not sure if gore is a maiden name or a married name. no spouse, no location, no children in your post.
unfortunately, there are too many possibilities, so you need to give more information so that the search can be narrowed down.
there are gores on the dawes roll taken 1894-1906 in indian territory/oklahoma but i didn’t see a name that could have been your relative.
http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/finalroll.php
the dawes roll contains the names of the applicants to the five major tribes in oklahoma. there are 63 tribes in oklahoma. location is an important factor with tribal affiliation, so you should location where your family was living 1830-1930 and see if there was a tribe nearby.
first of all, heritage and tribal enrollment are two different things. many times natives didn’t apply for
enrollment because 1) they didn’t qualify, 2) they were philosophically opposed to enrollment, 3) they
didn’t have documentation, or 4) they were mississippi choctaw and their ancestor had accepted land or
benefits in lieu of tribal enrollment.
the dawes roll was taken 1896-1906, so you should trace your ancestors down to that time period. mostly,
they had to be living in oklahoma by that time and agree to live there permanently.
history of the dawes roll
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dawes_Act
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dawes_Commission
wikipedia entries are sometimes opinionated; entered by volunteers.
helpful information about tribal enrollment
http://www.felihkatubbe.com/ChoctawNation/TribalMembership.html
2 ways to search:
http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/finalroll.php
this will let you enter partial names to get card#. click on the card# in the card column and you can see
other names in that family.
other resources on the left and at the bottom of this webpage. native census records and databases are
especially useful.
http://www.okhistory.org/research/dawes/index.php
this will give you card# (family group) and enrollment #. they have some native marriage records too. other
oklahoma records listed at left.
if your relative was enrolled by court action, their name might not be on this list.
if the name is common, you may find too many possible records.
you can order the dawes packet from the oklahoma historical society website.
if you find a relative listed on the dawes roll, fold3 may have filmed the record and could be available
online.
http://www.fold3.com/documents/46580455/dawes-packets/
other resources are NARA http://www.archives.gov
the five civilized tribes book put out by the department of the interior has testimony.
http://books.google.com/books/about/Five_civilized_tribes_in_Oklahoma.html?id=chATAAAAYAAJ
and you can read it online
and these are the microfilms at fort worth TX archives.
http://www.archives.gov/southwest/finding-aids/native-american-microfilm.html
there may be additional records about your relative:
contact NARA http://www.archives.gov for these and other records listed on this webpage.
75.23 RECORDS OF THE COMMISSIONER TO THE FIVE CIVILIZED TRIBES 1852-1919
75.23.1 Records of the Dawes Commission
75.23.2 Records of the U.S. Indian Inspector for Indian Territory
75.23.3 General records of the Commissioner to the Five Civilized Tribes
http://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/075.html
(Record Group 75)
1793-1989
http://okhistory.cuadra.com/star/public.html
oklahoma newspaper and archives search. some of these resources may be available through interlibrary
loan/public library.
the tribe has an excellent information to help you. it is found under genealogy advocacy.
http://choctawnation.com/services/departments/community-services/
some obituaries:
http://www.choctawnation.com/history/obituaries/
NARA http://www.archives.gov/ federal records repository. the fort worth, TX office has archives for
oklahoma and texas tribes. atlanta/morrow office has archives for the southwest tribes. many offices have
microfilmed records for several tribes. note that this web address has changed recently from nara.gov.
freedmen info:
You can ONLY apply for Choctaw Nation Membership, AFTER you have obtained a CDIB card proving your Choctaw
Blood lineage to a direct ancestor who actually enrolled, BY BLOOD. Freedmen DID NOT enroll By Blood. When
US Congress closed the Final Dawes Commission Rolls, there were no provisions granting Freedmen any
benefits after the Dawes Commission closed. The tribe Constitution states BY BLOOD. however, the documents
(application, census card and testimony) may help you find out more about your heritage.
