Roll of Persons of Indian Blood

Roll of Persons of Indian Blood
Name	Roll of Persons of Indian Blood
Type	Register
Established	1904
Jurisdiction	United States
Administered by	Bureau of Indian Affairs

Roll of Persons of Indian Blood is a historical federal registry compiled by the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs to document persons of Native American ancestry for purposes of allotment, enrollment, and legal recognition. It functioned alongside other enrollment rolls, tribal lists, and census records and became central to disputes involving tribal membership, land allotments, and citizenship. The roll intersected with policies and actors across Native American nations, federal agencies, congressional acts, and landmark legal decisions.

Background and Purpose

The Roll of Persons of Indian Blood grew out of late 19th- and early 20th-century policies including the Dawes Act, Indian Appropriations Act, and the activities of the Bureau of Indian Affairs under Secretaries such as Francis E. Leupp and William A. Jones. Intended to implement allotment systems promoted by congressmen like Henry L. Dawes and administrators such as John Collier, the roll tied to programs overseen by the Department of the Interior, the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, and the House Committee on Indian Affairs. It was used in concert with censuses conducted by figures such as Francis A. Walker, surveys by ethnologists like Franz Boas, and tribal lists compiled with the involvement of leaders from nations including the Cherokee Nation, Choctaw Nation, Creek Nation, Chickasaw Nation, and Sioux Nation. Settlement policies affecting Oklahoma Territory, Indian Territory, and reservations such as Pine Ridge and Navajo Nation relied on such documentation.

Eligibility and Criteria

Eligibility for inclusion referenced treaties like the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, Treaty of New Echota, and statutes such as the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924, and it intersected with court rulings including United States v. Sandoval and Cherokee Nation v. Georgia. Criteria often included lineage traced via rolls such as the Dawes Rolls, Guion Miller Roll, Henderson Roll, and mission records associated with missionaries like Marcus Whitman and Samuel Worcester. Enrollment standards reflected influences from anthropologists such as Alice Fletcher and tribal leaders like John Ross and Stand Watie, as well as clerks and census takers who worked under officials like D. B. Dill. Disputes often invoked the roles of attorneys and advocates including Ely S. Parker, Charles Curtis, and William H. Thomas.

Enrollment Process and Administration

Administration of the roll entailed field examinations, affidavits, and record compilation by agents such as Thomas J. Morgan and clerical work in offices linked to Washington, D.C. departments. Enrollment tied into allotment commissions, land patent systems overseen by the General Land Office, and directives from Secretaries of the Interior including Carl Schurz, Albert B. Fall, and Katherine A. McNamara in later reorganizations. Records were cross-referenced with tribal rolls maintained by nations like the Pueblo of Zuni, Hopi Tribe, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, and federally recognized entities such as the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes. Legal counsel from firms and litigators like William Jennings Bryan and judges on the U.S. Supreme Court shaped administrative practice through cases such as Lone Wolf v. Hitchcock.

Historical Development and Key Controversies

The roll’s development paralleled events involving presidents such as Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, and Franklin D. Roosevelt, and reform movements spearheaded by activists including Gertrude Bonnin (Zitkala-Ša), Charles Eastman, and tribal spokespeople like Clyde Warrior. Controversies emerged over blood quantum, misclassification, and coerced enrollments, implicating ethnographers such as James Mooney and commissioners like Henry Pratt. Litigation and political battles involved attorneys and legislators including Hiram Revels, Carl Hayden, and Robert Owen. Scandals over forged documents and disputed lineages touched families connected to leaders like Stand Watie and petitioners supported by reformers like Ralph H. Metcalfe.

Demographics and Impact

Census-type summaries derived from the roll influenced demographic understandings used by demographers and statisticians associated with institutions such as U.S. Census Bureau, scholars like W. E. B. Du Bois, and historians including Francis Paul Prucha. The roll affected land distribution in regions like Montana, Arizona, New Mexico, Kansas, and South Dakota and influenced the status of individuals tied to communities such as the Blackfeet Nation, Comanche Nation, Seminole Tribe of Florida, Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah), and Passamaquoddy Tribe. Impacts reached cultural figures—writers such as N. Scott Momaday, Leslie Marmon Silko, Sherman Alexie, Louise Erdrich, and Joy Harjo—and activists connected to movements with leaders like Leonard Peltier, Wilma Mankiller, Deb Haaland, and Elizabeth Peratrovich.

Legal and Political Implications

Legal debates over the roll intersected with landmark decisions including Oliphant v. Suquamish Indian Tribe, Santa Clara Pueblo v. Martinez, and statutory frameworks such as the Indian Reorganization Act and the Indian Child Welfare Act. Political ramifications affected representation of Native Americans in bodies like the United States Congress and roles such as Vice President of the United States held by Charles Curtis. Litigation involved attorneys such as John Echohawk, judges like Sandra Day O'Connor, and institutions including the Indian Claims Commission and National Congress of American Indians. Contemporary policy discussions reference the roll in analyses by scholars at universities such as Harvard University, University of Arizona, University of New Mexico, and Stanford University and advocacy by organizations like the Native American Rights Fund and American Indian Movement.

Category:Native American history