SPECIAL OFFER!!
The National Archives has placed online at NAIL (National Archival Information Locator) the index for the Guion Miller rolls. These are applications for Cherokee enrollment.
Many folks applied and were rejected; nevertheless, their information is available. So for example, if you had Creek ancestors who applied and were rejected you still are able to obtain their application if you have the correct number and name from the index. There is much information on these applications -- usually 3 generations stated on each application.
There is an excellent site online with a step-by-step guide to lead you through the Index process and it is Jerry Wright Jordan's excellent site Cherokee By Blood
Once you find your people you may order the applications
for a fee of $12.50 from the National Archives
OR
Our good friend Steve Travis
has offered to obtain these applications for us for $9.00 each!!
That is just enough to cover his costs. What you need to do is search the
NAIL site, find your ancestor's name and application number, then
email Steve and ask him for help. If the cost is a hardship, then
ask Steve to negotiate.
You should take advantage of this offer. It is a labor of love from Steve.
Please read on...
From Steve Travis: These are applications filled out with hundreds of names and genealogies of Alabama and Florida Creek Indians. They attempted to make claims as Creek Indians under the Cherokee Guion Miller Rolls in the year of 1907. Most of these applications have three generations of family names listed going into the past starting from the year of 1907. These Creek Claims were rejected, simply because they were Creek Indians not Cherokees, so they were ineligible under the Guion Miller Eastern Cherokee Rolls.
During the 1960s-1970s these applications were able to be used to prove the names of the present-day living Creek Indian descendants eligible for the Eastern Creek Rolls established by the Bureau Of Indian Affairs. Thousands signed up from Alabama and Florida, but many families did not know, and were left out of the present day claims. Eventually the Poarch Band of Creek Indian members became the recognized group out of the rolls of the present day Eastern Creeks.
I have many records concerning the history and progress of these Eastern Creek Indian Claims, the final rulings by the Commission Of Indian Affairs, and the individual history of each claim with the docket numbers.
Other descendants of the Eastern Creeks from Alabama, Florida and Georgia have filed claims and attempted to be recognized by the Federal Government as a Creek Indian Tribe, but were not accepted even though they had valid claims as Eastern Creek Descendants. They were rejected not because of lack of proof of Indian heritage, but simply because they had not been part of an organized group or tribe of Creek Indians, living as a community together. This is regardless the amount of degree of Creek Indian blood they posessed.
What a crime against all living Creek Indian Descendants that were not part of an Indian Community when these claims were put before the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Most Eastern Creeks were disbanded as an Indian Community after the Removal of the 1830s-1840s anyway. They were Creek Indian families with no Tribal Status. Disbanded from thier tribes simply because of The Removal. Their plight would make it impossible for their living descendants to claim Community Tribal Status when Creek Indian claims were presented during the 1950s- 1970s simply because thier ancestors were seperated from the main tribal body due to the Removal.
This brings us to the present day situation. Thousands of Creek Indian descendants without tribal status or any recognition as Creek Indians trying to prove their Creek Indian heritage, from the States of Alabama, Georgia and Florida.
My desire is to help these same people prove their Creek Indian Ancestory.
All that I need is the Name and Roll Number of the Applicant from the index to locate the application and reproduce it. I will only charge for my gas and cost to reproduce the applications. This should not be no more than $9.00 per application including postage. Anyone that cannot afford this, I will charge only what they can pay.
The Names and Roll Numbers are originally from National Archives Micro- Film Index #685 Index of Eastern Cherokee Applications of the Guion Miller Rolls.
.