Editor’s note: Below is the foreword and preface from Ancestry’s
newest publication, The Dawes Commission and the Allotment
of the Five Civilized Tribes, 1893-1914, by Kent Carter, Director,
National Archives—Southwest Region, Foreword by Curt Witcher,
MLS, FUGA.
Foreword
The history and heritage of the native peoples who inhabited
this continent are a fascinating and significant part of the
North American story. From the earliest times, Native Americans
had been the subjects of explorers’ journals, travelers’ diaries,
missionaries’ letters, traders’ musings, and settlers’ stories.
The nearly countless tomes that have been written in the past
two centuries are only rivaled by the rate at which interest
in Native American history, research, and genealogy continues
to grow in contemporary America.
Native peoples are often both romanticized and vilified in
many supposedly historical accountings. The study of many aspects
of Native American life and culture is also made more challenging
by the ethnocentric influences one can find in many historical
writings. The absence of a strong written tradition within most
all Native American societies of the nineteenth century and
earlier leaves one to rely on the accounts of the intruders—those
who went among and interacted with the various Native American
groups. These intruders may or may not have had much of a true
understanding of the events and people about which they were
reporting.
Given the challenges presented by ethnocentric reporting,
the student of history is obligated to choose sources and employ
research methodology with great care. The researcher, whether
studying history to understand social structures, discern naming
and kinship patterns, determine migration and settlement trends,
comprehend political structures and mechanisms, or document
genealogical lines, knows the value of placing one’s study in
the proper historical context. That proper context must take
into account the events transpiring in a geographic area over
a defined period of time, and must look to identify and evaluate
source materials.
In that light, no study of the Five Civilized Tribes can be
complete without a careful reading of this book—Kent Carter’s
The Dawes Commission and the Allotment of the Five Civilized
Tribes, 1893-1914. This book is a well-researched, all-encompassing
compilation on the work of the Dawes Commission. The informative
text, rich with the details of every aspect of the commission’s
work, is further enriched with a most generous number of consequential
notes and citations. The manner in which the text is presented
and supported with documentation does a remarkable job pulling
together into one publication the key data pertaining to this
important period of Native American history.
A hallmark of the Carter compilation is the excellent level
of detail. The many meaningful details include the numerous
steps involved with enrolling individuals, the sometimes suspect
Dawes Commission record keeping, and the impact of all on later
matters. This depth of detail is most important to the scholarly
aspect of the text. From detailing the kind of ink used in recording
practices and the true meanings of key phrases to the varying
criteria judges used in deciding claims-all this robust data
gives the researcher an important and vital look at a crucial
part of the commission’s work.
Other consequential details include discussions of the circumstances
surrounding the various censuses attempted and rolls created,
a good recounting of the politics of the period, a quite worthwhile
treatment of the citizenship courts, a discussion of the restrictions
on inherited land, the treatment of corruption and potential
corruption, and a good handling of historically significant
individuals. Truly, one who is interested in any one of the
Five Civilized Tribes must consider this book a vital work to
consult. Indeed, one would be hard pressed to find a comparable
work.
Kent Carter, Director of the National Archives—Southwest Region,
is a most appropriate author. As both a scholar and an archivist,
his many years of work with the impressive federal record collections
in Fort Worth as well as his own personal research combine to
create this monumental book. His attention to detail has created
the most comprehensive work ever published on this most important
commission. The historian, the academician, the sociologist,
and the genealogist—all will find this book a vital work.
Curt B. Witcher, MLS, FUGA
Manager, Historical Genealogy Department
Allen County Public Library
Past President, Federation of Genealogical Societies
Director, National Genealogical Society
Preface
In 1893 Congress authorized the establishment of an organization
that became known as the Dawes Commission. The hope was that
the commission could persuade the governments of the Five Civilized
Tribes to negotiate themselves out of existence—an essential
first step in implementing a policy of allotting land to each
individual Indian. Allotment was supposed to promote assimilation
into the dominant culture, clear the way for converting Indian
Territory into a state, and satisfy powerful groups seeking
opportunities for economic development and profit. However,
when the tribal governments refused to cooperate in their own
demise, Congress used its legislative power to abolish them
and gave the Dawes Commission the almost impossible task of
determining who was entitled to a share of land roughly the
size of Indiana and worth millions of dollars.
