One of our blog followers contacted me with a wonderful offer for people who are searching for their families among the 5 Civilized Tribes.

Here is what Elizabeth had to say:

I work in the Genealogy Center in Tulsa, OK.  We’re part of the Tulsa City County Library System.  We have one of the larger genealogy collections in the state.  http://guides.tulsalibrary.org/genealogy

Since we live in “Indian Territory”, a big part of what we do is help people try to find their Indian Ancestry.  Unfortunately, most of our patrons who have rumors of an Indian ancestor are unable to find them.  We deal primarily with the Five Civilized Tribes: Cherokee, Choctaw, (Muskogee) Creek, Chickasaw and Seminole.  They do not have a blood quantum requirement for tribal membership.  Instead, a person needs to be able to trace their ancestors back to someone on the Dawes Rolls which was taken between 1898-1906.  

The Tulsa City County Library Genealogy Center has one of the largest genealogy collections in Oklahoma.  The collection includes all the U.S. with a focus on Oklahoma, and surrounding states, as well as an extensive collection of records of the Five Civilized Tribes.  Our website can be found at:  http://guides.tulsalibrary.org/genealogy.  Please read our page about American Indian Research and watch our instructional video, “Using the Final/Dawes Rolls of the Five Civilized Tribes.”  We also have a Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/tulsagenealogycenter

The staff will answer basic questions and perform simple look-ups via email at: genaskus@tulsalibrary.org 

If you should ever get a request for information about the Five Tribes, please feel free to send them our way. 

I want to thank Elizabeth, and I also want to say how much I cherish librarians.  They have over and over again been extremely kind and helpful, often way above and beyond what simply “duty” would prescribe.  Hat tip to Elizabeth for her information and kind offer, and to all librarians, a big THANK YOU!!!!!