Guion Miller Roll
The Guion Miller Roll is a roll created by the US government between 1906 and 1911 to document Eastern Cherokee people, for the purposes of distributing money paid as restitution for the violation of treaties.[1]
History
[edit]In 1902, Congress authorized the U.S. Court of Claims to began hearing cases related to the violation of Cherokee treaties. The Eastern Cherokee filed three claims alleging that the US government had violated the 1835 and 1846 Cherokee treaties. The Court of Claims consolidated the three complaints into one case and eventually, on 18 May 1905, the court ruled in favor of the tribe. Eligible tribal citizens were awarded over $1 million. The roll was compiled by Interior Department Special Commissioner Guion Miller. Miller used previous applications and rolls in order to verify the tribal citizenship of applicants to the roll.[1]
About 90,000 individuals applied for the Guion Miller Roll. Only 30,254 individuals, about one-third of all applicants, were enrolled as entitled to funds.[2]
The Cherokee Nation and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians use the Guion Miller Roll and the Dawes Rolls in order to determine eligibility for tribal citizenship. The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians only uses the Baker Roll to determine eligibility for tribal citizenship.[3]
The digitized Guion Miller Roll is available on Fold3, a website owned by Ancestry.com.[4]
See also
[edit]- Blood quantum laws
- Cherokee descent
- Baker Roll
- Dawes Rolls
- Hester Roll
- Native American identity in the United States
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Guion Miller Roll, 1906–1911". National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved 2024-12-30.
- ^ "Eastern Cherokee Applications of the U.S. Court of Claims, 1906-1909" (PDF). National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved 2024-01-04.
- ^ "CFRC debunks genealogy misconceptions". Cherokee Phoenix. Retrieved 2024-12-30.
- ^ "Proving Native ancestry complicated process". Tahlequah Daily Press. Retrieved 2025-01-04.
External links
[edit]- Cherokee Rolls: Guion Miller Roll, All Things Cherokee
- US, Guion Miller Roll, 1908-1910, Fold3