The Dawes Act of 1887

The Dawes Act of 1887 was a United States post-Indian Wars law intended to assimilate Indians into white U.S. society by encouraging them to abandon their tribally-owned reservation lands, along with their cultural and social traditions. Signed into law by President Grover Cleveland on February 8, 1887, the Dawes Act resulted in the sale of over ninety million acres of formerly Native American-owned tribal land to non-natives. The negative effects of the Dawes Act on Native Americans would result in the enactment of the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, the so-called â€Å"Indian New Deal.† Key Takeaways: The Dawes Act The Dawes Act was a U.S. law enacted in 1887 for the stated purpose of assimilating Native Americans into white society.The act offered all Native Americans ownership of â€Å"allotments† of non-reservation land for farming.Indians who agreed to leave the reservations and farm their allotment land were granted full U.S. citizenship.Though well-intentioned, the Dawes Act had a decidedly negative effect on Native Americans, on and off the reservations. US Government-Native American Relation in the 1800s During the 1800s, European immigrants began settling areas of U.S. territories adjacent to Native American-held tribal territories. As competition for resources along with cultural differences between groups increasingly led to conflict, the U.S. government expanded its efforts to control Native Americans. Believing the two cultures could never coexist, the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) ordered the forced relocation of Native Americans from their tribal lands to â€Å"reservations† west of the Mississippi River, far from the white settlers. Native American resistance to the forced relocation resulted in the Indian Wars between Native American and the U.S. Army that raged in the West for decades. Finally defeated by the U.S. military, the tribes agreed to resettle on the reservations. As a result, Native Americans found themselves the â€Å"owners† of over 155 million acres of land ranging from sparse desert to valuable agricultural land. Under the reservation system, the tribes were granted ownership of their new lands along with the right to govern themselves. Adjusting to their new way of life, Native Americans preserved their cultures and traditions on the reservations. Still recalling the brutality of the Indian wars, many white Americans continued to fear the Indians and demanded more government control over the tribes. The Indians’ resistance to becoming â€Å"Americanized† was viewed as uncivilized and threatening. As the 1900s began, the assimilation of Native Americans into American culture became a national priority. Responding to public opinion, influential members of Congress felt it was time for the tribes to give up their tribal lands, traditions, and even their identities as Indians. The Dawes Act was, at the time, considered the solution. Dawes Act Allotment of Indian Lands Named for its sponsor, Senator Henry L. Dawes of Massachusetts, the Dawes Act of 1887—also called the General Allotment Act—authorized the U.S. Department of the Interior to divide Native American tribal land into parcels or â€Å"allotments† of land to be owned, lived on, and farmed by individual Native Americans. Each Native American head of household was offered an allotment 160 acres of land, while unmarried adults were offered 80 acres. The law stipulated that grantees could not sell their allotment for 25 years. Those Native Americans who accepted their allotment and agreed to live separately from their tribe were granted the advantages of full United States citizenship. Any â€Å"excess† Indian reservation lands remaining after the allotments were determined available for purchase and settlement by non-Native Americans. The main objectives of the Dawes Act were to: abolish tribal and communal land ownershipassimilate Native Americans into mainstream American societylift Native Americans out of poverty, thus reducing the costs of Native American administration Individual Native American ownership of land for European-American style subsistence farming was seen as the key to achieving the Dawes Act’s objectives. Supporters of the act believed that by becoming citizens, Native American would be encouraged to exchange their â€Å"uncivilized† rebellious ideologies for those that would help them become economically self-supporting citizens, no longer in need of costly government supervision. Impact Rather than helping them as its creators intended, the Dawes Act had decidedly negative effects on Native Americans. It ended their tradition of farming communally held land which had for centuries ensured them a home and individual identity in the tribal community. As historian Clara Sue Kidwell wrote in her book â€Å"Allotment,† the act â€Å"was the culmination of American attempts to destroy tribes and their governments and to open Indian lands to settlement by non-Native Americans and to development by railroads.† As a result of the act, land owned by Native Americans decreased from 138 million acres in 1887 to 48 million acres in 1934. Senator Henry M. Teller of Colorado, an outspoken critic of the act, said the intent of the allotment plan was â€Å"to despoil the Native Americans of their lands and to make them vagabonds on the face of the earth.† Indeed, the Dawes Act harmed Native Americans in ways its supporters never anticipated. The close social bonds of life in tribal communities were broken, and displaced Indians struggled to adapt to their now nomadic agricultural existence. Many Indians who had accepted their allotments lost their land to swindlers. For those who chose to stay on the reservations, life became a daily battle with poverty, disease, filth, and depression. Sources and Further Reference â€Å"Dawes Act (1887).† OurDocuments.gov. US National Archives and Records AdministrationKidwell, Clara Sue. â€Å"Allotment.† Oklahoma Historical Society: Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and CultureCarlson, Leonard A. â€Å"Indians, Bureaucrats, and Land.† Greenwood Press (1981). ISBN-13: 978-0313225338.