Dawes Rolls

Enumeration and enrollment

The Dawes Commission went to the individual tribes to obtain the membership lists, but it took a series of attempts to gain anything approaching an accurate count. In 1898, Congress passed the Curtis Act, which provided that a new roll would be taken and supersede all previous rolls. Difficulties in enumerating the population included the forced migrations of the period as well as the American Civil War. Additionally, non-Native census takers introduced the idea of Blood Quantum, a concept previously foreign to the tribal communities. Those recording this percentage of ancestry wrote down an estimation, based on physical appearance and personal opinion if the individual was present.

Tribal citizens were listed under several categories: :*Citizen by Blood :**New Born Citizen by Blood :**Minor Citizens by Blood :*Citizen by Marriage :*Freedmen (persons formerly enslaved by Native Americans or adopted by the Cherokee tribe) :**New Born Freedmen :**Minor Freedmen :*Delaware Indians (those adopted by the Cherokee tribe were enrolled as a separate group within the Cherokee)

More than 250,000 people applied for membership, and the Dawes Commission enrolled just over 100,000. Most were rejected because they were non-Natives who showed up demanding land, but could not prove any connection to an existing Native community, such as naming living relatives or speaking the Native language. Overrun with prospective claimants, the commission was overwhelmed and instituted guidelines: An act of Congress on April 26, 1906 closed the rolls on March 5, 1907. An additional 312 persons were enrolled under an act approved August 1, 1914.

While some initially refused to be enumerated, almost all were later arrested and enrolled against their will; enrollment was not a matter of "choice". Refusing to be enumerated, and even fleeing, would mean warrants being issued for the person's arrest; they could then be treated brutally and imprisoned in the process of being enrolled by force. but some of them were later arrested and forcibly enrolled, while others were enrolled on their behalf by people in their communities. Additionally all individuals on the Census Roll of 1896 were enrolled without notification to the parties involved. The only real choice to avoid enumeration entirely meant completely leaving one's community and assimilating. Courts have upheld this rule even when it has been proven that a brother or sister of an ancestor was listed on the rolls but not the direct ancestor himself/herself.

Another issue on the Dawes Rolls are people termed "Five-Dollar Indians". Some white people bribed government officials to obtain land allotments, but this was not as widespread as some would believe.

Gregory Smithers, associate professor of history at Virginia Commonwealth University stated, "These were opportunistic white men who wanted access to land or food rations. ... These were people who were more than happy to exploit the Dawes Commission – and government agents, for $5, were willing to turn a blind eye to the graft and corruption." For the small minority that managed this, this fraudulent enrollment may have earned white people potential benefits for themselves and their descendants, but also could have subjected them to further removal, relocation or incarceration. There were also land runs during this era, and other methods for white people to obtain land. Most of the white people on the Dawes Rolls are noted as included due to marrying a member of the tribe and having Indian children.

The Dawes Rolls, though recognized as flawed, are still essential to the citizenship process of the Nations that include them in their laws. The federal government uses them in determining blood-quantum status of individuals for Certificate of Degree of Indian Blood.

Notes

References

• Russell, Steve (2002). "Apples are the Color of Blood". Critical Sociology Vol. 28, 1, 2002, p. 65

References

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3. (10 July 2015). "An Open Letter to Defenders of Andrea Smith: Clearing Up Misconceptions about Cherokee Identification".
4. (2011). "Encyclopedia of American Indian Removal, Volume 1". ABC-CLIO.
5. Celia E. Naylor. (2009). "African Cherokees in Indian Territory: From Chattel to Citizens". [[University of North Carolina Press]].
6. Kent Carter. (2009). "The Dawes Commission and the Allotment of the Five Civilized Tribes, 1893-1914". Ancestry Publishing.
7. Kimberly Tallbear. (2003). "DNA, Blood, and Racializing the Tribe". University of Minnesota Press.
8. Christopher D. Haveman. (2016). "Rivers of Sand: Creek Indian Emigration, Forced Relocation, and Ethnic Cleansing in the American South". University of Nebraska Press.
9. "[https://cherokee.org/About-The-Nation/History/Biographies/Redbird-Smith Redbird Smith] {{Webarchive. link. (2019-01-28 " at the [[Cherokee Nation]] website.)
10. (27 March 2017). "Paying to Play Indian: The Dawes Rolls and the Legacy of $5 Indians". Ict News.