Department of Trust Responsibilities

Real Estate/Rights Protection

The Penobscot Nation Department of Trust Responsibilities (DTR) was created in the 1970’s to insure that the Tribal Government and its Tribal members’ trust property rights are protected. The Department provides the necessary administrative and technical services to manage the real estate of the Penobscot Nation and its members on the Nation’s Trust, Reservation and Fee lands. The Department investigates and records all historical, genealogical, heir-ship and other legal records and documents to establish and maintain rights within these areas.

Census

The Department serves as a historical, genealogical and heir-ship reference for Tribal members, the Tribal government and the general public. The Department provides the necessary administrative and technical services to manage the enrollment and membership needs of the Penobscot Nation. The Department investigates and records all historical, genealogical, heir-ship and other legal records and documents to establish and maintain rights within these areas.

Genealogy Research

Many people contact the Penobscot Nation asking for information from tribal records that might establish or prove Penobscot ancestry. In some instances, their inquiries are documented with solid background information but many are based only on a family tradition of Indian blood.

Please note that there is at the very least some minimum information that we need in order to search our records. Please have this information prior to contacting the
Nation.

We request:

1. Full names of the ancestor(s) in question. Please include the maiden name of any female ancestors in question.
2. Dates of births, deaths and marriages or at the very least a time period to search.
3. Places of birth, death and/or marriage.

Eligibility for an enrollment:

You should note that every tribe has different qualifications for enrollment. The Penobscot Nation requires that:

The applicant possesses at least one-quarter degree Indian blood; and;
is either:

• eligible by birth or birthright which birth eligibility shall include siblings and first cousins in the same Penobscot Indian Natural Biological line of descent as
  members who were listed on the Tribal Census dated January 14, 1981 or,
• has been duly adopted into the Tribe. (This has its own set of qualifications.)

(NOTE: The above information is not the complete set of requirements for enrollment.)

Helpful Hints:

All genealogical research must proceed from the known; you and your parents, back to your grandparents, great grandparents, etc…There is nothing more futile than trying to jump from the present to a remote ancestor!

Organize your records. Use public records such as birth, death, marriage, wills, deeds, federal and state census records; church records such as baptism, marriage, confirmation, burials; family records such as Bibles, old letters, diaries and obituaries.

And remember to always document your source of information.

Note: The Penobscot Nation will only check our records for Penobscot Ancestry. We do not research ancestry of other Native American tribes. Also, the burden of proof is on the applicant to prove his/her Penobscot Ancestry.

If you wish to contact the Penobscot Nation concerning your genealogy request, please contact: Carole Bear Binette, Census Coordinator. Your request will be answered in the order that it is received.