Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma

this is the choctaw tribe website in oklahoma. your family might be mississippi choctaw. this is their tribe’s website:
http://www.choctaw.org/
they might have some information for your family.

we do genealogy one generation at a time. we start with what we know, gather documents, and then we can go backward in time. so get your birth certificate, your parents’ birth certificates and marriage license and then you can start on your grandparents. childrens’ documentation points to the parents and fixes the family to a location and date.

if you get stuck on anyone who passed away after 1/1/1937, you can get a copy of their social security application. many filed a delayed birth certificate in order to show proof of age at that time.

i have found it is easier to start with a death record and work backward to the birth. census records can help. there are many death types of records, such as cemetery records, obituary, death certificate.

i don’t know if allie’s maiden name was huffman or her married name. no spouse, no children, no date of death listed. this is also true of easter/esther armstrong. since both of these names were somewhat common, you need additional infnormation.

there are many native records for different tribes on accessgenealogy.com
http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/finalroll.php
see the left and bottom of this webpage for records. if they were in MS around 1900, they would not be on the dawes roll, as the dawes roll has the names of the people who settled in oklahoma and applied to one of the five major tribes in oklahoma.

genealogists use names, dates, locations, children and spouses to match records. if you have a common surname, you need to give more information rather than less. if you post about women, it is helpful to include the maiden name and the married name and designate which one is the maiden name.

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.

2 ways to search: 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.

http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/finalroll.php
this will let you enter partial names to get card#
other resources on the left and at the bottom of this webpage. native census records and databases are especially useful.

if the name is common, you may find too many possible records.

the tribe has an excellent information to help you. it is found under genealogy advocacy.
http://choctawnation.com/services/departments/community-services/

mississippi choctaw and choctaw tribe explained here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choctaw_Trail_of_Tears

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

I would like to Thank you and I really appreciate the information you have presented me with. This may just be what I needed to get started. Once again thank you.