Talk:Dawes Rolls
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This article needs some research and rewriting. Including these areas:
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- The Dawes Rolls were created by the Dawes Commission, not the Dawes Act.
- The Dawes Rolls do not include all Indians, generally only memebers of the Five Civilized Tribes.
- John Ross, Cherokee chief, was only 1/8th "blood".
- There are several legal cases recorded of non-Indians bribing Indian officials in order to acquire an Indian allotment.
- At least one of the Nations enrolled their former black slaves, who may or may not have had Indian "blood".
— Dan, 16 Aug 2004
Original Article moved here from Main Page
Dawes Rolls are registered enrollments of Native American people in the United States under the Dawes Act of 1884.
The Dawes Act requirment for enrollment was not generally actually accomplished until well after the passage of the Act, in the early 20th century. The prevailing legal theory of the time was that one needed to have Native American blood in excess of 25% ("quarter blood") in order to be considered a Native ("American Indian").
These enrollments have important legal ramifications today. For most tribal groups they represented the first written records of membership. Generally one can prove Native American status sufficient for participation in programs limited to Natives by showing lineal descent from a person listed on the Dawes Rolls.
It should be noted that at the time of the Dawes enrollment, there would be little incentive, and considerable disincentives, for being enrolled if one's status were questionable. Considerable disabilities, both legal and social, were inherent in being considered a Native American in that era. Social stigmitization of being considered racially mixed was considerable, especially so in some areas, and Native Americans were additionally in an inferior legal position in many jurisdictions.
As unfortunate as this seems to modern sensibilites, these circumstances have led to one valuable attribute of the Dawes Rolls. At the time, very few real benefits accrued to one simply because of Native status. There were few petroleum royalties, no casino shares, or other pecuniary motives for wishing to be considered Native American. Thus, persons listed in the Dawes Rolls are almost certainly to be genuine Native Americans, not simply persons wishing to "pass" as Natives. This is important for establishing relationships in the modern era, where many people desire to be considered as Natives for the considerable benefits that can accrue, especially to members of certain groups, due to the factors listed above, and others.
Another unfortunate aspect of these circumstances is that many persons who were largely or almost entirely of Native blood did not desire to be considered such due to the tremendous stigmatization that existed in some circles, meaning that hundreds of thousands of Americans today are of largely Native ancestry but unable to document it through use of the Dawes Rolls, and must find another means of documentation should they desire it.