The human tragedy that resulted from the federal government’s
allotment policy has been eloquently described by Angie Debo
in And Still the Waters Run; it would be very difficult to improve
on her narration of those events. This study focuses instead
on the organization and procedures of the Dawes Commission in
hopes of clarifying how enrollment and allotment decisions were
made and implemented. Almost two-thirds of the more than three
hundred thousand people who applied for enrollment were rejected.
Genealogists, family historians, and lawyers have been trying
for almost one hundred years to understand how the government
determined who was and was not eligible. Determination of Indian
identity involves factors such as cultural values, social practices,
and linguistic ability in addition to the genetics of inheritance
of Indian blood. The subject is as controversial today as
it was a century ago when the Dawes Commission created the rolls
that the Bureau of Indian Affairs was required to use as the
final authority on tribal membership.
A study of the Dawes Commission’s activities shows that it
is much harder to implement a policy than it is for Congress
to formulate it; and also that bureaucracies can produce disastrous
consequences even when they have the best intentions. The records
of the Dawes Commission, including the applications for enrollment
and land allotments, have been open to researchers for years
at the National Archives—Southwest Region in Fort Worth, Texas.
Anyone who wades into this sea of paper will quickly develop
an appreciation for the difficulties that the commissioners
faced in evaluating the validity of claims. It is hoped that
the following will provide anyone interested in how the allotment
policy was implemented with a better understanding of the complex
issues involved and how the records were created and used.
Buy your copy of The Dawes Commission and the Allotment of
the Five Civilized Tribes
, by Kent Carter in the Online Store.
Reviews
"Over the past twenty years I have been asked to endorse numerous
books. This is the first work that I feel has made a significant
contribution to increasing the knowledge base of the Five Civilized
Tribes. Therefore, this is the first work I have ever endorsed.
"I can think of only one word to describe Kent Carter’s work:
incredible. He is to be congratulated for his insight and thoroughness
in research and writing. His work is now part of the Cherokee
Nation’s permanent record for Cherokee and non-Indian scholars
to review and analyze the content and structure of our government.
When people ask me for a special reference to the history and
culture of the Cherokee Nation, this work is first on my list."
—Dr. Charles Gourd
Chairman of the Constitution Convention Committee
Cherokee Nation
"This book is a well-researched, all encompassing compilation
on the work of the Dawes Commission. The historian, the academician,
the sociologist, and the genealogist—all will find it a vital
work."
—Curt B. Witcher, MLS, FUGA
Manager, Historical Genealogy Department
Allen County Public Library
Native American Databases at Ancestry.com
Dawes Commission 1896 Index
http://www.ancestry.com/search/rectype/inddbs/3075.htm
Dawes Commission Index 1898-1914
http://www.ancestry.com/search/rectype/inddbs/3118.htm
Indian Affairs, Laws and Treaties
http://www.ancestry.com/search/rectype/inddbs/3603.htm
Navajo Springs, Colorado Ute Census, 1904-1908
http://www.ancestry.com/search/rectype/inddbs/3601.htm
Nebraska Pawnee Scouts, 1861-1869
http://www.ancestry.com/search/rectype/inddbs/3738.htm
Walker River Valley, Nevada, Paiute Indian Records, 1897-1901
http://www.ancestry.com/search/rectype/inddbs/3698.htm
Other Resources
NARA’s Constitutional Community—Dawes Act
http://www.nara.gov/education/cc/dawesact.html
Native American Resources in the Online Store
How to Research American Indian Blood Lines
by Cecelia Svinth Carpenter
http://shop.myfamily.com/ancestrycatalog/product.asp?dept_id=10103002&pf_id=53646
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