CITIZENSHIP : UNITED STATES OF AMERICA : #3 EVOLUTION OF THE DECLARATION OF INTENT "FIRST PAPERS" : IS CITIZENSHIP A RIGHT OF BIRTH IN THE UNITED STATES

 ARCHIVES GOV : HISTORY OF THE DECLARATION OF INTENT (CITIZENSHIP)

Read here about the changes through history and the Old Law (1795 till 1906) in which various courts had different forms, and the New Law (in which the forms were unified).

The "3 papers" we often seek were in general from 1906 until 1952.

Excerpt: Waiting Period between filing the Declaration of Intent and more paperwork.

January 29, 1795 and June 17, 1798	3 years
June 18, 1798 and April 13, 1802	5 years
April 14, 1802 and May 25, 1824	3 years
May 26, 1824 and December 23, 1952	2 years

Remember that filing a Declaration of Intent does not meant the person(s) followed through and actually became citizens.

Check by state for "walk into the courthouse and swear on a Bible" Citizenship. A typical walk in would be a person who just turned 18, who was brought into the country by immigrant parents (or who was born in the country to them) and they didn't complete the process due to their deaths or some other factor. Such a person and their situation was usually known to the community.

Has BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP in THE UNITED STATES CONSITUTION - The 14th Amendment - always been interpreted the same way? 

This has become controversial.

Here is a link to THE FEDERAL REGISTER at the NATIONAL ARCHIVES (NARA), a Daily Journal of the United States Government in which President Donald Trump's notions have been published: A Presidential Document by the Executive Office of the President on 1/29/2025

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/01/29/2025-02007/protecting-the-meaning-and-value-of-american-citizenship

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A FATHER NURTURES A SON'S INTERESTS

 It's not easy to find a free downloadable vintage public domain image

 of a father nurturing a son.

I think the dearth of these images, compared to those available

 for mothers and Mother's Day, is telling. 

 

 

 

WORLD ELDER ABUSE AWARENESS DAY COMING UP JUNE 15th : USC CENTER FOR ELDER JUSTICE

ELDERMISTREATENT USC EDU - JUNE 15 2025 

World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (WEAAD) was launched by the International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse and the World Health Organization at the United Nations. The purpose of WEAAD is to provide an opportunity for communities around the world to promote a better understanding of abuse and neglect of older persons by raising awareness of the cultural, social, economic and demographic processes affecting elder abuse and neglect.

image of grandma from Graphics Fairy

CITIZENSHIP : UNITED STATES OF AMERICA : RESEARCHING DEPORTATION RECORDS? : U.S. CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES #2 (LOTS OF GOOD STUFF!)

USCIS : FEE BASED DEPORTATION SERVICE 

Yes you do have to pay a fee for their research but there are exemptions.

There is way more here at the USCIS than DEPORTATION:

WHY MIGHT REQUESTING THE FILES FOR YOUR ANCESTORS TURN OUT TO HAVE MORE THAN ANY DATABASE? (My question.)

 Excerpt:

The question is important because it speaks to the most common misconception about USCIS historical records, namely that USCIS C-files are exact duplicates of court records. Yet C-Files are not exact duplicates of court records for three reasons:

1. Technically, the duplication is not exact because C-Files contain a copy of the naturalization certificate issued to the new citizen in addition to duplicate court forms. That said, if the C-File contains only a certificate, petition for naturalization, and declaration of intention, researchers might consider that C-File as little more than a duplicate of court records available from the National Archives (NARA) or from a courthouse.

2. Not all C-Files are small. Millions of C-Files contain a variety of additional forms and documents generated before or after the naturalization date. To see some examples visit the C-Files Image Gallery.  Please go to this link as it lists a number of documents that might be especially interesting, some I personally had not encountered.

3. Many C-Files relate to citizenship, not naturalization, and so contain no court records at all. For example, minor children listed on a father’s petition could later apply for their own certificate of citizenship, creating a derivative C-File. Read more about Naturalization Records Not Duplicated in Court Records, or review our table of Certificate Series showing the series-specific numbering.

It could be terrific to have a copy of the ancestors actual CERTIFICATE, which might have a photo of them.

Give this site some attention.  There is a lot to learn! 

