A month ago I received an e-mail from a member named Vicky that said, simply, “Have you ever done an article on searching for Native American ancestry?”

I haven’t, and I am not an expert on researching Native Americans. However, I am excited to introduce a new collection on Ancestry that will be a great help to Vicky and anyone else seeking ancestral answers for a notoriously difficult group of people to research. This collection is the U.S. Indian Census Schedules, 1885–1940.

Vicky, I hope it will at least be a good starting point.

AN IMPORTANT RESOURCE MADE ACCESSIBLE
The Indian census schedules—held on microfilm at the National Archives and family history centers throughout the United States—have always been an important resource for people searching out their Native American ancestors.

Because they were taken yearly on many reservations, rather than every ten years, like the U.S. federal census, they can be especially useful resources. By digitizing and indexing them, Ancestry has now made them much more accessible.

One of my coworkers, from the Navajo tribe, used these microfilms at a family history center years ago to locate her Navajo grandfather—Doode Begay. After scrolling through rolls of microfilm for the reservation he lived on, she located Doode in two censuses. When we sat down to search for Doode using the new, online collection at Ancestry, she instantly found his name on six census records, covering six consecutive years.

We scrolled through these records (unfortunately, they appear to be the only census records created for his reservation), and we were quickly able to see when his son Hoskayeahhayale Begay died—sometime between the 1931 and 1932 census, when he was seven/eight years old.

According to family tradition, when Hoskayeahhayale was just a child he was killed in a flood with his grandfather, but until now no one knew when.

FAST FACTS TO HELP YOU WITH YOUR RESEARCH
Keep the following things in mind when searching the Indian Census records; they may aid your research:

• Indians on reservations were not considered citizens until 1924; therefore, they were only included sporadically on most nineteenth and early twentieth-century U.S. federal census records.
• The Indian census schedules started after an act of Congress on 4 July 1884 said, “That hereafter each Indian agent be required, in his annual report, to submit a census of the Indians at his agency or upon the reservation under his charge.” Besides other things, these censuses were taken to help the government keep track of who was eligible for land or money allotments.
• Families are arranged alphabetically rather than by dwelling place.
• Records often contain both Indian and English names, tribal affiliations, and percentage of Indian blood. But be careful—some years agents were instructed to indicate only “F” for “Full Blood,” “1/4+” for anyone with more than a fourth percentage of Native American ancestry, and “-1/4” for anyone with less than a fourth percentage; numbers are not precise. Also, some agents misunderstood tribal relationships—for example, a mother, father, and grandmother all living together might not be from the same tribe. Because of this, some tribal affiliations may be inaccurate.
• In the 1930s, sometimes only additions and deletions from the previous census record were shown.
• Agents were inconsistent when deciding who to include. People who were away and people who were within the jurisdiction but not from that reservation were sometimes included, sometimes not.
• Records were taken yearly, but there is not a census for every reservation for every year.
• Native Americans not living on reservations are not included in these census records.

UNLOCKING A SECRET
The Indian census schedules are a great resource for anyone searching their Native American heritage. I have a coworker who had no idea she had Native American heritage until she found her grandmother listed on an Indian reservation in the 1900 U.S. federal census. She then looked her grandmother up in these Indian census schedules and was able to trace her family back to the first 1885 censuses taken on the Indian reservations.

She said:

“I, like many people, knew little about my ancestors, prior to my journey into the sea of genealogy records that have recently become available. My grandmother, Alvina Dora Tetrault (pronounced Tay-tro), had only told us that she was French; she never mentioned that she had been born on an Indian reservation.”

“Through the 1900 federal census, I found that her family lived on Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation for Chippewa Indians in North Dakota. Later, I found her father and grandparents on the Indian censuses. These records were full of family relationships, helped me find missing children, provided me Indian names for ancestors, and gave me rich information on my Native American heritage. Through these censuses, along with other sources that these censuses led me to, I’ve been able to take these Native American lines back through hundreds of years.”

The 1931 Indian census schedule for southern Arizona with Doode Begay and son Hoskayeahhayale Begay listed. Hoskayeahhayale was killed in a flood before the 1932 census was taken.

James Francis Thorpe, age thirteen, on the 1920 census schedule for Oklahoma. James Thorpe, or Wa-Tho-Huk, was raised as a Sac and Fox. He won Olympic gold medals in the pentathlon and decathlon and played professional football, basketball, and baseball.

Jana Lloyd is editor of the Ancestry Monthly newsletter. She can be reached at AMUeditor@ancestry.com but cannot assist with personal research questions.