The Cherokee Nation is Oklahoma's largest Native group and the second largest in the United States. The Cherokee Nation is the direct, lineal descendant of the sovereign tribal government that presided over much of the southeastern United States before European colonization. The major concentration of contemporary Cherokees live in fourteen northeastern Oklahoma counties within the original 1835 tribal treaty boundaries. 

The Cherokee Nation is not a reservation, but a jurisdictional service area that includes all of eight counties and portions of six in northeastern Oklahoma.  What remained of Cherokee tribal land following the Civil War was divided into individual allotments which were given to Cherokees listed in the census compiled by the Dawes Commission in the late 1890s. Descendants of those original enrollees make up today’s Cherokee Nation tribal citizenship of more than 200,000 people. Almost 70,000 of these Cherokees reside in the 7,000 square mile area of the Cherokee Nation.

If you can prove each generation of your lineage back to an individual who settled in one of Oklahoma's territories on or before 16 November 1907, you are eligible for membership in First Families of the Twin Territories.  I hope the information I provide here will help you do just that.

A search engine for this site is in the Research Room.

I am Colleen Pustola, the new webmistress for the Cherokee Nation GenWeb.   If you have anything to contribute, any suggestions for inclusion on the site, or simply want to send a friendly greeting, just email me! I'd love to hear from you.

Please note: I do not live in Oklahoma and am unable to help you with local research. Please see the Look Up Assistance page.