LAD #25: Dawes Act

The Dawes Act was essentially an idea the U.S. government came up with to further destroy the native indian tribes in their country. The Dawes act was designed to create more land for americans to purchase while destroying a sacred Native American custom. The custom that was destroyed by this act was the idea that the land on which the tribes lives was not personally, but comunally owned. The Dawes Act, sponsered by senator Henry Dawes (for who it was named), gave the government the power to divide up the comunally owned land and dispense it to each individual indian. Whatever land was left over would be sold either to Joe Public or more likely the expanding businesses of the Robber Barons. This act served two interests of the american people which was the assimilation of the indian tribes and another reason to take more indian land. The way land was distributed among the indians was basically heads of a family received the most (about a quarter of a section) then those over eighteen (one eighth of a section) and those under eighteen (one sixteenth of a section). In special cases such as religious buildings would be elgible to receive more land, up to one hundred and sixty acres. In return for their losses indians were given citizenship in the United States and all the protection that the Consitution provides, save those dealt with in the Jackson Administration. This was a program headed by the Secretary of Interior whose administration would resolve any disputes under the act.