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Oklahoma Indigenous Peoples

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United States Gotoarrow.png Oklahoma Gotoarrow.png American Indian Research Gotoarrow.png Indians of Oklahoma

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Click this button for links to databases, indexes, or sites that help you find an American Indian ancestor by topic or tribe.


Learn about the Indians of Oklahoma, tribes and bands, Five Civilized Tribes, agencies, records, Dawes Rolls, Guion Miller, and Indian Pioneer Paper, and repositories.

Online Resources

See also:

Tribes and Bands of Oklahoma

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The following list of American Indians who have lived in Oklahoma has been compiled from Hodge's Handbook of American Indians...[1] and from Swanton's The Indian Tribes of North America[2]. Some may simply be variant spellings for the same tribe.

Alabama, Apache, Apalachee, Arapaho, Biloxi, Caddo, Cherokee, Cheyenne, Chickasaw, Comanche, Creek, Delaware, Fox, Hitchiti,Illinois, Iowa, Iroquois, Jicarilla, Kansa, Kichai, Kickapoo, Kiowa, Kiowa-Apache, Koasati, Lipan, Miami, Mikasuki, Missouri, Modoc, Muklasa, Munsee, Muskhogean, Muskogee, Natchez, Nez Perce, Okmulgee, Osage, Oto, Ottawa. Pawnee, Peoria, Piankashaw, Ponca, Potawatomi, Quapaw, Sauk Seminole, Seneca, Shawnee, Tawakonie, Tawehash, Tonkawa,Waco, Wea, Wichita, Wyandot, Yscani, Yuchi

Oto-Missouri, Seneca-Cayuga, Cheyenne-Arapaho, Citizen Potawatomi, Eastern Shawnee, Fort Sill Indians, Kiowa-Chiricahua Bands

The Oklahoma Historical Society also has identified the "American Indian Nations" within the boundaries of their state. That list is available on their web site.

Wright, Muriel Hazel. A Guide to the Indian Tribes of Oklahoma. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1986. FHL book 970.466 W934g or film 1598340 item 11

Five Civilized Tribes (Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole)

Beginning in the 1820's, the U.S. Government began moving all tribes east of the Mississippi River to the Indian Territory in western Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma. A series of treaties provided for the removal of almost all principal eastern tribes.

The Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, and Seminole (known as the Five Civilized Tribes) were among the many southeastern tribes who were removed by treaty to Indian Territory. In 1838 the Cherokees who had not already moved voluntarily were forced to move to Indian Territory. This migration became known as the “Trail of Tears.” Large parcels of land were distributed to these five tribes who became self-governing “Nations.”

White settlers moving west after the Civil War pressured the government to extinguish Indian title to lands and relocate the Indians. The alliance between the Five Civilized Tribes and the Confederacy during the Civil War also provided Congress with an excuse to realign tribal boundaries. Treaties in 1866 and later reduced the land of the Five Civilized Tribes by almost half. These created the “Unassigned Lands” in central Oklahoma that were eventually opened for land runs.

Other Tribes

Some of the western land forfeited by the Five Civilized Tribes was reserved for other tribes through later treaties. These lands in the Indian Territory were assigned to tribes such as the Kiowa, Comanche, Wichita, and Cheyenne. Other tribes were later brought in at various periods from Texas, Nebraska, California, Oregon, Idaho, Arizona, and other states. As many as 65 tribes were eventually relocated to the state.

Agencies of the Bureau of Indian Affairs

Agencies and subagencies were created as administrative offices of the 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.

The following list of agencies that have operated or now exist in Oklahoma has been compiled from Hill's Office of Indian Affairs...[3], Hill's Guide to Records in the National Archives Relating to American Indians[4], and others.

Records

The majority of records of individuals were those created by the agencies. 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:

The Indian Archives Division of the Oklahoma Historical Society has an extensive collection for Native American research including copies of the Dawes Rolls. Many of these records are on microfilm at theFamily History Library.

