Suggestions for searching:

• Name – as stated before be creative in spelling with as many different phonetic variations and phrasings as you can. Stay aware many Cherokee had the same or similar names who had no apparent relationship to each other. Looking at those as a group may show a geographic pattern allowing you to separate out the “right name but the wrong person”. Some claims contain multiple spellings for the same person’s name. The search will look for the letters you input whether it is a complete name or part of a name. For example, searching for Bell will also glean Campbell and Bellows. Searching for White Path will result in any name containing either White or Path. You can restrictively search for a specific name by using “quotation marks” around the name. Therefore “White Path” will only result in those two words found together. You can use quotation marks around a couple of potential syllables of a name. Searching for “tah-cah-“ will result in those letters found together regardless of where in the name they occur. Not using the quotation marks in that case will result in any claim containing the letters tah or cah. You can included multiple spellings of names such as : Nannie, Nanny, ‘Nan-nee’, Nan, Nancy, ‘Nah-nee’. The broader the search request the longer the processing and response time. Be patient. When you get a large response you can use the additional Filter Options to narrow down the results.
• Place Names – people lived within communities of extended family, friends, and clan relations. There was little consistency with how some place names were spelled. Put away more preconceived notions than you already realize you have. Be very aware of Place. Though possible, it is not likely a Cherokee from Alabama would file a claim for an improvement lost in North Carolina. Look for specific Creeks or Waterways. Who all is named for those locations? Did they all appear before the same Claims Agent? Did they witness claims for each other?
• Claims Agents – These men are generally associated with specific detachments. However, Cherokee were given the freedom to self-affiliate to be able to travel with a logical group of friends, family and neighbors. Not every Agent might have been available every day to take a claim. There are claims where the information on the Claims Agent is missing. In those cases, pay attention to other claims by that same claimant and by the witnesses (regardless of the role they played), particularly any claims made on the same day.
• Dates – not all claims are dated but most (94%) are. Using the same strategy of looking for other claims involving the claimant and witnesses in some manner the same date(s).
• Cluster Research – Look for ‘natural groupings’. The claims may have been recorded in erratic order but they were made in a natural order. If you find a claim/claims of specific interest, find out who else made claims on that same date(s), before the same Claims Agent(s), who reported coming from the same general place. Who were the witnesses? Who witnessed claims made by those witnesses?
• Issues, Problems and How you can help – This index was developed over a very long period of time, sitting at a crummy old style microfilm reader with a poor bulb taking handwritten notes. Errors absolutely occurred. Details were missed. Spellings were misread. This database will be updated. As you are going through these claims and you notice any issues, there is a Comments Section at the bottom of each page tied to that specific claim.

When the data was uploaded by the technical providers many Cherokee names, such as Young Turkey, were split into two names, Young and Turkey. Some, but not all, were discovered and corrected. When you read a claim and see that error or omission please add a comment to assist in correcting and improving the database. Make as many notations, additions and corrections as possible. The comments will not be publicly viewable but as time and resources allow, they will be reviewed and the database appropriately updated.

Not all details from every claim were included since the process took many, many years. The importance of some details did not become apparent until later. If you see multiple residences in different locations in a claim which were not originally being indexed, please add them to the comment section. If you see the names of Perpetrators of spoliations and dispossessions against Cherokee, please identify and add those named to the Comments. If you see unique improvements such as Ferries, Taverns, Stands, Courthouses, Council Houses, Churches, Fish Weirs, Mills, Blacksmith Shops, Tanneries, Turnpike, etc. please add them to the Comments. If you see claims involving Slaves in some capacity, also add those to Comments.