Claiming your Cherokee heritage is not unlike claiming your
Scots-Irish, Dutch, English, German, Italian, Flemish, etc. heritage. You do the
research, find the documents, and prove your ancestry. Then you are entitled to
say, "my grandparent was a Cherokee," thus claiming your heritage. Applying
for tribal membership is altogether different. Remember, the Eastern Band of the
Cherokee is a nation, the same way that the U.S.A., France, Italy and Germany
are nations. An application for tribal enrollment is really an application for
citizenship in another nation. Consequently, the requirements are specific and
quite strict.
Tribal Enrollment Information--Eastern Band To be eligible for
enrollment with the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indian, an applicant must:
be a direct lineal descendant of someone on the 1924 Baker roll,
possess at least 1/16th degree Eastern Cherokee blood, and apply for
enrollment either: within three years of the date of birth, or within
one year following the 18th birthday. For further information, contact the
Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indian Enrollment Office at (828) 497-4771, fax:
(828) 497-2952, or write Eastern Band of the Cherokee, P.O. Box 455, Cherokee,
NC 28719. Tribal Enrollment Information--Western Band To be enrolled by
the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma, an applicant must first prove ancestry to a
person enrolled by Dawes. (Dawes Roll 1898-1914.) Additional requirements may be
obtained by writing to: Cherokee Nation, Tribal Registrar, P.O. Box 948,
Tahlequah, OK 74465.
The Act of Congress of July 31, 1854 authorized the addition of
88 individuals whose names were omitted by Siler but who were included on
the Roll prepared by Mullay.
The Henderson Roll is the
first listing of the of 16,000 Cherokees living in Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee,
and North Carolina who were to be removed to the Indian Territory on what would
later be called the "Trail of Tears".