Five Civilized Tribes Dawes Enrollment Categories and Abbreviations

The Dawes Act of February 8, 1887 allowed for a Federal commission to prepare new citizenship rolls for the Five Civilized Tribes of Oklahoma (Cherokees, Chickasaws, Choctaws, Creeks, and Seminoles) which incorporated the names of approved applicants while simultaneously documenting those who were considered doubtful and ultimately rejected. Upon approval of the Rolls, the Dawes Commission allotted a share of communal land to the approved individual members of these Tribes. The list of approved applications created the "Final Rolls of the Citizens and Freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes in Indian Territory".

Learn more about Dawes Records

Tribes

• Cherokees
• Choctaws
• Chickasaws
• Creeks
• Seminoles
• Delaware
• Mississippi Choctaws

Categories and Abbreviations

• Adopted (A)
• Citizens by blood (BB)
• Citizens by marriage (IM)
• Denied/doubtful (D)
• Freedmen* (F)
• Freedmen* Denied/doubtful (FD)
• Freedmen* Rejected (FR)
• Intermarried White (IW)
• Minors by blood (M)
• Minor Freedmen (FM)
• Newborns by blood (NB)
• Newborn Freedmen (FNB)
• Rejected (R)

*African Americans formerly enslaved by tribal members

For questions or additional information related to these categories, contact the National Archives at Fort Worth.