American Indian Allotment Research Center

A Window to the Historic Reservation Allotment Era

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What can I find here?

  • English and Indian name of the person
  • Age
  • Relation to head of family
  • Allotment Number
  • Legal Description of the Allotment
  • A Map of Allotment Location on the Original U.S. Survey Map

Added Possible Benefits--In most cases you also will be able to see on the same schedule or map many other allotments that were recorded along with your family's allotment. Many people participated in the allotment process at the same time in kinship or neighboring groups and the resultant records can provide clues to other keys for searching.

 

Quick Response by AIARC: We will respond to your request within 48 hours. There is no charge for a search.

 

Historic Allotment  Records Now Available for Tribes in Western, Central, and North Central Oklahoma

 

Note: The records that are available vary by tribe.

Records for the Five Civilized Tribes and the Osage Tribe are not included in AIARC's Database.

 

At the time of allotment, each individual that was qualified for an allotment was deeded in U.S. Government trust a plot of land--usually 160 acres--that was recorded in a Schedule of Allotments, a ledger that contained the allottee’s name, the allotment number, and the legal description of the tract of land, and often some additional gender and family information. Also, the tract of land was identified and recorded on U.S. Survey Tract Maps with the name of allottee and the allotment number. In many cases, a census was taken by the officers assigned to the various reservations, resulting in a Census Card on which was recorded allottee name, number, family status, and legal information.

 

Information that is available for various groups of tribes:

 

Group A. Allottees in the following tribes should have available from the data base a listing in the Schedule of Allotments, the allotment recorded on a township Map, and possibly a Census card are:

 

Caddo, Wichita, Delaware

   

Kiowa, Comanche, Apache

 

Note: Census cards were prepared and archives for only about 2/3rds of the allottees in the above named tribes.

 

Group B. Allottees of the following tribes should have available from the data base a listing in the Schedule of Allotments and the allotment recorded on a township Map:

 

Cheyenne Arapaho

 

Group C. Allottees in the following tribes should have available from the data base a listing in the Schedule of Allotments:

    

Absentee Shawnee, Citizen Potawatomi, Iowa, Kickapoo, Otoe-Missouria, Pawnee, Ponca, Sac and Fox

 

Additional is being collected continually as it becomes available from Freedom of Information Act requests to the Department of the Interior.

 

Any and all records collected for you are treated as confidential and privileged.

 

Also check Cyndi's List for an extensive bank of genealogical data and web sites at Cyndi's List of Genealogy Sites on the Internet http://www.cyndislist.com/linkto.htm.

Examples of Records you Might Receive:

 

1. A copy of the page in the Allotment Schedule tract book on which the allotment was recorded:

 

These pages commonly contain some 10 to 20 names. Those allotments around your family's allotment can often be the clue to other family members and their details, providing additional ancestral ties.

 

Click on images to Enlarge.

Example Schedule of allotments (names obscured):

 

 

 2. Tract Map on which the allotment information was recorded at the time of allotment.

These maps contain all of the allotments that were made in a locale. The information on these Historial Original U.S. township surveys can often reveal additional family ties.

 

Example Township Map:

 

 

 

 

 3. A Census card that was created at or near the time of allotment.

 

The Census cards commonly include the position of the allottee in the family, age, gender, and legal description of the allotment, and the allotment number.

 

Example Census Card (name partially removed):

 

 

See your Allotment Section on Google Earth Point Maps--Once the legal description is known for your allotment, the Section, Township, and Range can be entered into the Google Earth System map system and you can view the section that contains your allotment on an excellent modern aerial. Go to http://www.earthpoint.us/Townships.aspx.