U.S., Records Related to Enrollment of Eastern Cherokee by Guion Miller, 1908-1910

In 1906, the U.S. Court of Claims appointed Guion Miller from the Interior Department to determine who was eligible for funds under the treaties of 1835-36 and 1845 between the United States and the Eastern Cherokee.

In certifying the eligibility of the Cherokees, Miller used earlier census lists and rolls that had been complied by Hester, Chapman, Drennen, and others between 1835 and 1884. Copies of some of these rolls and the indexes to them are filed with the Guion Miller records and are part of this publication. There are an estimated 90,000 individual applicants from throughout North America included within this publication.

Applications typically include the applicant’s name, Indian name, residence, date and place of birth, marriage status, and name of spouse. Also included are the names of siblings, parents, aunts and uncles, grandparents, and great-grandparents, further establishing family relationships vital to affirming tribal connections.