This is one page from the Final Rolls of Citizens and Freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes in Indian Territory – also known as the Dawes Rolls or “Final Rolls” – published on March 4, 1907.
The Dawes Act of February 8, 1887, had allowed for a Federal commission to prepare new citizenship rolls for the Five Civilized Tribes of Oklahoma: Cherokees, Chickasaws, Choctaws, Creeks, and Seminoles. The Dawes Commission created these rolls, which list the names of individuals who were accepted as eligible for tribal membership in the “Five Civilized Tribes.” The Dawes Rolls record individual roll numbers and other pertinent information, including name, sex, and blood degree.
Those found eligible for the Final Rolls were entitled to an allotment of land, usually a homestead. The Federal Government used these registers to distribute 138 million acres of tribal land. After apportioning more than 50 million acres to Native Americans, the Government made the rest available to non-native peoples for settlement.