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CITIZENSHIP : UNITED STATES OF AMERICA : CITIZENSHIP RESEARCH BE HELPFUL TO YOUR GENEALOGY QUEST and FAMILY HISTORY STORY : REQUIREMENTS FOR CITIZENSHIP CHANGED! #1

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA : 

CAN CITIZENSHIP RESEARCH BE HELPFUL TO YOUR GENEALOGY QUEST?

THE ANSWER IS YES.

I think we should include a bit about what the citizenship laws were at the time our ancestors applied for citizenship, which might vary by state, and how they perhaps changed while in process. This can add some understanding to the history they lived through and the attitudes that prevailed about immigrants, ethnicity, and gender. 

You might be surprised at how long it took.

After the American Revolution, people might have not needed a Visa to enter the colonies, but simply have been sworn in after spending a number of years, which might be seven years or more, in which they proved themselves to be self-supporting and good neighbors (rather than criminal). 

The general term for this is "One Paper" naturalization.

Prior to that, if one lived in a state that was ruled by Great Britain, then they might have declared their citizenship as British - though they came from Germany. (And then they would, though having come from Germany and had a German surname, give up allegiance to the British King or Queen, rather than a German one.)

Recall that Great Immigration period caused by the Industrial Revolution, at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, in which people moved from agricultural work to factories. For some time there was a process which started with "First Papers" called "Declaration of Intent." The Declaration in itself had to be updated if there was a change of address or more children were born, or if someone died. The process had to be kept up with, as it was considered suspicious if more than seven years went by and there was no further contact.  "Final Papers" are the NATURALIZATION ("Citizenship") papers.

Perhaps because they were Italian - or another "suspicious" ethnicity, an immigrant's citizenship applications were frozen because of World War I. You'll notice it's well after that war before the processing for them continues.

For some time it was only the Head of Household who could apply, implied is a husband, and when he got the citizenship it was for the whole family, his wife and children who were not yet adults. A widowed head of household could apply for herself and her children.

And then there were the women who would loose their citizenship if they married a man who was not a citizen.  (I consider that one particularly draconian!)

Women got the vote.  And with that came the right and responsibility for adult women to apply for their own citizenship.  But check by state because, for instance, women were allowed to vote in Wyoming in 1869, and Utah in 1870 for elections that were not national.

Try on this less thought of scenario.  Your ancestor came to the United States and was DEPORTED.

Yes it happened.

Or this one: THEY GAVE UP THEIR U.S. CITIZENSHIP BUT CHANGED THEIR MIND, and had to be REPATRIATED.

On the next couple posts I'm going to refer you to some web sites where you can find out more!

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ANCESTRY WORSHIP GENEALOGY BLOGSPOT

Our genetic and spiritual ancestors help us with our research quests 

and, while we follow a linear research path, 

amazing dreams and synchronicity abound. 

We explore multicultural ancestry worship 

and the use of genealogy for past-life verification, 

as well as practical ways and means to achieve your research goals.

SCOTLAND CLANS : BUY A SQUARE FOOT - HAVE SOME FUN WITH YOUR NEW LORD OR LADY TITLE - VISIT THE PRESERVE! VERY COOL!

I found this web site, which is commercial - selling plots of land in Scotland ie "Become a Lord or Lady Now" ! I must say that the preservation of clan history, maps, and so on here is impressive, so OK, a link to them and some hits for them are in order.... HIGHLAND TITLES COM  You can buy a  square foot plot of land in Kilnaish and see your plot of Google Maps... No, they have not solicited me or paid me for an ad.

Excerpt:  Clearly, our small family business is in no position to bestow honours in the way that the reigning Monarch can do, but our “Laird/Lord/Lady of the Glen” titles are far from meaningless. Gifts are highly personal in nature. No one person is in a position to say whether a gift is with or without meaning. To do so would constitute a breathtaking feat of arrogance.

• For some of our customers, our gift is fun. That fun has meaning.
• For others, it’s romantic. That has meaning.
• For many, it’s a way of strengthening their ties with Scotland. That has meaning.
• We can say without any doubt that our Lairds, Lords and Ladies have helped us create a real feeling of community amongst our customers.
• Tens of thousands of our customers have visited their plots and met with our team on the land. They have seen the huge amount of work we have put into creating one of the most popular nature reserves in the country, including an official Guinness World Record for World’s Biggest Bug Hotel!

