Wolfhawaii said
Black Wolf, undoubtedly much of what you say is true in many cases; however, I am aware of a number of people of high BQ who live in the Cherokee Nation who are not enrolled. They are recognized in their communities and often speak Cherokee as a first or only language, but are not enrolled. This is probably a result of historical and political circumstances. The Dawes process was flawed in many aspects, but for better or worse it is the legal basis for membership in the CNO.
however, I am aware of a number of people of high BQ who live in the Cherokee Nation who are not enrolled.
Let’s examine how this would be possible wolfhawaii. The Dawes Act was passed in 1887 by Congress and later the Curtis Act in 1898. The main applications for Dawes were taken from 1900-1902 and then minor children in 1906. So let’s use the year 1900 to simplify things. The purpose of the Dawes Rolls was to verify Tribal Members for those who would receive land allotments as the Federal Government was in the process of breaking up the Reservation System or the idea of land being held in common by the Tribes. At around this time in Indian Territory, there was a US census taken of everyone living in the Cherokee Nation, and actually the majority of people living in Indian Territory at the time weren’t even considered Cherokee.
Part of the qualification to get on the Dawes Roll was for someone to be able to trace back to an 1880 Authenticated Tribal Roll taken by the Cherokee Nation, and also another census taken in 1896. Cherokees by blood, Minor Cherokees by blood, Intermarried Whites, Freedmen, and (Shawnee and Delaware Indians who were made citizens of the Cherokee Nation between 1867-1869) were enrolled on the Dawes Roll. However with that said, one did not have to be “Indian” or a Cherokee to live in Indian Territory, and as I pointed out, the majority at the time, WERE NEITHER Indian nor Cherokee. Legal residency by Cherokees was required to enroll on Dawes. There are 4 states in particular, where it is known that there were Cherokees living outside the boundaries. Kansas, Texas, Arkansas, and Missouri. Cherokees would not qualify if they lived here. However, many of these people can at least trace back to another Cherokee Roll or census. It is pure nonsense the story that people give of their ancestors not enrolling that were living in Indian Territory. For those that refused to enroll, they were either enrolled by force or by people in their community. ( See link Polly’s Grandaughter” that bls926 provided.
This is even the case with Redbird Smith who was enrolled later. There were numerous censuses and Rolls taken before Dawes. What is known is that there were more people that applied to Dawes then actually got accepted. The reason people applied (whites in particular) was because they wanted allotments, and there were many whites trying to pass themselves off as mixed blood Cherokees. Luckily the overwhelming majority of these people were rejected. Sometimes when people say their Cherokee ancestor applied but didn’t get on the Final Roll, I take that to mean that they were rejected because they weren’t Cherokee. Also, sometimes a family would have to come back with more proof that they were Cherokee and their initial application would be listed as “doubtful” and they would ask for more proof. In the overwhelming majority of cases, if one was Cherokee, he or she could eventually prove it.
