Tennessee Indigenous Peoples: Difference between revisions

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| link2=[[Indigenous Peoples of the United States Genealogy|Indigenous Peoples of the United States Research]]

Learn about the tribes and bands, history, records, agency, and reservations of the Indian of Tennessee.

[[File:Cherokee - Men and women, collage.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Cherokees John Ross (Tsanusdi), Colonel E. C. Boudinot Jr., Samuel Smith, Lilly Smith, Walini, Marcia Pascal, Lillian Gross, William Penn, and Thomas M. Cook]]The prominent early Indian tribes in Tennessee were the Cherokee and the Chickasaw. The Chickasaws claimed most of western Tennessee as their hunting grounds. The Cherokees claimed southeastern Tennessee and northeast Georgia as their homeland. By 1818, the Chickasaws had ceded their land away by treaty to the State of Tennessee. <br><br>  

The majority of Cherokees living in Tennessee were forced to go to the Indian Territory (now a part of Oklahoma) in the 1830s. A few hid in the mountains bordering Tennessee and North Carolina. "Documenting descent from Native Americans who did not remove from Tennessee is usually a major challenge."  Gale Williams Bamman, CG, "Research in Tennessee,'' "National Genealogical Society Quarterly'', Vol. 81, No. 2 (Jun. 1993): 111-113. {{FHL|39597|item|disp=FHL book 973 B2ng v. 81 (1993)}}.  People suspecting such descent may wish to consider Native American DNA tests, such as those available through [http://www.familytreedna.com/ FamilyTreeDNA] (while being aware of the limitations of such tests). <br>

See [[Indians of Oklahoma]] for information about the five civilized tribes and their records in Oklahoma. <br>

The following list of American Indians who have lived in Tennessee has been compiled from Hodge's ''Handbook of American Indians...''Hodge, Frederick Webb. ''Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico''. Washington D.C.:Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin #30 1907. <br>[https://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/handbook-of-american-indians-north-of-mexico.htm Available online] and from Swanton's ''The Indian Tribes of North America'' Swanton John R. ''The Indian Tribes of North America''. Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin #145 [http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/tennessee/index.htm Available online]. Some may simply be variant spellings for the same tribe. <br>  

*[[Yuchi Indians|Yuchi]]

::1 January 1833 list of Cherokees of Tennessee. ''The Journal of American Indian Family Research''. Vol. 5 no. 1 page 46-51 FHL 970.1 J825j

For maps showing tribal lands in Tennessee, see:  

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For a history of Indians in Tennessee, see:  

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*'''Williams, Samuel Cole, editor.''' <i>Adair's History of the American Indians.</i> By James Adair. Microfilm of reprint published: Nashville, Tennessee: National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in Tennessee, 1953. Original published: Johnson City, Tennessee: Watauga Press, 1930. This is an account of Adair's expeditions and associations with the principal tribes of the Indians of the Southeast United States spanning 30 years in the mid-1700's. This annotated edition is indexed and contains a reproduction of the original title page, London, 1775. {{FHL|50671|item|disp= FHL film 1320683, Item 2}}

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[[Agencies of the Bureau of Indian Affairs|Agencies]] and subagencies were created as administrative offices of the [[Bureau of Indian Affairs|Bureau of Indian Affairs]] and its predecessors. Their purpose was (and is) to manage Indian affairs with the tribes, to enforce policies, and to assist in maintaining the peace. The names and location of these agencies may have changed, but their purpose remained basically the same. Many of the records of genealogical value were created by these offices.  

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<br>The <b>majority of records of individuals were those created by the agencies</b>. Some records may be available to tribal members through the tribal headquarters.They were (and are) the local office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and were charged with maintaining records of the activities of those under their responsibility. Among these records are:<br>  

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The [[Tennessee State Library and Archives|Tennessee State Library and Archives]] (TSLA) offers a free research guide at their website:  

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<br>For more sources on specific tribes, use the Subject Search of the FamilySearch Catalog under the name of the tribe. Other sources are listed in the Place Search of the FamilySearch Catalog under: <br>  

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See also:

*[[American Indian For Further Reading]]

*Hill, Edward E., <i>The Office of Indian Affairs, 1824-1180: Historical Sketches</i>. Clearwater Publishing Co., Inc., 1974.

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[[Category:Tennessee Cultural Groups]]