Highland Titles now manages more than 800 acres in the beautiful highlands of Scotland, and the nature reserve at Duror, near Glencoe, is one of the most popular nature reserves in Scotland.

***

OK FREE TO USE MAPS are available on this site.

 

HIGHLAND TITLES - SCOTTISH CLANS AND FAMILIES

Some good information and an opportunity to see the tartan.

THE INDIAN CARD : OTHER CRITERIA FOR TRIBAL ENROLLMENT? DNA TESTS?

THE INDIAN CARD by CARRIE LOWRY SCHUETTPELZ

Excerpt page 24 : In addition to lineage and blood quantum, some Tribes add other criteria to the mix.  Some have requirements around culture and tradition - my own Tribe, the Lumbee, for example, now requires completion of that Lumbee history class before someone can enroll. A handful of Tribes take into consideration which side of your family your Native ancestry is on. Some Tribes require applicants to enroll within a certain period after their birth.  Some maintain a residency requirement: the applicant must have been born or currently reside on the Tribe's lands.

... In recent years, and with the advent of consumer ancestry tests, a misconception has emerged that DNA spit tests can be used to gain Tribal enrollment.  That's not quite true.  No federally recognized Tribe in the United States allows someone to apply for enrollment using just their 23andMe report. Tribes that use DNA tests in their enrollment processes generally do so for maternity or paternity purposes - that is, to determine a person's biological parentage.

(For people were not born in or residing in their Tribal Community. (I note, in common language, "on the reservation" do an enrollment application.) ... Usually an extensive family tree must be filled out usually, historical birth certificates of ancestors must be submitted. Often the process must be completed in person. ...

Excerpt page 25 : ... One of the biggest obstacles people face with Tribal enrollment is verifying their ancestry. It is generally the case that Tribes don't release their historical rolls to the public. Certainly, from a sovereignty perspective, this makes sense. After all, the U.S. government doesn't maintain a public-facing list of all its current citizens. I can think of  a hundred reasons this sort of public cataloguing would be problematic. The same goes for Tribes.

Lesson: For Native American Tribes, citizenship is never geographical.  It's always relational.

PUBLIC NATIVE AMERICAN ROLES (Commonly called THE FIVE CIVILIZED TRIBES)

Cherokee Nation

Chickasaw Nation

Seminole of Oklahoma

Choctow of Oklahoma

Muscokee (Creek) Nation

According to an expert of the Chickasaw Nation, the further from these roles (called The Dawes Rolls) they get, the harder it is to prove Native Tribal affiliation.... And some people with common names erroneously "prove" they are not

Notes:  Author Carrie Lowry Schuettpelz also discusses the founding of the United States census and the evolution of questions asked. Until the 1850 census race was not asked. She explores the question of dismissiveness and also racism. She brings up the Nazi's and extermination of a people, her visit to the Holocaust Museum in Washington, dealing with National Archives and Record Administration.  She explores treaties and agreements between tribes and government and also individuals.  

Again, I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in the history or the genealogy!

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THE INDIAN CARD : UNDERSTANDING A TRIBE'S ENROLLMENT PROCESS : LINEAGE OR HOW MUCH ANCESTRY? FIRST STEP IS TRIBAL CONSTITUTION

THE INDIAN CARD by CARRIE LOWRY SCHUETTPELZ

Excerpt: page 21: To understand a Tribe's enrollment process, the first place to look is at its constitution. Not every Tribe has a constitution, but for those that do, the section related to enrollment is generally right p front.  It's an important element of the systems that Tribes have put into place - the element of defining membership.

Together with my research assistants, I am able to locate 285 tribal constitutions.  That is, for all but 62 federally recognized Native American tribes in the continuous United States, we find some sort of official document - called a constitution and outlining its principles and procedures - that was passed by the Tribe's leadership.  Some constitutions are relatively recant: the Kowa Indian Tribe of Oklahoma passed is most recent constitution in 2017. Some date back centuries : The Choctaw Nation first passed its constitution in 1826 although the Tribe currently operates under a constitution ratified in 1983.

Page 22 Excerpt about Tribes without a constitution. .... One notable exception is the Navajo Nation, whose enrolled population hovers around four hundred thousand members...

