Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma

if she lived in george, she might not have enrolled in the choctaw tribe in oklahoma. maybe the mississippi choctaw tribe.

heritage may not guarantee application or enrollment in a tribe. but you should use the location to see if there were state or federal tribes near that location.

i don’t know what the dancing rabbit genealogy record is. are you thinking it is the dawes roll? the dawes roll was taken 1896-1906 in oklahoma and contains the names of applicants to the 5 major tribes in oklahoma. there are 63 tribes in oklahoma.

after the treaty of rabbit creek, the federal government wanted to move the southeastern natives to oklahoma. this migration occurred in the late 1830’s, from the reservations in the southeast to oklahoma. those choctaw that didn’t migrate are called mississippi choctaw. some of the natives who were on reservations were given land grants called choctaw scrip in lieu of tribal enrollment. the mississippi choctaw were recognized in 1929, after the choctaw tribe (in oklahoma) was recognized.

there were several tribes in the southeast, like chickasaw, cherokee, MOWA, and others.

what was her name?

i usually use the census to help me find location and dates, but the 1940 census won’t be released until next year. so the 1900-1930 records won’t help here.

william parker is a rather common name.
this is a search on ancestry for the name of william parker in GA or born in GA. you can see how common this name is.
Census & Voter Lists 1,845
408 California Voter Registrations, 1900-1968
210 1910 United States Federal Census
206 1920 United States Federal Census
193 1930 United States Federal Census
188 1900 United States Federal Census
» View all 1,845 results

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.

start with what you know, gather documentation, then you 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. if someone passed away after 1/1/1937, they probably have a social security application on file. if you ask a government for a birth certificate, and they were born before 1929, they might have sumitted a delayed birth certificate. death certificates, cemetery information and obituaries are helpful. you can usually get a copy of an obituary, newspaper mentions such as birth of a child or marriage, through the interlibrary loan program – see your local public library for this. i usually start with the death and work toward the person’s birth. military records and pension records can be helpful. census records can tell you where they were at particular times. the census records up to 1930 are available, although the 1890 census was largely destroyed. the 1940 census will be public information in 2012.

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.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 the name is common, you may find too many possible records.
http://okhistory.cuadra.com/star/public.html

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

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.

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 22
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 23
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

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

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.

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

So sorry about not including her name she was born in Georgia in 1837 her name as Mary Frances Phillips I have found her on census records in Mississippi after her and William moved there she died in Leake County, Mississippi in 1897 there is a Choctaw tribe in Mississippi near Phillidelphia but since she was born in Georgia did not think she is from that tribe. I am not trying to prove her presence but am trying to prove her heritage with the Choctaw Indians. I have pictures of her and I believe she has features that are of the Choctaw Indians but no evidence that she is Choctaw

Thank you for such a quick response to my first post looking forward to hearing from you again
Frances McGee

you should contact the mississippi choctaw tribe about her. when you do, you will want to name relatives that would have been alive in 1929, since that is when the tribal census was done.

you may want to trace her family back to the time period 1830-1880 and see if there were any land record for the head of household called choctaw scrip. ancestry.com has a database of these land records called mississippi land records and alabama land records. this would prove affiliation. but the land was given in lieu of tribal enrollment. many mississippi choctaw received these land grants.

mississippi choctaw is the name of the tribe.

also look at tribes that were near the area where your family lived.
there are state recognized tribes and federal recognized tribes.

check out NARA records/morrow GA, and state archives.

you might also try to find local history books that might mention your family.

@Mary Frances, chances are your great-great grand mother wasn’t Choctaw, Choctaw homelands are Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama and Northern Florida.. If your gg was Choctaw there should be a paper trail of her children applying for enrollment as Mississippi Choctaws..