Genealogical Resources
The Research Center has many sources for conducting family research. A genealogy "How-To" is available for patrons who are new to family research.
- US Census
- Family Histories
- American Indian Rolls
- City Directories
- Telephone Books
- Oklahoma Newspapers
- Biographical Vertical Files
- Material pertaining to land, military & territorial records
- Indian Pioneer Histories
- Cemetery Records
Tracing Your American Indian Ancestry
The Research Center has numerous resources for researching American Indian heritage, including numerous tribal rolls of the Five Civilized Tribes. Because eligibility for tribal citizenship is determined by each tribe, contact tribal headquarters to learn their specific qualifications for citizenship.
The Five Civilized Tribes & The Dawes Rolls
The Five Civilized Tribes (Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muscogee (Creek) and Seminole) use the Dawes Rolls to determine eligibility for citizenship. Taken mainly from 1898-1906, Dawes Rolls list members of the Five Civilized Tribes who were eligible for tribal citizenship.
To be included on the Dawes Rolls, your relative must have been living with their tribe in what is now Oklahoma during the time period the rolls were taken, and have chosen to apply for the rolls. If your relative did not live in Oklahoma, did not reside with their tribe, or chose not to apply, they will not be listed on the rolls.
Those accepted on the Dawes Rolls will have a Dawes census card stating the person's name, age, sex, degree of blood, enrollment number, and type. The "type" category indicated the person was a citizen by blood, by intermarriage, or was a Freedman (a former slave of indians). There are also application packets containing birth, death and/or marriage affadavits.
The OHS microfilm collection includes census cards for all of the Five Civilized Tribes; application packets are available for Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Seminole tribes.
To learn more about using the Dawes Rolls, see Essentials of Indian Citizenship.