Page 22: Regardless of whether a Tribe has a formal constitution or has opted for alternative systems and processes, most have an enrollment office - sometimes a fully staffed organization, sometimes one person located inside the Tribes' government office; sometimes it's a person who doesn't earn a salary from the Tribe, but who serves in the role as a volunteer or an elected official..

TRIBAL MEMERSHIP BASED ON LINEAGE OR HOW MUCH ANCESTRY

Excerpts page 22-23 : ... Specifically; with regard to determining membership, Native American Tribes fall into one of two categories.  For about 120 Tribes for which I can find information, Tribal enrollment is based on lineage. That is, in order to enroll in the Tribe, an applicant must demonstrate that a direct relative (a parent, grandparent, great-grandparents, etc.) was a member of the Tribe. Tribes use a census or roll particular to their community as the basis for this determination.

Note: SOME TRIBES HAVE THEIR OWN CENSUS ROLLS, so the "CIVILIZED TRIBE" ROLLS ARE NOT THE ONLY ROLLS OF TRIBAL CENSUS AVAILABLE, but these others are held within the tribe...

Excerpts page 22-23 : The other main way that Native American Tribes determine memberships by using a calculation of how much ancestry a person has from that particular Tribe. This number is usually represented as a fraction, and usually called blood quantum.  For about 170 Tribes for which I find information, Tribal enrollment is based on blood quantum.  And for the vast majority of those, the blood quantum calculation is made from one Tribe alone...   

Sure, they can have a blood quantum from other Tribes, but it won't be factored into the calculation. No Tribes in the contiguous United States, that I can find, have a four-fourth blood quantum requirement; most, or about 69 percent of those that use blood quantum, use one-fourth as their cutoff; you must prove that you have at least one-fourth blood quantum from that Tribe alone.

The requisite blood quantum can be achieved a few different ways. For example if someone wanted to enroll in the Oneida Nation, whose requirement is one-quarter blood quantum, they would need to demonstrate that amount through one or several ancestors...

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THE INDIAN CARD : SELF IDENTIFYING AS NATIVE AMERICAN : THE CHEROKEE and also MISINFORMATION BY FAMILY : ANCESTRY WORSHIP BOOK REVIEW

THE INDIAN CARD by CARRIE LOWRY SCHUETTPELZ

Excerpt page 2: Self-identifying, though, is just one piece of a very convoluted puzzle. In the United States, there are myriad ways a Native person may be required to demonstrate their identity. That list includes Tribal enrollment. Yet, at the same time that the number of people self-identifying as Native in this country has increased to over 9.7 million, the number of people enrolled in Tribes is much, much lower.

This nuance is particularly pronounced among people who identify as Cherokee.  As of 2023, just over 450,000 people were formally enrolled members (called citizens) of the Cherokee Nation.  That is, 450.000 people have some sort of card, which they applied for and received through the process the Cherokee nation determined.  Another (approximately 14,000 people are enrolled in the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma. Together, about 480,000 people in this country are enrolled in one of three federally recognized Cherokee Tribes.

Excerpt pages 2-3 : Scholars have written a lot about this phenomenon - that because of  complex issues that includes patterns of disconnection, relocation, and misrepresentation in family lore, the number of people claiming Cherokee heritage is very high. But we see this not just with Cherokee. This same gap, between claiming Native identity and being formally verified as having it, exists for many other Tribes in the United States.

As a note, in my experience a number of persons I've met who self -identify as African-American (Black) have been told there is an "Indian Princess" in their heritage. I've seen photos of ancestors who lived in the South in which some children appear to be "White" and others appear to be ? On the census they are listed as Mulatto, but in fact the family was a mix of Cherokee and Scotts-Irish or British pioneers. DNA tests I've heard about from those person told the "Indian Princess" story have proven that to be just a story. This is admittedly a small sampling of possibilities.

THE CONCEPT OF SOVEREIGNTY

Excerpt page 8 "One of the primary reasons that enrollment, why Tribal membership, exists is because of the underling principle of Tribal sovereignty.  For Native American Tribes, sovereignty is boss.  I's king.  Sovereignty is the key that opens all the doors.  It's the thing upon which all other things rest.  Throughout Indian Country, sovereignty is the shared love language.  To understand any Native person's story, its important to understand the concept of sovereignty.