Rolls of Indian Tribes in Oklahoma 1889-1891: Absentee Shawnee (Big Jim's Band), Cheyenne and Arapahoe, Iowa, Kickapoo, Kiowa, Comanche, and Apache, Otoe, Missouri, Pawnee, Ponca, Pottawatomie and Fox. by Emily Johnson FHL film: 227281

Approved Roll of Osage Indians in Oklahoma, 1921. FHL film: 989199 item 2

Vital Records Fort Sill Apaches, 1958-1961. FHL film: 928251 item 8

Allotment Records

Allotted Tribes of Oklahoma

•Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Delaware, Shawnee (Eastern), Miami, Modoc, Creek (Muskogee,) Osage, Ottawa (Peoria), Quapaw, Seminole, Seneca, Shawnee (Absentee), Wyandotte •Apache of Oklahoma, Caddo, Cheyenne and Arapaho, Comanche, Fort Sill Apaches, Iowa, Kansa or Kaw, Kickapoo, Kiowa and Comanche, Otoe and Missouri, Pawnee, Ponca, Potawatomi-Citizen, Sac and Fox of Mississippi, Tonkawa, (Ponca, Oakland), Wichita •Otoe

School Records

  • Carter Seminary, 1928-1950. FHL film: 1205529 item 2-6
  • Chilcocco Indian School 1885-1901,1944-1952 FHL film: 1205529 items 7-13
  • Eucheee Indian School lists, 1940-1947. FHL film: 1205529 item 14
  • Eufaula Indian School enrollment lists, 1942-1944, 1949-1950. FHL film: 1205529 item 15-16
  • Jones Academy 1926-1952, FHL film: 1205530 items 3-5
  • Seneca Indian School. 1943-1950. FHL film: 1205530 items 7-8
  • Sequoyah Indian School 1910-1950. FHL film: 1205530 items 9-11, and 1205531, and 1205299 item 4

Orphanage

The Goodland Indian Orphanage. By Sammy D. Hogue. FHL  book 970.1 H874r Vol. 1 and 2  Worldcat

Indian Schools

The Office of Indian Affairs (now the Bureau of Indian Affairs) established a network of schools throughout the United States, beginning with Carlisle Indian School, established in 1879. Some of these schools were day schools, usually focusing on Indian children of a single tribe or reservation. Some were boarding schools which served Indian children from a number of tribes and reservations.

In addition, other groups such as various church denominations established schools specifically focusing on American Indian children. (read more...)

The following list of Indian Schools in Oklahoma has been compiled from Hill's Office of Indian Affairs...[5], Hill's Guide to Records in the National Archives Relating to American Indians[6], and others.

Indian Health Facilities

Land Allotment Records

Main article: American Indian Allotment Records


Many Indians received allotments of land. These records are described in the United States Research Outline (30972).

Dawes Rolls

Main article: Dawes Commission Enrollment Records


The Dawes “Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes”  (Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek and Seminole) was established in 1898 to enroll individuals as citizens of one of the five tribes. When the governments of the Five Civilized Tribes were dissolved in 1908, the U.S. Government granted parcels of their land to qualified native individuals.

Many white persons had married Native Americans, and thus were eligible for land. The enrollment records of the Dawes Commission were used to determine eligibility for land.

The commission reviewed the enrollment applications and abstracted the information onto cards known as Enrollment Cards for the Five Civilized Tribes, 1898-1914. (On 93 Family History Library films beginning with 1490261.) These records document about 101,000 Native Americans. The original applications are at the National Archives Southwest Region (Ft. Worth) and are on 468 Family History Library films, Applications for Enrollment of the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes, 1898-1914, beginning with Family History Library film 1439798.

You can search the Dawes Roll for names of persons.

A helpful guide and index to these records is Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes, The Final Rolls of Citizens and Freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes in Indian Territory.2 vols. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, [1907?]. (Family History Library film 908371 item 2.) (Index is on film 962366.)

Guion Miller Cherokee Rolls

Main article: Eastern Cherokee or Guion Miller Roll


In 1906, the U.S. Government appointed Guion Miller to compile a roll of Cherokees eligible for compensation from the government for lands taken in the 1830s. Applicants had to document their lineage back to an Eastern Cherokee living in the 1830s and prove that they had not affiliated with any other tribe. Over 45,000 applications that document about 90,000 Cherokees living about 1910 are in Eastern Cherokee Applications, 1906-1909 (On 348 Family History Library films beginning with 378594; film 378594 has an index.)

