Commonly called the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes, the Dawes Commission was appointed by President Grover Cleveland in 1893. In return for abolishing their tribal governments and recognizing state and federal laws, tribe members of the Five Civilized Tribes - the Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw and Seminole - were given a share of common property. This database indexes the original applications for tribal enrollments under the act of June 28, 1898. It also indexes documents such as birth and death affidavits, marriage licenses, and decisions and orders of the Commission.