Over the last 250 years, the U.S. government has ping-ponged between full-scale "termination" of Native peoples to (alleged) protectionism of them to everything in between.  And often what has been at stake - besides the obvious human lives and land rights - is sovereignty. That is, in losing their land and, often, their lives, Tribes have clung to their rights of self-determination for continued survival.

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ROCKING THE CRADLE

One foot out to rock the baby cradle at the bow, 

while sewing with two hands, 

a woman's work is never done.

in this vintage illustration provided by Graphics Fairy.

What memories do you have of your own mother. grandmother, and aunts?

THE INDIAN CARD by CARRIE LOWRY SCHUETTPELZ : ANCESTRY WORSHIP BLOGSPOT BOOK REVIEW (AND A LIST OF TRIBES MENTIONED IN THE BOOK)

THE INDIAN CARD by CARRIE LOWRY SCHUETTPELZ

In this blog I sometimes post about Native American as well as African-American research as UNITED STATES OF AMERICA / AMERICAN research. From the hits I get on posts about Native American ancestry, I know that some of my readers are interested in making a claim to be considered "a member of the tribe." But I may have said this before; I have never gotten cooperation from the few tribes I've contacted, hoping that someone on that side would help a client become a member of the tribe. In the years since, as the Internet grew, more tribes have websites that provide information on what they consider and how they process enrollment, which is helpful. I've heard various "reasons why" some tribes are not helpful, including that those who have rights to money from casinos do not want to further share it. I'm always interested in what the processes to claim tribal membership might be.

The Indian Card, subtitled Who Gets To Be Native American, is a book about tribal enrollment from the perspective of a woman who is part of the Lumbee tribe in North Carolina. Carrie Lowry Schuettpelz has other heritages, but she focused on claiming the Native American aspect of her ancestry. Her mother had enrolled her when she was six. She was not raised to feel a part of that tribe, living over a thousand miles from where the Lumbee tribe is headquartered, but the card would be back in her hands years later after testing and reenrollment. In this book, she wrote about her personal experience as well as the frustrations of the attempt to collect information that might be valuable to anyone who wishes to do the same. 

In this book author Carrie Lowry Schuettpelz brings up the different ways that Tribes consider people for membership, the questions asked by the United States Census, the Dawes Rolls, and much more. 

You will find the following tribes mentioned - some detailed information, some just a note.

The Lumbee, Cherokee,  Navaho, Meskwaki, Oneida, Apache, Blackfeet, Checotah, United Keetoowah-Cherokee, Chickasaw, Chippewa, Choctaw, Creek, Dakota, Seminole, Hopi, Iroquois, Kalona, Lakota, Lenape, Mohawks, Muscogee (Creek),Naticoke, Nooksack, Ojibwe, Quechan, Seneca, Seminole, Shawnee, Sioux, Tohono O'odham, Tulalip, Tuscarora, Wyandot, Wyandotte....

I highly recommend this book, which was so well written and thought out - so informative. For the purposes of Ancestry Worship - Genealogy BlogSpot, I will excerpt information that will be especially interesting to my readers in the next few posts.

THE GROWING NUMBER OF AMERICANS WHO REPORT BEING NATIVE AMERICAN ON UNITED STATES CENSUS

Excerpt  Introduction : If you, like me, track the results of the U.S. Census because nothing in this cold world makes sense except the hard facts of multivariate data analysis, you've seen it, too: the population of people in this country who self--identify as Native has exploded.

According to the 2000 U.S. Census, about 4.1 million people checked the Indian box, a term I use to describe the carousel of options that have appeared for Native Americans and Alaska Natives. By 2010, that number had increased to 5.2 million.  And in 2020. 9.7 million people - more than twice the 2000 county - self-identified as Native.

Certainly, there have been a few changes to the way we count. In 2000, for example, for the first time in census history, people could check more than one box for race. So, if we assume that people were previously choosing between their racial identities, the 2000 census presented an interesting change in methodology.  In deed, the number of people who identified as Native in the 1990 census was just under 2 million, less than half the number in 2000. There has also been a significant push to count more of the Native people living on reservations, a population that has a higher census :undercount" of any population in the United States, at 5.6 percent...... Over the last ten years, increased Tribal consultation has taken place, as have efforts to "get out the count" in native communities.

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Book Review and Excerpt selections

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