Do you have family lore about an Indian princess in your family tree? Or that some family members have certain facial characteristics that “show” native American heritage?
Many of us, including my husband’s family have such rumors. However, there were no Indian princesses and just because someone in the family happens to have inherited a certain facial characteristic (high cheekbones in my husband’s family), that most definitely is NOT proof of Native American heritage.
Having said that, if primary research has led to areas where a particular Native American tribe inhabited AND there are indications that an ancestor might have had tribal contacts through, say, trade, then it’s worthwhile to pursue a possible link.
The downside is that Native Americans had no early written language so there are no documents to be found in tribal records. However, in its quest to remove Native Americans to new lands, the U.S. government created quite a few records and databases pertaining to Native Americans.
Perhaps the best know of the record sets are the Dawes Rolls. the Dawes Commission The Dawes Commission was formed in 1893 and accepted applications for tribal enrollment between 1899 and 1907 from ONLY from Native Americans who were members of one of the Five Civilized Tribes (Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muscogee (Creek), and Seminole) who resided in Indian Territory, which later became part of Oklahoma.
In my husband’s family, the Indian lore said they were part Cherokee. Well, the closest I’ve been able to document this tale is by proving that my husband’s 4X great grandfather, Henry Alberty, had a half-brother, Moses Alberty, who did indeed marry a Cherokee woman. Back when I did the research, it took some digging.
Today, the Dawes Rolls search engine is house on the Oklahoma Historical Society website.
The website offers a simple search by name and information on how to order the enrollment application packets.
A quick search of the Dawes Rolls brought up 209 (!!!) Alberty results.
Unfortunately, they are all related to Moses Alberty and the mysterious “Rebecca” wife of Henry Alberty remains a mystery.
If your family has a tradition of Native American connections to one of the Five Civilized Tribes, then the Dawes Rolls database is a quick way to verify if any ancestors were actually enrolled.