Dawes Act
2/8/1887
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This "Act to Provide for the Allotment of Lands in Severalty to Indians on the Various Reservations" emphasized the treatment of Native Americans as individuals rather than as members of tribes.
It was different than the earlier Federal Indian policy (1870 to 1900) of removal, treaties, reservations, and war. This new policy sought to break up reservations by granting land allotments to individual Native Americans and encouraging them to take up agriculture.
It was reasoned that if a person adopted "White" clothing and ways, and was responsible for their own farm, they would gradually drop their "Indian-ness" and be assimilated into White American culture. Then it would no longer be necessary for the government to oversee Indian welfare in the paternalistic ways it had previously done, including providing meager annuities, with American Indians treated as dependents.
The Dawes Act, named for its author, Senator Henry Dawes of Massachusetts, and also known as the General Allotment Act, authorized the President to break up reservation land, which was held in common by the members of a tribe, into small allotments to be parceled out to individuals. Native Americans registering on a tribal "roll" were granted allotments of reservation land.
The purpose of the Dawes Act, and the subsequent acts that extended its initial provisions, was purportedly to protect American Indian property rights, particularly during the land rushes of the 1890s. But in many instances the results were vastly different. The land allotted to individuals included desert or near-desert lands unsuitable for farming. In addition, the techniques of self-sufficient farming were much different from their tribal way of life. Many did not want to take up agriculture, and those who did want to farm could not afford the tools, animals, seed, and other supplies necessary to get started.
There were also problems with inheritance. Often young children inherited allotments that they could not farm because they had been sent away to boarding schools. Multiple heirs also caused a problem; when several people inherited an allotment, the size of the holdings became too small for effective farming. Tribes were also often underpaid for the land allotments, and when individuals did not accept the government requirements, their allotments were sold to non-Native individuals, causing American Indian communities to lose vast acreage of their tribal lands.
Some groups were exempt from the law: Cherokees, Creeks, Choctaws, Chickasaws, Seminoles; Osage, Miamies and Peorias; Sacs and Foxes; those "in the Indian Territory"; the Seneca Nation of New York Indians in the State of New York; and "that strip of territory in the State of Nebraska adjoining the Sioux Nation on the south."
Subsequent events, however, extended the act's provisions to these groups as well. In 1893, President Grover Cleveland appointed the Dawes Commission to negotiate with the Cherokees, Creeks, Choctaws, Chickasaws, and Seminoles, who were known as the Five Civilized Tribes. As a result of these negotiations, several acts were passed that allotted a share of common property to members of the Five Civilized Tribes in exchange for abolishing their tribal governments and recognizing state and Federal laws. In order to receive the allotted land, members were to enroll with the Office of Indian Affairs (later renamed the Bureau of Indian Affairs [BIA]). Once enrolled, the individual's name went on the "Dawes Rolls." This process assisted the BIA and the Secretary of the Interior in determining the eligibility of individual members for land distribution.
It was different than the earlier Federal Indian policy (1870 to 1900) of removal, treaties, reservations, and war. This new policy sought to break up reservations by granting land allotments to individual Native Americans and encouraging them to take up agriculture.
It was reasoned that if a person adopted "White" clothing and ways, and was responsible for their own farm, they would gradually drop their "Indian-ness" and be assimilated into White American culture. Then it would no longer be necessary for the government to oversee Indian welfare in the paternalistic ways it had previously done, including providing meager annuities, with American Indians treated as dependents.
The Dawes Act, named for its author, Senator Henry Dawes of Massachusetts, and also known as the General Allotment Act, authorized the President to break up reservation land, which was held in common by the members of a tribe, into small allotments to be parceled out to individuals. Native Americans registering on a tribal "roll" were granted allotments of reservation land.
The purpose of the Dawes Act, and the subsequent acts that extended its initial provisions, was purportedly to protect American Indian property rights, particularly during the land rushes of the 1890s. But in many instances the results were vastly different. The land allotted to individuals included desert or near-desert lands unsuitable for farming. In addition, the techniques of self-sufficient farming were much different from their tribal way of life. Many did not want to take up agriculture, and those who did want to farm could not afford the tools, animals, seed, and other supplies necessary to get started.
There were also problems with inheritance. Often young children inherited allotments that they could not farm because they had been sent away to boarding schools. Multiple heirs also caused a problem; when several people inherited an allotment, the size of the holdings became too small for effective farming. Tribes were also often underpaid for the land allotments, and when individuals did not accept the government requirements, their allotments were sold to non-Native individuals, causing American Indian communities to lose vast acreage of their tribal lands.
Some groups were exempt from the law: Cherokees, Creeks, Choctaws, Chickasaws, Seminoles; Osage, Miamies and Peorias; Sacs and Foxes; those "in the Indian Territory"; the Seneca Nation of New York Indians in the State of New York; and "that strip of territory in the State of Nebraska adjoining the Sioux Nation on the south."
