The Dawes Act (1887) Historical Context

The Dawes Act (1887)
Historical Context
Sometimes well-intentioned people can do harm to those they are trying to help. In part, this was the case with the
1887 Dawes Act and the Native American sit was designed to help. Of course, not all supporters of the legislation
had the Indians’ best interests in mind.
The Dawes Act had some well-meaning promoters. Henry Dawes of Massachusetts was its author. He was
opposed to the U.S. government policy of removing Indians from their lands and forcing them onto reservations.
Dawes felt that this was governmental mistreatment of Native Americans. Clashes between settlers and Indians had
increased as the white population continued to migrate to the West. For reformers like Dawes, the problem was
Indian culture. Others agreed. They had read A Century of Dishonor, Helen Hunt Jackson’s 1881 history of U.S. policy
toward the Indians. These whites were moved to help Indian tribes in the West.
The reformers concluded that Native Americans would have a brighter future if they adopted white culture
and became farmers. Then they would no longer be nomadic, isolated tribes. They could become citizens under the
protection of the government, state, or territory, in which they resided. Soon, the reformers believed, there would
be no “Indian Problem.” The reformers’ plan assumed that Indians should simply reject their own culture. This was
consistent with a belief in white racial superiority promoted at the time in the United States and Europe.
The Dawes Act carried out this plan. It was intended to weaken Indian tribal culture. It would make Native
Americans like whites by ordering the following:
The reservations were to be divided into 160-acre parcels for each family, 80 acres for a single person. To
ensure the land was not sold immediately, the federal government did not grant outright ownership. Instead it
held the land in trust for the family for twenty-five years. Reservation law would not apply once the
reservations were broken up. Thus, the act placed Native Americans with land under the protection of the
state or federal law.
In the end, the Dawes Act failed to achieve the goal of its supporters, to help Native Americans. Although
the act succeeded in weakening tribal life, it did not destroy that life. Many Indian tribes were poorly prepared to
farm, and most of the reservation land was infertile. Whites accepted Indians no more than before. For those
Dawes Act supporters who simply wanted Native American land—and there were plenty—the act succeeded. It
reduced Indian lands considerably. Before the Dawes Act went into effect, Native American tribes owned 138
million acres of land. By 1900, this was reduced to 78 million. Where did the Indian land go? Once the reservations
were divided into 160-acre parcels, surplus land remained. This was open for sale to the public. Not until the Indian
Reorganization Act in 1934 was the remaining unsold surplus land returned to the tribes. This, at last, helped
protect tribal culture.
Importance
Reading the act is a useful exercise. The first sentence functions as the topic sentence stating the purpose of the bill.
Then its terms are specified. When placed in context, the legislation shows how harmless a bill can sound couched
in legal language. The human outcome, for good or ill, is often not apparent.
Vocabulary
allotment—a plot of land
severalty—individual right of ownership
reservations—land set aside for Native-American
tribes
stipulation—a specific condition of an agreement
authorized—established by an appropriate power
surveyed—determined and described the form,
extent, and position of a tract of land
section—a land unit used in surveying that equals 640
acres, or one square mile
trust—something held by one person or entity to be
cared for in the interest of another
convey—transfer
patent—a document transferring land
heirs—people who inherit
encumbrance—a claim against property
patenting—granting a right to
civil—relating to private rights
jurisdiction—the territory that authority covers
© COPYRIGHT, Great Documents in US History
The Dawes Act, 1887
Forty-Ninth Congress of the United States of America;
At the Second Session,
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 American 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 reservations 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; . . .
...
SEC. 5. That upon the approval of the allotments provided for in this act by the Secretary of the
Interior, he shall . . . declare that the United States does and will hold the land thus allotted, for
the period of twenty-five years, in trust for the sole use and benefit of the Indian to whom such
allotment shall have been made, . . . and that at the expiration of said period the United States
will convey the same by patent to said Indian, or his heirs as aforesaid, in fee, discharged of such
trust and free of all charge or encumbrance whatsoever: . . .
SEC. 6. That upon the completion of said allotments and the patenting of the lands to said
allottees, each and every member of the respective bands or tribes of Indians to whom
allotments have been made shall have the benefit of and be subject to the laws, both civil and
criminal, of the State or Territory in which they may reside; and not Territory shall pass or
enforce any law denying any such Indian within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the law.
And every Indian born within the territorial limits of the United States to whom allotments shall
have been made under the provisions of this act, or under any law or treaty, and every Indian
born within the territorial limits of the United States who has voluntarily taken up, within said
limits, his residence 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…
The Dawes Act (1887)
Comprehension Questions
1. What is the stated purpose of the act?
2. Who enacted it?
3. What does this act authorize the president to do?
4. The term section is a land unit used in surveying that equals 640 acres, or one square mile. According to the
Dawes Act, how many acres does a family get?
5. How many acres does a adult single person get?
6. For how many years does the government of the United States hold the land in trust for the Indian allotees?
7. After the allotments are complete, what is the Native Americans’ relationship to the state or territory in which
they reside?
8. What privilege does the United States grant to all the participating Indians?
Critical Thinking
1. What does the government intend for Indians to do with the land they were given?
2. Why do you think the land is held in trust for 25 years rather than given to the Indians outright?
3. What do you think happens to the reservation land left over once the allotments are given out?
4. Given the land allotments, Native Americans in a tribe would not have as much day-to-day contact with one
another as on the reservation. What do you think this would do to tribal traditions?
5. How do you think the Native Americans felt about the Dawes Act when it was enacted?
Making Connections
1. The Dawes Act was passed to deal with the existence of Native Americans in places desired by white settlers.
What other methods had the U.S. government used to deal with this issue in the years prior to the passage of
the Dawes Act?
2. What might stand in the way of Native Americans becoming successful farmers?
3. What else was happening in the United States at this time to influence support for the Dawes Act?
4. What laws were the Native Americans subject to before the act put them under territorial or state law?