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Following the signing of the Treaty of New Echota and the final removal of the bulk of the Eastern Cherokee to the Indian [Oklahoma] Territory in 1839, one of the irksome problems confronting Cherokee leaders concerned qualification for tribal citizenship. Prior to the American Civil War, this controversy was often associated with the political rivalry between the Ross and Watie factions of the relocated Cherokee. After the war the issue was exacerbated by the influx of even more white and ex-slave “intruders” to the reservation seeking the privileges of Cherokee citizenship. To make matters worse, the Cherokee Tribal Council and the Department of Interior were never able to agree on (1) who was responsible for removing “intruders,” and (2) which jurisdiction had the final authority on the subject of citizenship. Despite the efforts to the contrary of Chief Ochalata and the Cherokee Tribal Council during the administrations of Presidents Grant and Hayes, the citizenship question was one factor leading to the passage of the Dawes Severalty Act of 1887. This statute resulted in the denationalization of the Cherokee and other tribes in the Indian Territory and the establishment of a white-dominated government in Oklahoma.

This volume marks the fifth and final one in a series that describes the determinations of the Cherokee Nation Commission on Citizenship (a creation of the Tribal Council). (It should be noted that the Dawes Commission of 1893 subsequently scrutinized the Cherokee Commission dockets in making its final determinations on citizenship for members of the Five Civilized Tribes.) Cherokee Commission Dockets. Volume V: 1880-1884 & 1887-1889 consist of abstracts of Dockets 1,841-2,281 of the Commission. Besides giving the names of the applicant and presiding commissioners and the date of the determination, in most instances the transcriptions identify the names of family members and their relationship to the person(s) filing the application. In all, researchers will find references to more than 4,000 Cherokee claimants in the concluding volume, bringing the total identified to date to more than 20,000.

See also the other volumes in this series:
Volume I: 1880-1884 & 1887-1889
Volume II: 1880-1884 & 1887-1889
Volume III: 1880-1884 & 1887-1889
Volume IV: 1880-1884 & 1887-1889