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Dawes Rolls Step 3: Use the Index to the Final Rolls online Begin Searching in the Final Rolls Index. To begin the search for your ancestor in the Final Rolls online index, you need the person's name and their tribe. The index of people accepted by the Dawes Commission has been digitized in the National Archives Catalog.

The Dawes Rolls (or Final Rolls of Citizens and Freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes, or Dawes Commission of Final Rolls) were created by the United States Dawes Commission. The Commission was authorized by United States Congress in 1893 to execute the General Allotment Act of 1887.

Dawes Rolls: Final Rolls Step 4: Look up the Person in the Final Rolls online. Both the Index to the Final Rolls and the Final Rolls are available through the National Archives Catalog, so you will be searching there. Go to the National Archives Catalog. In the Search box, enter 300321 (this is the National Archives Identifier) and click Search.

When tracing your Native American genealogy, there are a lot of resources available to you that you may have not even thought of. One such resource is the Dawes Rolls , also known as the “Final Rolls.”

The Final Rolls The Commission prepared these rolls and submitted them to the Secretary of the Interior for approval. The rolls include both approved and rejected names. Most rolls give the name, age, sex, degree of Indian blood, and roll and census card number of each person.

The Dawes Roll (Final Rolls) is a list of those members of the Five Civilized Tribes who removed to Indian Territory (Oklahoma) during the 1800's and were living there during the above dates. If your ancestor was not living in Indian Territory during 1898-1914 they will not be listed on the Dawes Roll!

The BIA gathered, collected, and/or created numerous rolls involving American Indians to identify members of various tribes and bands, including Freedmen. These rolls were created as a result of allotments, legislation, removals, treaties, and other activities. The BIA then used these rolls to create additional documentation--often using the same rolls for multiple purposes.