I am looking for my Native American Family our link (according to My Mother-Silver Butterfly) is Tiny Dewberry of Choctaw Nation, can you tell me more?
I am looking for my Native American Family our link (according to My Mother-Silver Butterfly) is Tiny Dewberry of Choctaw Nation, can you tell me more?
Thank you for posting your question on History Hub!
We searched the National Archives Catalog and located the Applications for Enrollment in the Five Civilized Tribes, 1898 - 1914 (also known as the Dawes Rolls) in the Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (Record Group 75) but were unable to locate any file units for a Tiny Dewberry. Most of these records have been digitized and are available using the Catalog. For more information about the non-digitized records, please contact the National Archives at Fort Worth (RM-FW) at ftworth.archives@nara.gov, and include his full name when you contact them.
We suggest that you review the NARA web page for Dawes Rolls as an overview of how to research that resource if you have not already done so.
We also located a series titled Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 (M595) and Records Relating to Applications for Identification as Mississippi Choctaw, 1901 - 1907 in the Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (Record Group 75), as well as the series Final Rolls of the Five Civilized Tribes, 1899 - 1914 in the Records of the Office of the Secretary of the Interior (Record Group 48), particularly its Choctaw and Chickasaw rolls file unit, that may have listings of Choctaw tribe members. Some of these records have been digitized and are available for review via the National Archives Catalog. For more information about these records please email the National Archives at Washington, DC - Textual Reference (RDT1) at archives1reference@nara.gov.
We suggest that you begin by talking to your various family members, especially the more senior ones, and ask them questions so you can gather names, dates, places, and stories. With that information in hand, you may begin to gather records about these family members and the places associated with them. In addition, the we suggest that you review the NARA Native American Heritage webpage, the NARA Resources for Genealogists webpage, the History Hub Blog titled Suggestions and Advice for Family History Researchers, the FamilySearch Research wiki pages for Indigenous Peoples of the United States Genealogy and United States Genealogy the Bureau of Indian Affairs page for Tracing American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) Ancestry, the Department of the Interior page on Trace Indian Ancestry, and the Smithsonian page on Native American Genealogy. Also, the Library of Congress pages on We are trying to compile a family history, What free resources can I use for genealogy?, and Local History and Genealogy Reference Services may be useful.
When embarking on Native American genealogy, please note that the records in the custody of NARA often only detail those living on the reservations or being administered by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. NARA does not have a list of everyone with Native American heritage; the U.S. government never maintained such a list. We only have historical records that federal agencies like the Bureau of Indian Affairs created to document enrolled members of federally recognized tribes. If an ancestor was Native American and left the reservation or did not have interaction with the United States Government as such, they will not be recorded in NARA’s records and tracing their genealogy may be difficult.
If he was not formally affiliated with a federally recognized tribe, then he might still appear in the decennial census as an "Indian," if he was recorded as such. See Native American Heritage: Federal Population Census for more information about Native Americans in the decennial census. The web page Search Census Records Online and Other Resources provides information about accessing decennial census records online.
You may wish to review the NARA web page for Navigating Record Group 75: Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Records to explore information about BIA records related to tribes in the state where Tiny Dewberry resided.
The Oklahoma Historical Society has an online search tool related to the Dawes Rolls that might be useful for your research.
We invite you to continue the conversation with community members on History Hub, but should you have follow up questions for the staff at Archives II, please email us at archives2reference@nara.gov so that we can assist you further.
We hope this assists you with your research!
Sincerely,
Textual Reference Archives II Branch (RR2RR)
[RR2RR 23-43819-LP]
Thank you for posting your question on History Hub!
We searched the National Archives Catalog and located the Applications for Enrollment in the Five Civilized Tribes, 1898 - 1914 (also known as the Dawes Rolls) in the Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (Record Group 75) but were unable to locate any file units for a Tiny Dewberry. Most of these records have been digitized and are available using the Catalog. For more information about the non-digitized records, please contact the National Archives at Fort Worth (RM-FW) at ftworth.archives@nara.gov, and include his full name when you contact them.
We suggest that you review the NARA web page for Dawes Rolls as an overview of how to research that resource if you have not already done so.
We also located a series titled Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 (M595) and Records Relating to Applications for Identification as Mississippi Choctaw, 1901 - 1907 in the Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (Record Group 75), as well as the series Final Rolls of the Five Civilized Tribes, 1899 - 1914 in the Records of the Office of the Secretary of the Interior (Record Group 48), particularly its Choctaw and Chickasaw rolls file unit, that may have listings of Choctaw tribe members. Some of these records have been digitized and are available for review via the National Archives Catalog. For more information about these records please email the National Archives at Washington, DC - Textual Reference (RDT1) at archives1reference@nara.gov.
We suggest that you begin by talking to your various family members, especially the more senior ones, and ask them questions so you can gather names, dates, places, and stories. With that information in hand, you may begin to gather records about these family members and the places associated with them. In addition, the we suggest that you review the NARA Native American Heritage webpage, the NARA Resources for Genealogists webpage, the History Hub Blog titled Suggestions and Advice for Family History Researchers, the FamilySearch Research wiki pages for Indigenous Peoples of the United States Genealogy and United States Genealogy the Bureau of Indian Affairs page for Tracing American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) Ancestry, the Department of the Interior page on Trace Indian Ancestry, and the Smithsonian page on Native American Genealogy. Also, the Library of Congress pages on We are trying to compile a family history, What free resources can I use for genealogy?, and Local History and Genealogy Reference Services may be useful.
When embarking on Native American genealogy, please note that the records in the custody of NARA often only detail those living on the reservations or being administered by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. NARA does not have a list of everyone with Native American heritage; the U.S. government never maintained such a list. We only have historical records that federal agencies like the Bureau of Indian Affairs created to document enrolled members of federally recognized tribes. If an ancestor was Native American and left the reservation or did not have interaction with the United States Government as such, they will not be recorded in NARA’s records and tracing their genealogy may be difficult.
If he was not formally affiliated with a federally recognized tribe, then he might still appear in the decennial census as an "Indian," if he was recorded as such. See Native American Heritage: Federal Population Census for more information about Native Americans in the decennial census. The web page Search Census Records Online and Other Resources provides information about accessing decennial census records online.
You may wish to review the NARA web page for Navigating Record Group 75: Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Records to explore information about BIA records related to tribes in the state where Tiny Dewberry resided.
The Oklahoma Historical Society has an online search tool related to the Dawes Rolls that might be useful for your research.
We invite you to continue the conversation with community members on History Hub, but should you have follow up questions for the staff at Archives II, please email us at archives2reference@nara.gov so that we can assist you further.
We hope this assists you with your research!
Sincerely,
Textual Reference Archives II Branch (RR2RR)
[RR2RR 23-43819-LP]
