- 1). Collect information about your ancestor. You need the name and tribe to search the Dawes Rolls. If you don't know the name or tribe of your ancestor and he was living in American Indian areas, the 1900 census includes special schedules that identify tribe and parents' tribe. The National Archives recommends that you begin by searching the Soundex Index to locate your ancestor's tribal information.
- 2). Conduct a simple name search for Dawes census (enrollment) cards in the Archival Research Catalog of the National Archives database. If you find your ancestor's census card number or a facsimile of the enrollment record (from which you can note the census card number), you can bypass a search for your ancestor's number in the Final Rolls Index or Final Rolls. With the census card number, you may contact the Fort Worth National Archives office for a copy of your ancestor's record.
- 3). Determine if your ancestor's census card is described online if you cannot find it through the simple Dawes census. The census (or enrollment) card lists the person's name, members of the household, tribal enrollment, parents' names and tribal affiliation. Some cards contain additional information. None of the Choctaw tribe are found online; however, the invalidated 1896 applications include some Choctaw tribal members that are cataloged online.
- 4). Navigate the online index if you cannot find the census card number. For this search, you need your ancestor's name and tribe. The final rolls are categorized first by tribe and then alphabetically. Once you locate the tribal pages, scroll through the names until you find your ancestor. To the right of the name is the census card number.
- 5). Look for your ancestor's information in the rolls titled "The Final Rolls of Citizens and Freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes in Indian Territory, 03/04/1907." The Final Rolls indicate the name, age, sex, blood (meaning full-blood, half-blood, quarter-blood) and the census card number, which is in the final column.
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