[colleeng47]

I'm so glad your search went well. It's very satisfying to find out about your roots. Let us know when you come to OK.

[verynicebecky]

Originally Posted by colleeng47

I'm so glad your search went well. It's very satisfying to find out about your roots. Let us know when you come to OK.

Will do!

[linicx]

I think to get the card you have to prove 1/8 blood. I think it used to be 1/16 long ago. If both of your great-great-great -gramdparents were full blood Choctaw then you are 1/16. If I did my math right your mother would be 1/8th. But, if both were not full blood, I htink it changes the degree, but I am not sure. You could check when you apply for your tribal card. Good luck!

[karibear]

Originally Posted by linicx

I think to get the card you have to prove 1/8 blood. I think it used to be 1/16 long ago. If both of your great-great-great -gramdparents were full blood Choctaw then you are 1/16. If I did my math right your mother would be 1/8th. But, if both were not full blood, I htink it changes the degree, but I am not sure. You could check when you apply for your tribal card. Good luck!

Each tribe is different. There are much smaller quantums in Cherokee, some tribes require at least a provable half, still others may adopt a non-NA into their tribes. The non-NA tribal members don't get any financial benefits, but they are considered to be tribal members who can address council meetings. Therer are also some drawbacks to the smaller quantums, now the feds require at least a 1/4 for an artist to claim to be a 'Native American' artist, and there are a lot of traditional artists and craftspeople in Alaska who can no longer sell their creations as 'made by' - it's been a real hardship on some people, while more of an annoyance to others.

[dbra]

Ada is the closest place to start lookin the the choctaw nation or the ada inidian hospital might be able to help you.

[Choctaw2]

Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma Then click on History at the top and scroll to People to see if you have an ancestor listed This is where I found my Jones Ancestor.

there is also, top of page, clickon Culture scroll to Ancestry

also linkto CDIB information and forms http://www.choctawnation.com/Programs/dsp_ProgramDetails.cfm?ProgramID=16 (broken link) Hope this helps

[bkangel1964]

I also enjoyed this and I have my fathers names back to the 1800s but no stories yet to read I got the names from my family members but am lost where to go now and am running out of time , my maiden name is Harris and my dads grandmother was full blood Choctaw as my memory fades I will have to dig out my papers of this and her name , I do recall she lived to be 104 but any more I'd have to look for my papers cause the reason I am curious is not only my heritage but also I have Chiari malformation and had surgery in January 04 and it has really turned my life upside down I was told they are trying to link this to SIDS death and if so then that could be why my family has had some still births or deaths right after I just hope and pray I can find all I want to and all I can so my kids can pick up where I leave off anyway thanks this has helped . My own g-grandparents walked the trail of tears and crossed the Mississippi river in covered wagons but that's the only story I have I do believe franks was my g-g-grandfathers name I am just going to have to dig in thanks .

[PurpleRules]

[quote=verynicebecky;3476991]LOL. I still maybe Cherokee. Supposedly there is a woman named Nancy Sampson who was married to a Cherokee and walked the Trail of Tears. I don't see her listed on the Dawes Roll though and I haven't figured out how she is related to my family yet.

I probably won't be able to apply for membership due to needing birth certificates If someone was born in the Choctaw Nation, then wouldn't the Nation have record of their birth?[nothing beats a failure but a try]

[nicrob42]

I am a member of the Choctaw Nation & if you want to truly trace your indian ancestors for any of the five civilized tribes (Choctaw , Chickasaw, Creek, Cherokee & Seminole) all in Oklahoma, I have a few suggestions.

Stop chasing family members like cousins, aunts, uncles & 2nd marriages. None of this matters unless you don't know your great grandparents names, I believe most people do know this basic family information. Special circumstances for adoptions.

The Dawes Enrollment for these 5 tribes happened from 1898-1906. You have to follow your direct ancestors, means you, your parent(s), your grandparent(s) & your great grandparent(s). Most shouldn't have to go any further then that. Your looking for your original enrollee & they needed to be alive & in Indian Territory (Eastern Oklahoma) between 1898-1906.

