Genealogy of Native Americans

A family genealogy of Native Americans from the Ozarks was started about 6 months ago at the Greene County Archives & Records Center. Due to construction and remodeling of the building progress on this project had been delayed. Now a working group is getting started collecting information.

Several years ago the Archives along with many others created an African-American genealogy guide called Black Families of the Ozarks. This is now available online through the Springfield/Greene County Library System.

Black Families started with taking information from official records like school, county or church records and then working down to family level records. Much of the Native American information that families have come from family stories passed down from one generation to another.

Native American family genealogies need to be recorded before they are lost. People from the Creek Nation or the Cherokee Nation or the Delaware Tribe do appear in court records, censuses, tax books and other official documents. Unfortunately, unlike black Americans, they were not usually designated as Seminole, Choctaw or from other nations.

Two death certificates found did list one person as "Red" and another as "Indian," but these were found because we knew what family surname to look under.

To put it simply we are going to have to rely on families to name ancestors and relatives that are Native American so we can fill out these records from official/public/church or other records.

If you are willing to share your family's history with others, please fill out this form and mail to or drop by the Greene County Archives & Records Center, 1126 Boonville, Springfield, MO 65802.

For questions or more information call (417) 868-4021 or email to RNeumann@greenecountymo.org.

Please help us record your family's legacy

Heritage Questionnaire