First, establish that you have a lineal ancestor who was a member of a federally recognized tribe in the United States. This can be accomplished by utilizing the standard genealogical process of researching current and historical records.
Numerous bibliographies on the subject exist and should be consulted in the quest to gather general and tribal-specific histories.
General History
The term “tribe” gained currency in Western culture as a sociological category during the sixteenth-century expansion of Europe into the Americas and Africa. The concept of the tribe came to be associated with a more primitive order of humanity, left behind by the progress of civilization and destined to be redeemed and refashioned by superior forces.
By the 1960s, a growing disquiet was developing among many anthropologists over the notion of tribe as an analytical concept. Treatments such as those by Fried and Southall undermined the tribe’s image as a pre-state stage of social evolution, but the idea was too entrenched to be easily dismissed.
As an alternative, some anthropologists began using the notion of chiefdom, which they viewed as a precursor to statehood because it constituted a hierarchical political structure that was less centralized and smaller in scale than the modern nation-state. However, this thinking was still open to the same critiques that had plagued the notion of tribe. The word chiefdom also came to be used by anthropologists to denigrate Native American society by equating it with primitivism. In addition, the Native American’s research guideserves as a valuable resource, offering insights, methodologies, and cultural considerations essential for conducting thorough genealogical investigations within indigenous communities.
Family Sources
Many tribes are rooted in family and community. They celebrate traditional ceremonies in their communities, maintain a close relationship with the land, and continue to practice time-honored traditions. This is often a stark contrast to how non-natives view them. Many portray Native peoples as violent, savage, and unfit for civilization. This is a painful legacy that continues today.
The sedentary farmers of the Southwestern cultural area, such as the Hopi, Zuni, and Yaqui, built great stone and adobe houses known as pueblos. Nomadic tribes, including the Navajo, survived by hunting and gathering.
During the 19th century, education, land rights, and treaty negotiations were overseen by superintendents of the Federal Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). These superintendents scrupulously recorded their interactions with tribal members, resulting in an incredible archive of handwritten letters and other documents.
Kathryn Gerndt, a first-year graduate student in conservation biology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, has used this rich source material in her research on the Mole Lake pine marten, a clan animal of the Ojibwe tribe. Her project has taken on a personal dimension as she reads letters between her grandfather, three generations removed, and the BIA, in which he describes near-starvation conditions at abandoned logging camps and requests bags of flour.
Annotated Bibliographies
Annotated bibliographies are essential to a research project. They list publications and evaluate the text’s contribution to understanding a topic. They also offer guidance as to how a researcher might use the text. Most college and university libraries have significant collections of these reference sources. State libraries also typically have substantial collections; a surprising number are available through interlibrary loan.
One challenge in researching Native American genealogy is determining tribal affiliation for non-Natives rumored to have been associated with a tribe but for whom no documentary evidence has been found. An excellent place to start is by examining the documented family history of each line in an established genealogical tree.
Then, examining compiled histories of the region where the potential ancestor lived is a good idea. Many will contain information about tribes and their interactions with other peoples. Those histories should be cross-referenced to the known genealogy of each individual in the line that is believed to include a Native ancestor.
Maps & Atlases
For many people with Native American ancestry, it is finding documentation proving that association is challenging. Since most of the records relevant to Indian genealogy were created by the American government in response to tribal efforts to regain lost lands or receive compensation for treaty violations, these documents often contain lengthy and detailed lists of names that prove relationships to the tribe.
An excellent place to start in gathering such information is at local public libraries. These institutions have many resources on Indian history, historical tribal territories, and migration patterns. Many also offer genealogical classes or workshops.
Another place to start is the National Archives website, which offers a free leaflet titled Guide to Record Groups at the National Archives That Relate to American Indians and Alaskan Natives. It includes an overview of the records that are available and their locations. In addition, several books are available through the site that discuss the different aspects of researching Indian genealogy.
Local & Community Histories
While family history is the key focus of most research, don’t forget to look at local and community sources. These include town, county, or state histories, newspaper archives, county resources, and library collections. Many of these sources will contain information on Indians living in the area.
Local historical societies may have records that can be of value to Native researchers. They often maintain genealogies of residents and provide information on the area’s early settlers, including tribal members. They also usually have collections of oral histories and can help connect a researcher with local Native elders who may be able to provide clues.
A researcher needs to understand the context in which their ancestors lived, and that can be achieved through education. This will help avoid pitfalls, such as poverty porn and noble savage ideas that permeate much of the general population’s views on Native peoples. Ultimately, understanding the context of your ancestors will enable you to work better with the available tribe-specific records. This will help you maximize your time at the National Archives or one of its 15 Regional Branches.
