California Indian Enrollment Records: Judgment Rolls and Applications

Between 1851 and 1852, the United States negotiated 18 treaties with 139 tribes or bands in California. However, the U.S. Senate rejected these treaties in 1852, and they were never ratified.

An act of Congress of May 18, 1928 (45 Stat. 602), authorized the attorney general of California to file a suit in the U.S. Court of Claims on behalf of the California Indians for benefits they would have received under the unratified treaties.

To determine who would be eligible to share in any favorable judgment from the court, the act authorized the Secretary of the Interior to create a roll of California Indians.

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has the judgment roll of California Indians authorized in 1928, as well as associated applications.

NARA also has the revised roll of California Indians authorized in 1948 and associated applications, and the California judgment roll authorized in 1968 and associated applications.

These records are all part of Record Group 75, Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA).

Judgment Rolls: 1928–1933

Historical Overview

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Page 1 of the Annotated California Judgment Roll Authorized in 1928 (National Archives Identifier: 57140147)

View in National Archives Catalog

To be entitled to enrollment under the 1928 act, individuals had to meet two requirements: They had to be descended from Indians residing in California in 1852, and they had to be residents of California on May 18, 1928. No limit on the degree of Indian blood was fixed, and no requirements regarding tribal recognition and the maintenance of tribal relations were established.

Individuals seeking to enroll as California Indians completed a standard six-page application, which asked for the applicant’s name, position in family, age, sex, birth date, and degree of Indian blood claimed. The application also asked for an applicant’s residence, marital status, land allotments, and ancestry (including parents’ and grandparents’ names), among other information. Husbands and wives often submitted separate applications, while minor children were often included on a parent’s application.

Examiner of inheritance Fred A. Baker, who compiled the rolls, reported that more than 23,000 applicants filed for enrollment on 11,253 applications. Of these, 10,719 applications were approved, 534 were rejected, and 216 involved appeals. Of actual applicants:

• 23,542 were enrolled as California Indians and listed on Roll 1;
• 245 were enrolled as Indians living in California on May 18, 1928, who were not of California Indian descent, and listed on Roll 2; and
• 1,135 were rejected and listed on a third roll.

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Page 1 of the Towendolly family's California Indian enrollment application, No. 7911 (National Archives Identifier: 2123872)

View in National Archives Catalog

The Secretary of the Interior approved the rolls on May 17, 1933. For additional background information, see the M1853 descriptive pamphlet.

How to Access the Records

The California Indian judgment rolls authorized in 1928 are reproduced as Microfilm Publication M1853, Census Rolls of the Indians of California Authorized Under the Act of May 18, 1928, As Amended, Approved May 16–17, 1933.

This microfilm is available online through Ancestry.com’s database California, U.S., Index to Census Roll of Indians, 1928–1933. Ancestry.com is free to access at all NARA research facilities. An index to the judgment rolls is also digitized in the National Archives Catalog.

On each roll, family groups are listed together under the head of household. Some household groups included people with surnames different from the surname of the head of household.

The rolls list an individual’s application number. This number can be used to identify the individual’s application in Microfilm Publication NRHS-I32, California Indian Enrollment Applications, 1928–1933, which is arranged by application number.

This microfilm is available to view in the research rooms at the National Archives at Riverside and the National Archives at San Francisco.

Application 10645, a “blanket” application that includes several individuals, can be obtained by contacting riverside.archives@nara.gov or sanbruno.archives@nara.gov.

The original applications are found in the series “Applications Relating to the Enrollment of California Indians, 1928–1932” (National Archives Identifier: 2123872), which is located at the National Archives in Washington, DC. For questions about this series, contact archives1reference@nara.gov.

Judgment Rolls: 1948–1954

Historical Overview

An Act of June 30, 1948 (63 Stat. 1166), called for a revised roll of California Indians. It provided for the enrollment of children or their descendants, then living, born since May 18, 1928, to enrollees whose names appeared on the roll of the Indians of California authorized in 1928 and approved on May 17, 1933. The act also authorized the removal of names of 1933 enrollees who had since died.

An Act of May 24, 1950 (Public Law 524; 64 Stat. 190), authorized one per capita payment of $150 to each person enrolled on the roll of California Indians and living on May 24, 1950, or then eligible for enrollment. It also expanded the eligibility criteria for the revised roll to include:

• Persons born before May 18, 1928, who were not on the 1933 roll but who had a brother, sister, niece, nephew, or child on the 1933 roll
• Persons born after May 18, 1928, if their ancestors were either on the 1933 roll or eligible for the roll under the Act of May 24, 1950. This included children whose parents died before that date but who would have been entitled to enrollment.

Finally, the Act of June 8, 1954 (68 Stat. 240), authorized the completion of the revised roll. 

The revised roll numbers were assigned sequentially, 1 through 36094, to each name on the alphabetical list of enrollees. The roll was approved by the Secretary of the Interior on June 30, 1955. For additional background information, see the M1841 descriptive pamphlet.

How to Access the Records

The California Indian judgment roll authorized in 1948 is reproduced as Microfilm Publication M1841, California Indian Judgment Enrollment, 1948. The records are arranged in alphabetical order by surname. This microfilm can be viewed in the research room at the National Archives at Riverside or the research room at the National Archives at San Francisco. You can also request a staff-made index by emailing riverside.archives@nara.gov or sanbruno.archives@nara.gov.

The National Archives at San Francisco also holds the series “Applications to the California Judgment Roll Authorized in 1948” (National Archives Identifier: 613068). Records in this series may be restricted due to privacy concerns. For more information, contact sanbruno.archives@nara.gov.

Judgment Rolls: 1968–1972

Historical Overview

The Act of September 21, 1968 (82 Stat. 860), again provided judgment funds for California Indians. Individuals were eligible for a share in the funds if they met the following eligibility criteria:

• Their name or the name of a lineal or collateral relative appeared on any of the approved rolls prepared under the Act of May 18, 1928 (45 Stat. 602), and its amendments.
• They could establish a lineal or collateral relationship to an Indian who resided in California on June 1, 1852.
• They were born on or before September 21, 1968.

Eligibility did not depend on residence in California, as the BIA recognized that California Indians lived in “practically every State in the Union.” For more information about the roll, see the BIA’s press release from January 28, 1969.

How to Access the Records

The National Archives at Riverside has the series “Indexes to the 1972 California Indian Judgment Roll, September 24, 1972–July 2, 1974” (National Archives Identifier: 18514719). Records in this series are restricted due to privacy concerns. However, staff at the National Archives at Riverside can search the series. For more information, contact riverside.archives@nara.gov. 

The National Archives at San Francisco has the series “California Judgment Roll Authorized in 1968” (National Archives Identifier: 609167). Records in this series may be restricted due to privacy concerns. For more information, contact sanbruno.archives@nara.gov.