Researching Native Ancestry with the Southern History Department
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| Just a sample of the books the BPL offers. Photo by Cheyenne Trujillo. |
Diving into the Birmingham Public Library (BPL) catalog for Native American Indian Heritage Month, I quickly realized our Southern History Department and Archives offer a lot of resources and materials to help patrons explore their ancestry.
The FamilyTree Magazine called the BPL a "genealogy research haven" and listed our library as one of the top 10 libraries for genealogy research.
If you want to explore your family tree or try enrolling into a federally recognized tribe, the BPL's Southern History Department can help.
Their collection mainly focuses on Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole tribes. These tribes predominantly lived in Alabama and the southeastern region of the United States.
The Southern History Department has several materials on individuals and their families who were forcibly removed from this area in the 1830s and resettled in one of the designated territories at the time.
Mary Beth Newbill, a Librarian in the Southern History Department, recommended these books in their collection (for library use only) to tribe citizen lists and a little more about certain tribes' cultures:
The Final Rolls of Citizens and Freedom of the Five Civilized Tribes in Indian Territory
Guion Miller Roll "plus" of Eastern Cherokee, East & West of Mississippi "1909"
Baker Roll 1924: Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians of North Carolina
Households and Hegemony: Early Creek Prestige Goods, Symbolic Capital, and Social Power
Mound Excavations at Moundville: Architecture, Elites, and Social Order
The History & Material Culture of the Muscogee Creek in Alabama and Georgia
They also recommend using these websites to find more tribe citizens if you think you have indigenous ancestors from this area:
- Dawes Rolls
- Guion Miller Roll
- Baker Roll
- FamilySearch.org (great for searching digitized images)
- AncestryLibrary.com (great for searching digitized images)
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| The BPL has access to many databases, including Ancestry.com. Photo via Ancestry.com. |
The Southern History Department is a hosting a virtual event called "Entry-Level Genetic Genealogy and Q&A" on Tuesday, November 16. This program is from 12:00 p.m.—1:00 p.m.
Attendees will learn how to apply their DNA ancestry kits to genealogical research to get the results they are looking for. Register for their program here.
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| From the Voices So True collection. Photo by Cheyenne Trujillo. |
On Saturday, November 20, the Birmingham Museum of Art is hosting a FREE Native American Heritage Festival from 10:00 a.m.—2:00 p.m.
This family-friendly festival will celebrate with Indigenous storytelling, dance performances, and foods. There will also be art activities, gallery tours, demonstrations from Indigenous crafters across the state, and animals presented by The Birmingham Zoo.
Check out this festival after stopping by the Local Authors Expo at the Central Library!
Follow the BPL on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn for more updates and the Jefferson County Library Cooperative on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
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