over
16,000 Cherokee residing in Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, and North
Carolina to be removed to Oklahoma under the treaty of New Echota
(1835).
Mulay Roll 1848: This was a census of
1,517 Cherokee people remaining in North Carolina after the removal
of 1838. John C. Mullay took the census pursuant to an act of
Congress in 1848.
Siler Roll 1851: A listing of some 1700
Eastern Cherokee entitled to a per capita payment pursuant to
an act of Congress in 1850.
Chapman Roll 1852: Prepared by Albert
Chapman as a listing of those Cherokee actually receiving payment
based on the Siler census.
Swetland Roll 1869: Prepared by S. H.
Swetland as a listing of those Cherokee, and their descendants,
who were listed as remaining in North Carolina by Mullay in 1848.
Made pursuant to an act of Congress (1868) for a removal payment
authorization.
Hester Roll 1883: Compiled by Joseph G. Hester as a roll of Eastern
Band of Cherokee Indians in 1883. (This roll is an excellent source
of information, including ancestors, Chapman Roll number, age,
English name and Indian name.
Churchill Roll 1908: By inspector Frank
C. Churchill to certify members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee
Indians. Like the Hester Roll, includes a lot of information including
degree of blood. Rejectees also are included.
Guion Miller Roll
1909: Compiled by Mr. Miller of all Eastern Cherokee, not Old
Settlers, residing either east or west of the Mississippi. Ordered
by Court of Claims as a result of suit won by the Eastern Cherokee.
See Guion Miller Roll West for more details.
Baker Roll 1924: This was supposed to
be the final roll of the Eastern Cherokee. The land was to be
alloted and all were to become regular citizens. Fortunately the
Eastern Cherokee avoided the termination procedures, unlike their
brothers of the Nation to the west. The Baker Roll Revised is
the current membership of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians
in North Carolina.
THE ROLLS WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI
Since the removal in 1838, there have been numerous census taken
of those Cherokee now finding themselves west of the Mississippi
instead of their homeland in the east.
The most information and cross reference can be obtained by utilizing
four major census as follow:
Old Settler Roll 1851: A listing of
Cherokee still living in 1851 who were already residing in Oklahoma
when the main body of the Cherokee arrived in the winter of 1839
- as a result of the Treaty of New Echota (1835). Approximately
one-third of the Cherokee people at that time were Old Settlers
and two thirds were new arrivals.
Drennan Roll 1852: The first census
of the new arrivals of 1839. The New Echota Treaty group - "Trail
of Tears."
Dawes Roll 1898-1914: The final roll for allotting the land and
terminating the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. Senator Henry L.
Dawes was the commis-sion's chairman, and consequently, the name
Dawes is associated with the final roll. The roll turned out to
not be as final as it was expected to be. Upon the reorganization
of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma in the 1970s, the Dawes Roll
became the only means of certifying membership. To be enrolled
by the Cherokee Nation, one must prove ancestry to a person enrolled
by Dawes. Information on enrollment with the Cherokee Nation may
be obtained by writing to the Cherokee Nation Tribal Registrar,
Tahlequah, OK.
Guion Miller Roll 1909: A Court of Claims
suit resulted in members of the Eastern Cherokee living either
east or west of the Mississippi, not including the Old Settlers,
to be entitled to participate in a monetary award by the Court,
as result of various treaty violations.
In order to participate, one had to
be alive on May 28, 1906 and establish themselves as a member
of the Eastern Cherokee, or a descendant of, at the time of the
violated treaties. 48,847 seperate applications were filed, representing
some 90,000 individuals. Out of this number, 3,436 Cherokee east
of the Mississippi and 27,284 Cherokee west of the Mississippi
were certified by Mr. Miller as being eligible to participate
in the award.
One lucky enough to find an ancestor
on this roll can find out a tremendous amount of information.
Not only is the roll detailed, but copies of the actually [sic]
applications are available, which in most cases, go back to the
mid and early 1800s.