Am I Native American? How to Find My Indian Ancestors – Native American Genealogy
Finding Your Native American Heritage
Many people in the US and Canada have at least one Indian ancestral line in their family. Lots of people grew up hearing the family legend about a family member that was Native American. Proving that legend to be true or false can be tough. There is very little official records about early Native American. Starting your search on Native American Genealogy can be very challenging.
You will need to build a family tree using a multitude of resources. Research the deaths, births and marriages of your family. Use these records to build links from yourself back to your ancestors.
Next research documents that record Native Americans.
In some years the United States conducted separate censuses of Native Americans. In 1896 a Congressional law was passed that gave the Dawes Commission authority to oversee applications for tribal citizenship into the Five Civilized Tribes – Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole.
Proving that you are related to a Native American is only the first step to being enrolled with a tribe. In the US there are over 500 federally recognized tribes. Each tribe has their own requirements for enrollment. Use our Native American Tribal Directory to contact your tribe for more information.
Start your search now!
Begin building your family tree by using Ancestry.com’s tool. Try Ancestry.com FREE with a 14-Day Free Trial!
- Ancestry.com’s American Indian Research Guide
- A Student’s Guide to Native American Genealogy Book
- Ancestry.com DNA testing
- Start Your Free Family Tree
- United State Indian Censuses
- Discuss your questions on our Native American Genealogy Forum
Native American Genealogy Articles on PowWows.com
- Guion Miller Roll of the Eastern Cherokee
- Final Roll of the Cherokee Nation and Freedman
- “…My Grandmother was a Cherokee Indian Princess…”
- Holdout, Doubtful and Reject of the Dawes Roll
79 Responses to “Am I Native American? How to Find My Indian Ancestors – Native American Genealogy”
Leave a Comment
Pow Wow Calendar Search
Subscribe to Our Newsletter
- Weekly News
- Upcoming Pow Wows
- Coupons for Shirts and Stickers
- Join over 60,000 subscribers!
The Straight Dance from Oklahoma Native American Tribes is a formal, tailored, prestigious form of southern dance clothes. The overall effect is of reassuring solidity, with everything closely matched and …
This project uses the new popular hair clip as the way to fasten feathers in your hair. Small domesticated bird feathers can be used for the feathers. These are from …
- Native American Colleges and Universities
- Native American Tribes
- Resources for Scouts
- Resources for Students and Teachers
- Resources for 1st Pow Wow Visitors
- Pow Wows In Your State