Subsequent events, however, extended the act's provisions to these groups as well. In 1893, President Grover Cleveland appointed the Dawes Commission to negotiate with the Cherokees, Creeks, Choctaws, Chickasaws, and Seminoles, who were known as the Five Civilized Tribes. As a result of these negotiations, several acts were passed that allotted a share of common property to members of the Five Civilized Tribes in exchange for abolishing their tribal governments and recognizing state and Federal laws. In order to receive the allotted land, members were to enroll with the Office of Indian Affairs (later renamed the Bureau of Indian Affairs [BIA]). Once enrolled, the individual's name went on the "Dawes Rolls." This process assisted the BIA and the Secretary of the Interior in determining the eligibility of individual members for land distribution.
Transcript
Forty-Ninth Congress of the United States of America;At the Second Session,
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Monday, the sixth day of December, one thousand eight hundred and eight-six.
An Act to provide for the allotment of lands in severalty to Indians on the various reservations, and to extend the protection of the laws of the United States and the Territories over the Indians, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That in all cases where any tribe or band of Indians has been, or shall hereafter be, located upon any reservation created for their use, either by treaty stipulation or by virtue of an act of Congress or executive order setting apart the same for their use, the President of the United States be, and he hereby is, authorized, whenever in his opinion any reservation or any part thereof of such Indians is advantageous for agricultural and grazing purposes, to cause said reservation, or any part thereof, to be surveyed, or resurveyed if necessary, and to allot the lands in said reservation in severalty to any Indian located thereon in quantities as follows:
To each head of a family, one-quarter of a section;
To each single person over eighteen years of age, one-eighth of a section;
To each orphan child under eighteen years of age, one-eighth of a section; and
To each other single person under eighteen years now living, or who may be born prior to the date of the order of the President directing an allotment of the lands embraced in any reservation, one-sixteenth of a section:
Provided, That in case there is not sufficient land in any of said reservations to allot lands to each individual of the classes above named in quantities as above provided, the lands embraced in such reservation or reservations shall be allotted to each individual of each of said classes pro rata in accordance with the provisions of this act: And provided further, That where the treaty or act of Congress setting apart such reservation provides the allotment of lands in severalty in quantities in excess of those herein provided, the President, in making allotments upon such reservation, shall allot the lands to each individual Indian belonging thereon in quantity as specified in such treaty or act: And provided further, That when the lands allotted are only valuable for grazing
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separate and apart from any tribe of Indians therein, and has adopted the habits of civilized life, is hereby declared to be a citizen of the United States, and is entitled to all the rights, privileges, and immunities of such citizens, whether said Indian has been or not, by birth or otherwise, a member of any tribe of Indians within the territorial limits of the United States without in any manner affecting the right of any such Indian to tribal or other property.
Sec. 7. That in cases where the use of water for irrigation is necessary to render the lands within any Indian reservation available for agricultural purposes, the Secretary of the Interior be, and he is hereby, authorized to prescribe such rules and regulations as he may deem necessary to secure a just and equal distribution thereof among the Indians residing upon any such reservation; and no oother appropriation or grant of water by any riparian proprietor shall permitted to the damage of any other riparian proprietor.
Sec. 8. That the provisions of this act shall not extend to the territory occupied by the Cherokees, Creeks, Choctaws, Chickasaws, Seminoles, and Osage, Miamies and Peorias, and Sacs and Foxes, in the Indian Territory, nor to any of the reservations of the Seneca Nation of New York Indians in the State of New York, nor to that strip of territory in the State of Nebraska adjoining the Sioux Nation on the south added by executive order.
Sec. 9. That for the purpose of making the surveys and resurveys mentioned in section two of this act, there be, and hereby is, appropriated, out of any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of one hundred thousand dollars, to be repaid proportionately out of the proceeds of the sales of such land as may be acquired from the Indians under the provisions of this act.
Sec. 10. That nothing in this act contained shall be so canstrued to affect the right and power of Congress to grant the right of way through any lands granted to an Indian, or a tribe of Indians, for railroads or other highways, or telegraph lines, for the public use, or condemn such lands to public uses, upon making just compensation.
Sec. 11. That nothing in this act shall be so construed as to prevent the removal of the Southern Ute Indians from their present reservation in Southwestern Colorado to a new reservation by and with consent of a majority of the adult male members of said tribe.
Approved, February, 8, 1887.
[Endorsements]
This primary source comes from the General Records of the United States Government.
National Archives Identifier: 5641587
Full Citation: Dawes Act of 1887; 2/8/1887; Enrolled Acts and Resolutions of Congress, 1789 - 2011; General Records of the United States Government, Record Group 11; National Archives Building, Washington, DC. [Online Version, https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/dawes-act, September 18, 2024]Activities that use this document
- Comparing Perspectives in the Dawes Act and a Hopi Petition
Created by the National Archives Education Team - The Impact of Westward Expansion on Native American Communities
Created by the National Archives Education Team
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