TheGuion Miller Roll is a roll created by the US government between 1906 and 1911 to document Eastern Cherokee people, for the purposes of distributing money paid as restitution for the violation of treaties.[1]
In 1902, Congress authorized the U.S. Court of Claims to began hearing cases related to the violation ofCherokee treaties. The Eastern Cherokee filed three claims alleging that the US government had violated the 1835 and 1846 Cherokee treaties. The Court of Claims consolidated the three complaints into one case and eventually, on 18 May 1905, the court ruled in favor of the tribe. Eligible tribal citizens were awarded over $1 million. The roll was compiled by Interior Department Special Commissioner Guion Miller. Miller used previous applications and rolls in order to verify the tribal citizenship of applicants to the roll.[1]
About 90,000 individuals applied for the Guion Miller Roll. Only 30,254 individuals, about one-third of all applicants, were enrolled as entitled to funds.[2]
TheCherokee Nation and theUnited Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians (UKB) use the Guion Miller Roll and the Dawes Rolls in order to determine eligibility for tribal citizenship. The UKB also uses the 1949United Keetoowah Band Base Roll. TheEastern Band of Cherokee Indians only uses theBaker Roll to determine eligibility for tribal citizenship.[3]
The digitized Guion Miller Roll is available on Fold3, a website owned byAncestry.com.[4]