Native American Genealogy
Read about and then use these carefully selected links to explore your Native American ancestry
Native American Family Research
Native American or American Indian family history and genealogical research is very specialized and requires some background knowledge before diving in. Here are some basics that may inform your research.
General Timeline
While the history of the federal government’s relationship to the native nations of this land is a long and complicated one, the timeline below provides a brief overview of important milestones for genealogists to consider when researching a native ancestor:
A Note on Records
The federal government holds jurisdiction over relations with native nations. Consequently, many of the records that genealogists will find useful are maintained by federal agencies. These records often include annuity rolls (land buyout payments) from the treaty era or removal (relocation) records. Most of the records came from the reservation period and include Indian census rolls, land allotment, school, health, and vital records. Non-agency records like the general population schedules from the federal censuses, local deed books or military records may also provide insight to a native ancestor.
A researcher can access these records through the National Archives or through the local agencies of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). The BIA’s Great Lakes Agency in Ashland, Wisconsin handles records for ten of the eleven federally recognized tribes in Wisconsin.
After the Indian Reorganization Act in 1934, tribes gained more control over their own enrollment and other records. Additional records such as oral histories were recorded in recent decades through university grants but are most likely found with the tribe or family.
Wisconsin Tribes
Wisconsin is home to eleven federally recognized American Indian nations and tribal communities and one that is not currently recognized. The Oneida Nation, Stockbridge-Munsee Community Band of Mohican Indians, and the Brothertown Indian Nation were all removed from their ancestral lands in New York and New England in the 1820s. Each of these nations and tribal communities in Wisconsin have a unique history. There are no federally recognized native lands in Rock County.
DNA and Native American Ethnicity
Native American ethnicity estimates from DNA testing are fraught with controversy. The problems are both technological and cultural. DNA labs market ethnicity tests as an accurate measure of regional ancestral origins, but one’s ethnicity estimates rarely match one’s family’s paper research. Moreover, siblings’ ethnicity estimates are often quite different from one another. Even one’s own results vary a great deal when submitted to multiple DNA labs. Because ethnicity estimates are so imprecise, they are sometimes referred to as the “horoscope of DNA tests.”
For Native Americans, the cultural issues are even more complex and troubling. In the early 1800s, the United States required American Indians to enroll as members of a federally recognized Tribe, Band, Group or Nation. This compulsory membership was defined by a “Blood Quantum” of 25% or more, which was used at times to segregate, relocate and nearly eradicate these peoples. A thoughtful Native American, Lawrence “Butch” Roberts (Ret.), who assisted with this article noted, “Blood Quantum (and by inference, DNA testing) is of no relevance to who you are. How you live with God, other people and the earth is what is important.”
This brief overview is just a starting point for those wanting to pursue research of a native ancestor. Please consult FamilySearch’s guide to researching Indians of North America.
General Native American Research Links:
Wisconsin’s Native American Stories
Glossary Native American Biographies
Wisconsin Native American Photo Archives
Native American or American Indian family history and genealogical research is very specialized and requires some background knowledge before diving in. Here are some basics that may inform your research.
General Timeline
While the history of the federal government’s relationship to the native nations of this land is a long and complicated one, the timeline below provides a brief overview of important milestones for genealogists to consider when researching a native ancestor:
- 1787: US Constitution states that the Federal Government has reserved power “to regulate Commerce with… the Indian Tribes.”
- 1789-1871: Federal Government uses treaties with tribes to coerce land cessation to white settlers.
- 1824: The Office of Indian Affairs, later renamed the Bureau of Indian Affairs, was created.
- 1830: Congress passed the Indian Removal Act, forcing Indians who lived east of the Mississippi River to move west.
- 1850-1887: The US government confines native tribes to reservations.
- 1887: General Allotment Act was passed, which assigned individual, rather than communal, land holdings
- 1924: The Curtis Bill conferred citizenship to all non-citizen Indians born within the territorial limits of the United States.
- 1934: Indian Reorganization Act passed, which acknowledged tribal rights to have their own local government.
- 1946: US Indian Claims Commission established to handle Native Americans’ claims against the United States government.
- 1947: First termination timetables are submitted to Congress to begin the termination of some tribes.
- 1958: Termination without tribal consent ended.
