The Flaws of the Elizabeth Warren "Pocahontas" Claim and DNA Testing
There were many tribes of North American Indians who, although they were wiped-out by conquering tribes, some members survived by merging. This is the situation as they crossed over into the Western territories of the United States. In 1903, the Dawes Commission asked for applicants of those persons who thought that they had as much as 1/32nd blood-lineage to apply for free land in Oklahoma. The key was that their ancestor needed to be listed on one of the Indian Rolls. A multiplicity of Indian Rolls were kept from 1818 to 1832 by the various tribes. In other words, they knew the identify of their people. I get requests to find the marriage of a white man who married an Indian. It was uncommon for the white man to marry a squaw (mostly found among Indian traders); and if he did, the marriage was not recorded in county records as he was unwelcome among whites. Further, during 1832 and 1833 when the Cherokees were driven out of North Carolina and Georgia, the white traders did not go. So now, we have over 32,000 applicants, most of whom did not qualify for the Oklahoma land. I personally read many of the applications and found them vague and full of hearsay. In other words, they could not prove their lineage in 1903.
Interestingly, the descendants of these same people (some 39.33 generations later) might want to try a DNA test should a company advertise that they had sampled the Cherokees in North America!
Meanwhile, the task of searching the Indian Rolls is still advisable.
Native American Records on Georgia Pioneers
Index to Georgia Wills-See Names of your Ancestors