These rolls can be searched online at http://www.archives.gov/research/arc/native-americans-guion-miller.html

Doris Duke Oral History Project

From 1966 to 1972, several universities conducted oral history interviews with Native Americans. The project was funded by Doris Duke, heiress of the Duke tobacco family. The University of Oklahoma was one of the universities that participated in the project. Transcripts of those interviews are online through the University of Oklahoma in Norman. See American Indian Oral Histories

Indian Pioneer Papers

"My mother, Carolina Jones, was born in the state of Tennessee and is buried there. My grandmother on my mother's side, Nancy Jones, was born in the state of Mississippi and is buried in White County, Tennessee. I was born April 3, 1849, at Stagestand, White County, Tennessee... "[7]

This paragraph begins a fourteen page interview of William Perry Earles of Ringling, Oklahoma, 1938, as part of a project called The Indian-Pioneer Papers . In 1936, the Oklahoma Historical Society and University of Oklahoma requested a writer's project grant from the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in which interviews would be conducted with early settlers in Oklahoma who had lived on Indian land. More than 100 writers conducted over 11,000 interviews and were asked to "call upon early settlers and (record) the story of the migration to Oklahoma and their early life here."[8]

The University of Oklahoma Western History Collection has digitized the Indian Pioneer Papers which consists of approximately 80,000 indexed entries arranged alphabetically by personal name, place name, or subject. [9] An index to the Indian Pioneer Papers may also be found at OkGenWeb Oklahoma Genealogy. To view a separate index of the “Indians in the Indian Pioneer Papers” click here.

The Collection may also be viewed at the Family History Library. "Indian Pioneer Papers, 1860 - 1935" (Millwood, New York: Kraus Microform, 1989) FHL 6016865-6016981

Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Records

The U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) was authorized to administer Indian programs beginning in 1824. A local field agency or subagency of the BIA served the tribes in a given area. Some of the agencies that served Oklahoma were the Concho, Kiowa, Osage, Pawnee, Quapaw, and Shawnee. Most of the agency records are at the National Archives Southwest Region (Ft. Worth), with a few at the National Archives—Central Plains Region. For further information see Edward E. Hill, comp., Guide to Records in the National Archives Relating to American Indians. Washington, D.C.: National Archives, 1981. (Family History Library fiche 6125461.)

The Family History Library has microfilm copies of many records of the BIA and the field agencies including:

Reservations

From the mid-1800s, the official policy of the United States government toward the American Indian was to confine each tribe to a specific parcel of land called a reservation. Agencies were established on or near each reservation. A government representative, usually called an agent (or superintendent) was assigned to each agency. Their duties included maintaining the peace, making payments to the Native Americans based on the stipulations of the treaties with each tribe, and providing a means of communication between the native population and the federal government.

Sometimes, a single agency had jurisdiction over more than one reservation. And sometimes, if the tribal population and land area required it, an agency may have included sub-agencies.

The boundaries of reservations, over time, have changed. Usually, that means the reservations have been reduced in size. Sometimes, especially during the later policy of "termination," the official status of reservations was ended altogether.

For a current reservation map - Oklahoma - Indian Reservations - The National Atlas of the United States of America. Federal Lands and Indian Reservations. by the U.S. Department of Interior and U.S. Geological Survey.

The following list of reservations has been compiled from the National Atlas of the United States of America[10], the Omni Gazetteer of the United States of America[11], and other sources. Those reservations named in bold are current federally-recognized reservations, with their associated agency and tribe(s). Others have historically been associated with the state or are not currently recognized by the federal government.

Family History Library

These are listed in the FamilySearch Catalog under Oklahoma Historical Society. Indian Archives Division. The Society's collections are described in Lawrence Kelly, “Indian Records in the Oklahoma Historical Society Archives,” The Chronicles of Oklahoma, 54: 227-44 [Oklahoma Periodicals].

Another major repository for Oklahoma Indian records is:

Five Civilized Tribes Museum
Federal Building
Agency Hill
Honor Heights Drive
Muskogee, OK 74401
Telephone: 918-683-1701
Fax: 918-683-3070
Internet: www.fivetribes.org

See also FamilySearch Catalog Oklahoma Natvie Races ror over 600 titles of interest

Inventories and guides

The following guides describe some of the records available for Indian research:

  • Debo, Angie. “Major Indian Record Collections in Oklahoma,” in Indian-White Relations: A Persistent Paradox, edited by Jane Smith and Robert Kvasnicka. Washington, D.C.: Howard University Press, 1976.
  • Svoboda, Joseph G. Guide to American Indian Resource Materials in Great Plains Repositories. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska, Center for Great Plains Studies, 1983.