A Note on Records
The federal government holds jurisdiction over relations with native nations. Consequently, many of the records that genealogists will find useful are maintained by federal agencies. These records often include annuity rolls (land buyout payments) from the treaty era or removal (relocation) records. Most of the records came from the reservation period and include Indian census rolls, land allotment, school, health, and vital records. Non-agency records like the general population schedules from the federal censuses, local deed books or military records may also provide insight to a native ancestor.
A researcher can access these records through the National Archives or through the local agencies of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). The BIA’s Great Lakes Agency in Ashland, Wisconsin handles records for ten of the eleven federally recognized tribes in Wisconsin.
After the Indian Reorganization Act in 1934, tribes gained more control over their own enrollment and other records. Additional records such as oral histories were recorded in recent decades through university grants but are most likely found with the tribe or family.
Wisconsin Tribes
Wisconsin is home to eleven federally recognized American Indian nations and tribal communities and one that is not currently recognized. The Oneida Nation, Stockbridge-Munsee Community Band of Mohican Indians, and the Brothertown Indian Nation were all removed from their ancestral lands in New York and New England in the 1820s. Each of these nations and tribal communities in Wisconsin have a unique history. There are no federally recognized native lands in Rock County.
- Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa
- Forest County Potawatomi
- Ho-Chunk (formerly Winnebago) Nation
- Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa
- Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa
- Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin
- Oneida Nation
- Red Cliff Band of Superior Chippewa
- Mole Lake (Sokaogon Chippewa Community) Band of Lake Superior Chippewa
- Saint Croix Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin
- Stockbridge-Munsee Community Band of Mohican Indians
- Brothertown Indian Nation (not currently recognized by federal government)
DNA and Native American Ethnicity
Native American ethnicity estimates from DNA testing are fraught with controversy. The problems are both technological and cultural. DNA labs market ethnicity tests as an accurate measure of regional ancestral origins, but one’s ethnicity estimates rarely match one’s family’s paper research. Moreover, siblings’ ethnicity estimates are often quite different from one another. Even one’s own results vary a great deal when submitted to multiple DNA labs. Because ethnicity estimates are so imprecise, they are sometimes referred to as the “horoscope of DNA tests.”
For Native Americans, the cultural issues are even more complex and troubling. In the early 1800s, the United States required American Indians to enroll as members of a federally recognized Tribe, Band, Group or Nation. This compulsory membership was defined by a “Blood Quantum” of 25% or more, which was used at times to segregate, relocate and nearly eradicate these peoples. A thoughtful Native American, Lawrence “Butch” Roberts (Ret.), who assisted with this article noted, “Blood Quantum (and by inference, DNA testing) is of no relevance to who you are. How you live with God, other people and the earth is what is important.”
This brief overview is just a starting point for those wanting to pursue research of a native ancestor. Please consult FamilySearch’s guide to researching Indians of North America.
General Native American Research Links:
- Beginner’s Guide to Native American Research (FamilySearch)
- Guide to American Indian Records (FamilySearch)
- American Indians in Modern Wisconsin (Wis. Historical Society)
- Tribal Nations of Wisconsin (Wis. Dept. of Public Instruction)
Wisconsin’s Native American Stories
- The Story of Madison Indigenous People - Madison Magazine 10 May 2017
- The Story of Wisconsin’s Unrecognized Nation - The Brothertown Tribe
- The Ways: Great Lakes Native American Stories - Educational resources (grades 6-12)
- Death by Civilization – The Story of Native American Boarding Schools
- Custer to Casinos - One Native American Family’s Story
- Missing Threads Documentary – The Story of the Wisconsin Indian Child Welfare Act
Glossary Native American Biographies
- Indian biographies - Access Genealogy
- Doris Duke Collection Oral histories across the U.S.
- Indian biography by B. B. Thatcher ... Vol. 1, Vol. 2, e-books
- Biography and history of the Indians of North America, e-book
- Dictionary of Indian biography, e-book
- Book of the Indians of North America, e-book
- Indian biography . . . lives of more than two hundred Indian chiefs, e-book
Wisconsin Native American Photo Archives
- J. Kingsbury Picture Postcards of Northern Wisconsin - Early 20th century mages of Ojibwe and Menominee Indians in northeast Wisconsin and Upper Michigan
- Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions - 1,800 images of Native Americans and related Catholic churches, schools, clergy, and religious leaders from across the United States
- Lucille B. Chapman Collection on the Menominee - Photographs and postcards of the Menominee Indian Reservation in Wisconsin and of Shawano, Wisconsin