How Can I Find an Old Indian Family History?

You can find your Indian roots by searching records online.

Finding out that you have Native American ancestry can be an exciting thing. However, tracing your lineage can be a confusing task if you're unaware of where to begin. You can find most information online, although you will have to go to certain venues to obtain assistance.

Things You'll Need

• Internet Connection

Instructions

1. Get as much information as you can from the elders in your family. Start with your grandparents and ask for their date of birth, place of birth (city, state and country), parents' names and their current place of residence. Also ask what tribe and band they belong to.

2. Search the Census records. These records are available online and date back as far as 1890. You will have to provide the name of the person you're searching for, their date of birth, date of death and place of birth. This will narrow down your search results. If you cannot find this person in the Census records, you may try looking up their siblings or parents. Often, the Census records will show the race of the person, but not the tribe.

3. Search online Native American records related to the five civilized tribes: Choctaws, Cherokees, Chicksaws, Creek and Seminoles. These tribal populations were recorded in a record called the Dawes Rolls. These tribes are called civilized because they were the first few tribes to accept the European way of life. This led to them being removed from their original land and sent off to reservations. Once they arrived at the reservation, they were met by a Census taker who would write down what tribe they were from and how much Indian blood they had based on their parents. This information was kept in a record commissioned by the United States Congress in 1893. If your relative was in one of these tribes or if they were a freed slave that was taken into the tribe, their name may be on this roll.

4. Search local records. If you cannot find your relatives by searching the Census records or the Native American rolls, you will have to search local records that were kept in the town where your relative was born. Here, you will find the rolls -- records of your Native American family and what tribe they were part of.

Tips & Warnings

• The Census records were filled out by a Census taker and almost never the person whose name is on the Census. For this reason, many of the names are misspelled, so if you cannot find your relative under the spelling that you provided, try alternate spellings.

• In the Census records, some people were noted as being a different race. For instance, some Indians were marked down either as white, black or mullatto simply because the Census taker thought they didn't look like an Indian.

References

• Archives.gov: Native American Records
• Accessgenealogy.com: Native American Census Records
• Accessgenealogy.com: Native American Genealogy