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This is a transcription of the first two years (1915-1916) of a census of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians taken by James E. Henderson, Indian Agent representing the U.S. government for the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The entire census covers the eight years between 1915 and 1922 and is based on a microfilm copy of a typescript originally on file at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. This present transcription, prepared by Mr. Jeff Bowen, is scheduled to be published in four volumes (two census years per volume) and marks the first time this material has been made available as a publication.

The census itself concerns the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians from Cherokee, North Carolina, living on the reservation known as the Qualla Boundary. Individuals enumerated in the census are descendants of the Cherokees who were not removed to Indian Territory during the period 1838-1839 in the migration known as the Trail of Tears. While there is sometimes additional data, information provided in the census almost invariably gives the individual's name, family relationship, date of birth, and sex--information that is critical in any genealogical research. In some cases, the Indian Agent also compiled Cherokee birth and death dates or the names of children living apart from their parents.

See also Volume II (1917-1918) and Volume III (1919-1920).