about blood quantum laws:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_quantum_laws
calculations about blood quantum:
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~wishawa4/Menominee%20Indians/quantum.htm
mississippi choctaw and choctaw tribe explained here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choctaw_Trail_of_Tears
http://www.choctaw.org/
jena choctaw tribe in louisiana:
http://www.jenachoctaw.org/
MOWA tribe
http://encyclopediaofalabama.org/face/Article.jsp?id=h-1368
http://www.uab.edu/uabmagazine/2009/july/losttribe
http://www.native-american-online.org/MOWA-Choctaw.htm
MOWA Band Of Choctaws Wilford Taylor 1080 Red Fox Road Mount Vernon, AL 36560 (251) 829-5500. E-Mail:
chieftaylor@mowachoctaw.com
other choctaw tribes:
http://www.aaanativearts.com/choctaw-indians/index.html
chickasaw historical society
Historic Preservation and Repatriation Office
Phone: (580) 272-5325
Fax: (580) 272-5327
2020 E. Arlington, Suite 4, Ada, OK 74820
send mail to: P.O. Box 1548, Ada, OK 74821
chickasaw tribe
Chickasaw Nation Headquarters
520 East Arlington, Ada, OK 74820
Phone (580) 436-2603
Mailing address: P.O. Box 1548, Ada, OK 74821
http://www.chickasaw.net/index.htm
chickasaw genealogy archive center Tribal Library
Phone: (580) 310-6477
Fax: (580) 559-0773
1003 Chamber Loop, Ada, OK 74820
send mail to: P.O. Box 1548, Ada, OK 74821
http://www.okhistory.org/
oklahoma historical society
marriage records
http://www.okhistory.org/research/library/marriage.html
http://www.okgenweb.org/~okgarvin/kinard/chocmarriageindex.htm
other historical societies:
http://www.daddezio.com/society/hill/SH-OK-NDX.html
some oklahoma genealogical societies:
http://www.censusfinder.com/oklahoma-genealogy-society.htm
http://www.geneasearch.com/societies/socokla.htm
texas tribes
http://www.native-languages.org/texas.htm
http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/texas/index.htm
http://www.texasindians.com/
http://www.texasindians.com/
http://www.lsjunction.com/places/indians.htm
oklahoma tribes:
http://500nations.com/Oklahoma_Tribes.asp
http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/oklahoma/index.htm
http://www.cowboy.net/native/tribes.html
some links for the choctaw.
http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/tribes/choctaw/index.htm
i looked at the land records and those need a lot of work. i have no information about whether or when they
will improve some of these categories.
types of records available for native americans:
pages 366-369 in particular although the entire native american chapter is helpful.
The Genealogist’s Companion and Sourcebook:
Guide to the Resources You Need for Unpuzzling Your Past
Emily Anne Croom
you can ask for these particular pages from your local public library. if they don’t have the book, you can
get the pages through the interlibrary loan program.
native american records are discussed in pages 352-386.
Tracing ancestors among the Five Civilized Tribes: Southeastern Indians …
By Rachal Mills Lennon
this book could be accessed through the interlibary loan program also.
always find the state archives. some records are online, some records are not. but many times you can find
a record not found in other places. you want to see also about newspaper mentions for obituaries, births,
marriages in particular.
check courts for probate, civil and criminal cases, marriage records.
if your ancestors lived on a reservation, they might not appear on a federal census because they were not
taxed.
http://www.okgenweb.org/~okgarvin/kinard/1860index.htm
1860 census, indian territory.
this book is a good read about the dawes roll and how they implemented it.
The Dawes Commission and the allotment of the Five Civilized Tribes, 1893-1914
By Kent Carter
and you can read this book online. your relatives’ testimony might be in the book.
http://www.archive.org/details/fivecivilizedtr00statgoog
see the menu at left. you can download it.
you should look at the enrollment application, census card and testimony. this post will tell you how to
do that. these documents will tell you more about your heritage, but it won’t help you if your goal is to
be enrolled in the choctaw tribe of oklahoma. some people were classed as mississippi choctaw if the
family had a native heritage but didn’t qualify for enrollment in the tribe.
there are 63 tribes in oklahoma but only the five major tribes are on the dawes roll. look at your
family’s location around 1900-1930 time period (census will help you there) and see if there was a tribe
located nearby. it is possible that your relatives were affiliated with another tribe.
if they were mississippi choctaw, there is probably a land grant in MS/AL to a head of household called
choctaw scrip land. this was given in lieu of tribal enrollment 1830-1880 time period. ancestry.com has a
database of the MS and AL choctaw scrip land records, called mississippi or alabama land records. there
are other land records in those databases too,, so you have to look at the authority/source cited. NARA
http://www.archives.gov has those land record packages.
the mississippi choctaw was not removed from oklahoma. but they were largely rejected for tribal
enrollment.
this website might help you in your search. some people are trying to transcribe applications.
http://www.us-census.org/native/choctaw_dawes.html
i do not know what they are trying to transcribe, but this is the volunteer page
http://www.us-census.org/states/graphics/status.htm
and this might be of interest to you:
http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/choctaw/rights-of-choctaws.htm
Rights of Mississippi Choctaws in the Choctaw Nation
http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/finalrolls/
Index to the Final Rolls of the Citizens and Freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes in Indian Territory
the dawes roll is composed of applications to the five major tribes in oklahoma.
good advice about native research:
http://jenniferhsrn2.homestead.com/research2.html
if your relatives came from a different geographic location or belonged to a different tribe, try searching
google for the state and tribes. you might find a contact for a state-recognized tribe or a federal
recognized tribe.
this page can help you set up a targeted google search.
http://www.searchforancestors.com/google/searcher.html
penny postcards. this is a website that features pictures that were on postcards. click on the state to
see the postcards that they have.
http://www.usgwarchives.org/special/ppcs/ppcs.html
if you have a penny postcard, you can click on submissions to add your penny postcard to the collection.
these searches will combine several possible search terms and give you the best matches.
i have collected many resources over the years. if you want to write to me, shamlet76@gmail.com and request
the choctaw resource list, i will be glad to send it to you.
i am just a volunteer that wants to empower people to learn how to do genealogy.
suzanne hamlet shatto