There were tons of whites in this territory as well, so don't think they were Indian just because they were in this area. It was well known across the nation that this was going on & once you read the enrollment files you will understand that people from all over America came & tried to enroll just off of a family folklore of family heritage. Everyone wanted to have Indian blood at this time. All this steamed from the 160 acre land allottments being issued to all individuals whom passed the enrollment application........

The reason your aunts uncles & cousins don't matter is very simple. Say my grandma Rose May had a brother Bud May. They had the same father but different mothers due to a death. Their father, Mr. May was a white man his 1st wife Rose May's mom died in childbirth & was a full blood Creek making Rose May 1/2 Creek Indian. Her brother Bud May's mom was the 2nd wife & she was a white women making Bud May 0% Creek Indian. Even though the 2nd wife was the only mother Rose knew, Rose May is the only Indian in the household & Rose's direct descendants (her children & grandchildren, etc...) for the rest of time, can enroll in the Creek Indian tribe.

Just because Bud's sister Rose claimed Indian & enrolled during this time period, does NOT mean Bud or any of his children can be a member of the tribe. Direct descendants are your parents, their parents, their parents & so on.

A lot of people think they can claim off of aunts, cousins, etc... through these NON direct ancestors, however, you can NOT for the exact reason shown above. Just because your moms sister is Indian does NOT mean your mom is.

So I'm 41 born in 1977, my dad was born in 1946, his mom in 1924 & her mom in 1899. I can continue on because I have several direct descendants that enrolled & were alive during 1898-1906. Like her mom born in 1876 & her mom born in 1850 but they are not needed, for me to be enrolled.

I need my original enrollee which is my closest direct descendant. That would be my Great Gandma born in 1899. Her blood quantity during the Dawes Enrollment was based off of her parents blood quantum & so on, so it does reflect the other direct descendants enrolled. Once you have the names of your closest direct ancestors that fit in this time frame you can go and check these names against the Dawes enrollment.

The easiest place to do this is at: https://www.okhistory.org/research/dawes
This site will check all 5 of the tribes that I discussed earlier. If you find a direct descendants name & the age is correct, you can verify its them (assuming you know your very basic family history) by pulling the enrollment card, then you can get the enrollment application & even the individual's land allottment jacket. I have found these items free before in the past, but it may just be easier to get a months subscription from ancestory.com for $19.95. This information is just to confirm you have the right individual & these items hold tons of interesting information as well.

So each tribe has their own enrollment process. However, they basically all require the same information like I would need my birth certificate showing my father is my biological father. Since my dad is deceased, I could use his birth or death certificate proving who his mother is. Same for my grandma born in 1924 proving her mom was an original enrollee. That is just 3 pages required in addition to each tribes application. My tribe maintains these files so when I enrolled my children I just needed their birth certificate linking to me, nothing else except of course the application. The birth/death certificates MUST BE Certified Original documents, NO EXCEPTION!

If your father wasn't on your birth certificate then you must have a certified original court order & then you should be able to take the order to the birth certificate state agency & have them add the fathers name. You will need to send a certified original of the court order along with the new birth certificate after his name is added. I had to do this with one of my boys to get his Creek blood added from his father, in addition to his Choctaw blood thru me. In addition, I also, had to provide something from the SSA called a numerical report. It was a very simple half page of information about your social security application & was easy to get.

That's it....... Its really a very simple process. Well it's a simple process if you really have an original enrollee from one of these 5 tribes.

In cases of adoption, I'm not the person to assist or give you advice. Please seek other means or help!

I know everyone is positive their family has that old Indian ancestor........ And you do, but not always are they a direct descendant.

Please remember just because Bud's sister Rose was that old Indian women in the family of ancestors, does not mean Bud's grandchildren are Indian!

I hope everyone understands!

You can contact me via DM.
I make no promises but If you need further help, I maybe able to assist at certain times. I have cancer so don't demand, expect or depend on my assistance, due to my health, but I'll do what i can, if I can.


Best of Luck,
Nicole

[FireStation46]

A better process than taking a DNA test I reckon