![]() President Jefferson then hoped to persuade the eastern Indian Nations to sign treaties and exchange their lands for territory west of the Mississippi. The Louisiana Purchase of 1803 gave the United States the opportunity to explore and buy vast lands west of the Mississippi River from American Indian Nations that owned them. An explicit goal of the Dawes Act was to create divisions among Native Americans and eliminate the social cohesion of tribes.President Thomas Jefferson was one of the first advocates for Indian removal. The desired effect of the Dawes Act was to get Native Americans to farm and ranch like white homesteaders. The US government employed a variety of methods in the attempt to assimilate Native Americans, including the Dawes Act. Many settlers viewed native practices as barbaric and primitive, seeing assimilation as the only option for coexistence. Additional legislation like the Homestead Acts further encouraged white settlement of the West, and with that settlement came calls for assimilation. ![]() These lands were then sold off to non-native settlers. Assimilation is the process of taking individuals or social groups and absorbing them into mainstream culture.Īfter families claimed their allotments, any remaining tribal lands were declared “surplus” land. The more people homesteading in the Midwest, the greater pressure for Native Americans to assimilate.Īssimilation was a major goal of Native American policies in the late 19th century. The Homestead Acts encouraged Westward expansion. When there were multiple inheritors, the size of the plots was too small to divide among children and still be suitable for farming. When young children received allotments, some did not know how to farm because they had spent their youth in boarding schools. Inheritance also became an issue for many Native Americans who enrolled to receive land from the Dawes Act. ![]() Many were left with little land and little money. In addition to scant payment, Native Americans were not used to spending money and quickly spent most of what they received. When tribes were paid for their land, they were underpaid. By enrolling, the individual registered themselves with the office and their name went on the “Dawes rolls,” which assisted government agencies in determining whether or not that individual was eligible to receive their allotment.Īlthough Native Americans controlled about 150 million acres of land before the Dawes Act, they lost the majority of it due to these allotment divisions and selling of surplus. In order to receive their allotment, Native Americans were required to enroll with the Office of Indian Affairs, now known as the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). Tribes already controlled the land that was being returned to them at a fraction of the acreage, Native Americans were not accustomed to a life of standardized ranching and agriculture, and the lands allotted to them were often unsuitable for farming. These acreages were comparable to those promised by the Homestead Act, but there were important differences between the two acts. If they accepted the allotment divisions, the Dawes Act designated 160 acres of farmland or 320 acres of grazing land to the head of each Native American family. NPS Photo How did the Dawes Act affect Native Americans? In the Badlands area, members of the Oglala Lakota tribe had to contend with the Dawes Act - how could they advocate for their rightful land? How could they fight the pressure to assimilate?
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