  1. ↑ Hodge, Frederick Webb. Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico. Washington D.C.:Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin #30 1907. Available online.
  2. ↑ Swanton John R. The Indian Tribes of North America. Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin #145 Available online.
  3. ↑ Hill, Edward E. The Office of Indian Affairs, 1824-1880: Historical Sketches, Clearwater Publishing Co., Inc. 1974. (Family History Library book 970.1 H551o.)
  4. ↑ Hill, Edward E. (comp.). Guide to Records in the National Archives of the United States Relating to American Indians. Washington DC: National Archives and Records Service, General Services Administration, 1981. (FHL book 970.1 H551g.)
  5. ↑ Hill, Edward E. The Office of Indian Affairs, 1824-1880: Historical Sketches, Clearwater Publishing Co., Inc. 1974. (Family History Library book 970.1 H551o.)
  6. ↑ Hill, Edward E. (comp.). Guide to Records in the National Archives of the United States Relating to American Indians. Washington DC: National Archives and Records Service, General Services Administration, 1981. (FHL book 970.1 H551g.)
  7. ↑ University of Oklahoma Libraries Western History Collection Interview with William Perry Earles of Ringling, Oklahoma. University of Oklahoma, 1938. Interviewer: Ethel V. Elder. Interviewee: William Perry Earles (ID - 10654)
  8. ↑ A.M. Gibson, ed., The West Wind Blows: The Autobiography of Edward Everett Dale (Oklahoma City: Oklahoma Historical Society, 1984), 346-347; Grant Foreman, "The Oklahoma Historical Society," pamphlet, Vertical Files, Library Resources Division, Oklahoma Historical Society (hereafter cited as OHS LRD); "Indian-Pioneer History Project, W.P.A. 131," The Chronicles of Oklahoma, 37 (Winter, 1959-60), 507-509. As reported on okhistory.org/battlecry.html
  9. ↑ The University of Oklahoma Western History Collections http://digital.libraries.ou.edu/whc/pioneer/
  10. ↑ National Atlas of the United States of America -- Federal Lands and Indian Reservations Available online.
  11. ↑ Isaacs. Katherine M., editor. Omni Gazetteer of the United States of America. U.S. Data Sourcebook, Volume 11 Appendices, Bureau of Indian Affairs List of American Indian Reservations, Appendix E, Indian Reservations. Omnigraphics, Inc., 1991.

Other Repositories

  • Oklahoma Historical Society, 800 Nazih Zudih Drive, Oklahoma City, OK 73105
  • Five Civilized Tribes Agency, Federal Building, Muskogee, Oklahoma 73022

See Also

Oklahoma Church for a list of missions

Oklahoma History for a calendar of events

Oklahoma Military for a list of forts

References


Bibliography

  • "Accompanying Pamphlet for Microcopy 1011", National Archives Microfilm Publications, Appendix.
  • American Indians: A Select Catalog of National Archives Microfilm Publications. Washington DC: National Archives Trust Fund Board, National Archives and Records Administration, 1998.
  • Hill, Edward E. (comp.). Guide to Records in the National Archives of the United States Relating to American Indians. Washington DC: National Archives and Records Service, General Services Administration, 1981.
  • Hill, Edward E. The Office of Indian Affairs, 1824-1880: Historical Sketches. New York, New York: Clearwater Publishing Company, Inc., 1974.
  • Historical Sketches for Jurisdictional and Subject Headings Used for the Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, 1824-1880. National Archives Microcopy T1105.
  • Hodge, Frederick Webb. Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico. Washington D.C.:Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin #30 1907. Available online.
  • Isaacs. Katherine M., editor. Omni Gazetteer of the United States of America. U.S. Data Sourcebook, Volume 11 Appendices, Bureau of Indian Affairs List of American Indian Reservations, Appendix E, Indian Reservations. Omnigraphics, Inc., 1991.
  • National Atlas of the United States of America -- Federal Lands and Indian Reservations Available online.
  • Preliminary Inventory No. 163: Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Washington DC: National Archives and Records Services. Available online
  • Swanton John R. The Indian Tribes of North America. Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin #145 Available online.

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