During the early nineteenth century, as eastern settlers of the United States felt the desire to explore westward, native peoples began to be forced out of their homelands to barren areas that contained fruitless soils. The reason given to justify the Indian removal, as stated by Thomas Jefferson, was to, "give them a space to live undisturbed by white people as they gradually adjust to civilized ways." The lands that natives resided on, Nebraska and Kansas territories, ended up being taken from the natives by the government and given to settlers. Native Americans signed treaties stating that they accepted downsized reservations or allotments, but their allotments were usually sold to white settlers by force. The outcome of this devastating removal cost the natives their tribal identity and independence.
The Allotment and Assimilation Era (1887–1943)
In 1887, the U.S. Congress passed the General Allotment Act, which is considered one of the earliest attempts aimed toward assimilation of native tribes. This act intended to give natives a sense of land ownership and integrate an agricultural lifestyle (much like that of the Americans and Europeans) into tribal cultures. Under the General Allotment Act, tribal lands were no longer under the control of tribal governments. Instead, the land was under the control of individual land owners. This period of allotment of tribal lands became known as the "Allotment and Assimilation Era" because the main goal of apportioning tribal land was to integrate native peoples into mainstream American society. Allowing native peoples to live their lives according to traditional practices and teachings on the reservation was forbidden; thus, assimilation became the epitome of Federal Indian Policy.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs kept a commanding hold on all aspects of native life, with the goal of "civilizing" natives. The Allotment Era resulted in the loss of more than two-thirds of tribal entrusted lands, which went from 138 million acres in 1871 to 48 million acres in 1934. The loss of land was mainly due to leasing and the eventual sales of tribal lands to white settlers. Allotment did not work because it was not something with which Indians were familiar. They didn't view the land as something to own; instead they viewed it as part of their extended family.
The Dawes Act
The Dawes Act (also called the "General Allotment Act" or "Dawes Severalty Act of 1887") was adopted by Congress in 1887 and authorized the president of the United States to survey Indian tribal land and divide it into allotments for individual Indians. The Dawes Act was amended in 1891 and again in 1906 by the Burke Act.
The Dawes Act was named for its sponsor, Senator Henry L. Dawes of Massachusetts. The stated objective of the Dawes Act was to stimulate assimilation of Indians into American society. Individual ownership of land was seen as an essential step. The act also provided that the government would purchase Indian land that was in "excess" of that needed for allotment and open it up for settlement by non-Indians.
The Dawes Commission, set up under an Indian Office appropriation bill in 1893, was created not to administer the Dawes Act, but to attempt to get the Five Civilized Tribes, which were excluded under the Dawes Act, to agree to an allotment plan. This commission registered the members of the Five Civilized Tribes. The Curtis Act of 1908 completed the process of destroying tribal governments by abolishing tribal jurisdiction of Indian land.
After decades of seeing the disarray these acts caused, the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration supported passage in 1934 of the Indian Reorganization Act. It ended allotment and created a "New Deal" for Indians, including renewing their rights to reorganize and form their own governments.
Portrait of Marsdin and assimilated Native Americans
Portrait of Marsdin (top right) and a group of students from the Alaska region.