General Allotment (Dawes) Act

What happened

The General Allotment Act, signed February 8, 1887, let the President break up Native reservations. Section 1 authorized him, whenever he thought a reservation or part of it "advantageous for agricultural and grazing purposes," to survey it and allot the land to individual Indians: a quarter of a section to each head of family, an eighth to single adults and orphans, and a sixteenth to other minors.

Allotments would be held in trust for 25 years. After that the United States would convey the land "in fee," free of the trust, though the President could extend the period. Any sale or contract before then was "absolutely null and void." Section 5 also let the Secretary of the Interior negotiate with a tribe to buy the land left unallotted, subject to ratification by Congress. Land so bought was to be held for actual settlers in tracts of up to 160 acres. Section 6 declared Indians who received allotments, or who lived apart from their tribe and adopted "the habits of civilized life," to be citizens.

The National Archives says the policy aimed at breaking up reservations and tribal lands, reasoning that people who took up farming would be assimilated. It says the results often differed: land was sometimes unsuitable for farming, heirs multiplied, and allotments were sold to non-Natives, so communities "lose vast acreage."

Congress repealed the Act's first section in 2000.

Summarized with AI assistance from 5 sources and checked against their words; not yet reviewed by historians or by the nations. Report an error