The Guion Miller Roll: about 90,000 applied, about a third enrolled (US Court of Claims, 1906–1910)

SUMMARY15. The Guion Miller Roll: about 90,000 applied, about a third enrolled (US Court of Claims, 1906–1910) [Connections: Who decided who's Indian, Nov 5, 2026]

RECORDCreated "to document Eastern Cherokee people, for the purposes of distributing money paid as restitution for the violation of treaties" (1835–36 and 1845/1846). "About 90,000 individuals applied … Only 30,254 individuals, about one-third of all applicants, were enrolled" (Wikipedia, citing NARA). NARA: in 1906 the Court of Claims appointed Guion Miller Special Commissioner; the award went to Cherokees living on 28 May 1906 who could prove membership in the Eastern Cherokee at the treaty times, or descent from such members. A NARA archivist (Open History Hub) says Miller wrote "special reports" for group claims and rejected the Poindexter (about 1,500 people), Sizemore (about 5,000) and Kirkland claims because he found no evidence those ancestors "were formally enrolled at the time of the treaties." A sample rejection (Brewer, application 36500): "It does not appear that ancestors were parties to treaties of 1835-6 and 1846." Secondary report: Forest Hazel (as quoted by a blog citing his Occaneechi-Saponi study) says Occaneechi descendants "were rejected by the commission as not being of Eastern Cherokee ancestry," and that "Probably Negros" was written on the Gibson brothers' application, while an agent's note said "This applicant shows the Indian so does his brother now with him. However, their ancestors were never enrolled."

PATTERNThe test was a prior federal roll, so Native people from other nations (Saponi, Occaneechi and others in the Southeast) who applied were turned away as "not Cherokee," and at least one form carries a racial guess ("Probably Negros")

LENS (WW9)Tens of thousands came forward saying "we are Indian"; the commission's rule was "only if an earlier clerk wrote you down."

OPENThe Hazel/Gibson quotes are secondhand (blog quoting Hazel); confirm in Hazel's article and the original application on NARA M1104. Whether Miller had a written policy on applicants of African ancestry needs deep research in his 1909 report. Wikipedia's east/west numbers conflict; use only the 90,000 / 30,254 figures with the NARA citation

SOURCEWikipedia, Guion Miller Roll (cites NARA M1104, M685); NARA, Eastern Cherokee enumerations (archived PDF); Open History Hub, "Special Reports in the Guion Miller Roll Records"; OKGenWeb transcription, application 36500; Hawkins blog quoting Hazel and Carlson.