Claiming your Cherokee heritage is
not unlike claiming your Scots-Irish, Dutch, English, German, Italian,
Flemish, etc. heritage. You do the research, find the documents, and
prove your ancestry. Then you are entitled to say, "my grandparent was
a Cherokee," thus claiming your heritage.
Applying for tribal membership is altogether different. Remember, the Eastern Band of the Cherokee is a nation,
the same way that the U.S.A., France, Italy and Germany are nations. An
application for tribal enrollment is really an application for citizenship in another nation. Consequently, the requirements are specific and quite strict.
Tribal Enrollment Information--Eastern Band
To be eligible for enrollment with the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indian, an applicant must:
Enrollment in the Eastern Band of
Cherokee Indians is governed by tribal ordinance #284 dated June 24, 1996 and
restricts enrollment to the following:
Direct lineal ancestor must appear
on the 1924 Baker Roll* of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. Lineal
descent MUST be proven with acceptable documentation! (Note: The
Baker Roll is the base roll of the Eastern Cherokee and contains the name,
birth date, Eastern Cherokee Blood quantum and roll number of the base
enrollees.)
Must possess at least 1/16th
degree of Eastern Cherokee blood
All criteria must be met in order
to be eligible with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.
Enrollment is CLOSED to all people who cannot meet the above requirements.
* The index to the Baker Roll may be searched at:
http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/baker.php
For
further information, contact the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indian
Enrollment Office at (828) 497-7000, fax: (828) 497-2952, or write
Eastern Band of the Cherokee, P.O. Box 455, Cherokee, NC 28719.
Tribal Enrollment Information--Western Band
To be enrolled by the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma, an applicant must
first prove ancestry to a person enrolled by Dawes. (Dawes Roll
1898-1914.) Additional requirements may be obtained by writing to:
Cherokee Nation, Tribal Registrar, P.O. Box 948, Tahlequah, OK
74465.
In March and
April, 1996, a group of genealogists organized the Kentucky
Comprehensive Genealogy Database. The idea was to provide a single
entry point for all counties in Kentucky, where collected databases
would be stored. This idea expanded across the country for every State and every
County, which became the USGenWeb Project. In addition, there is the
USGenWeb Archives databases which would be indexed and
cross-linked, so that even if individuals were found in more than one
county, they could be located in the index.
At the same time, volunteers were
found who were willing to coordinate the collection of databases and
generally oversee the contents of the web page. The NCGenWeb Project
is an extension of what was originally from the idea for the KYGenWeb Project.
NCGenWeb Project
USGenWeb Project
