California Enrollments - background
In 1928 Congress permitted California Indians to bring suit against the US for lands taken from them. They were defined as Indians residing in the State of California on June 1, 1852, and their descendants. The 1928 roll was approved May 16, 1933, and included 23,571 names. The 1928 roll is part of RG 75, Entry 904. The applications are in Entry 576. The funds were not distributed right away, and in 1933 they had to amend the roll to eliminate the deceased and add those born after. We also have it on Microfilm M1853, which is where Ancestry got it from.
In 1944 there was a Court of Claims Award to California Indians. This happened again, with the 1944 funds. The roll had to be updated again in 1948.
There was another amendment in 1950 which allowed some of those who had lived outside California to be eligible. A new roll was approved in 1955. That roll of California Indians was prepared pursuant to the Act of May 24, 1950 (64 Stat. 189), and was completed in 1955 (see records in RG 75, Entry 964A).
There was also an award made in 1964, from the Indian Claims Commission, see Dockets 31 and 37, RG 279. Later, Dockets 186, 215, and 333 were merged with these, and later still, Dockets 80 and 80-D. The merging occurred as different suits brought by various bands were consolidated to represent the Indians of California (but still did not include splinter groups).
The Act of September 21, 1968 (82 Stat. 860) again provided for the preparation of a roll of persons of California Indian descent and the distribution of certain judgment funds. The new 1968 Act had different standards of eligibility so it had to be an entirely new roll. The deadline for filing an application was December 31, 1969. The completion of the roll was complicated by the existence of numerous “splinter groups” or cases in which a person’s ancestry was derived from groups claiming lands in and outside of California. Some of those groups had already filed claims for lands in California, as well as in adjoining states, and therefore were excluded from sharing in the funds. The 1968 Act provided for the new distribution to include funds residual to the earlier awards.
Entry 576 California Applications. One file, 10645, was a huge application with many names. It is filed as Central Classified Files #36818-1945-312 Mission. It has 416 pages, of which 96 are this application.
The 1972 California Judgement Roll resulted from the 1968 Act. I do not know where the 1968 – 1972 records are, but suspect they may be in our California regional branches. Our California branches can give information on this judgment roll.
