Native Americans of Arkansas

From Rootsweb
Jump to: navigation, search

This entry was originally written by Wendy Bebout Elliott, Ph.D., FUGA for Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources.

This article is part of
Arkansas sil.png
the Arkansas Family History Research series.
History of Arkansas
Arkansas Vital Records
Census Records for Arkansas
Background Sources for Arkansas
Arkansas Maps
Arkansas Land Records
Arkansas Probate Records
Arkansas Court Records
Arkansas Tax Records
Arkansas Cemetery Records
Arkansas Church Records
Arkansas Military Records
Arkansas Periodicals, Newspapers, and Manuscript Collections
Arkansas Archives, Libraries, and Societies
Arkansas Naturalization
Native Americans of Arkansas
African Americans of Arkansas
Arkansas County Resources
Map of Arkansas


The Arkansas History Commission maintains an excellent collection of Native American records. Included in the collection are agency records, correspondence, and census of Creek Indians, 1832; census of Cherokees east of the Mississippi, 1835 and index; Cherokee census, 1890; Old Settler Cherokee census roll, 1895; index to payment roll, Old Settler Cherokees, 1896; compilation of Choctaw Nation records, 1896; Choctaw Nation census index for 1896 and final rolls of citizens and freedmen of the Cherokee, Choctaw, and Chickasaw tribes, and the Creek and Seminole tribes in Indian Territory, 1906; enrollment cards for the Five Civilized Tribes (in Oklahoma), 1896'1914; and the U.S. census Indian Territory, 1900. Some of the Commission's information for Native Americans is online at www.ark-ives.com/selected_materials/index.php. The WPA Guide to 1930s Arkansas (see Background Sources for Arkansas) contains a succinct overview.

Other references include:

  • Baker, Jack D. Cherokee Emigration Rolls, 1817'1835. Oklahoma City: Baker Publishing, 1977. Transcription of records maintained by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
  • Edgington, Billy Dubois, and Carol Anne Buswell, eds. Vital Information from the Guion Miller Roll (Eastern Cherokee Court of Claims), 1906'1909. Mill Creek, Wash.: Indian Scout Publications, 1998. Over 1,000 pages of information, alphabetically arranged. Data includes given and surnames; Miller Roll application number; gender; birth year; birth state; city, county, and state of residence; and Soundex codes of surname.
  • Foreman, Grant. Indian Removal: The Emigration of the Five Civilized Tribes of Indians. Norman, Okla.: University of Oklahoma Press, 1986. A history of the Trail of Tears.