"In all cases where any tribe or band of Indians has been, or shall hereafter be, located upon any reservation... the President of the United States be... authorized... to allot the lands in said reservation in severalty to any Indian located thereon... To each head of a family, one-quarter of a section." — Dawes Severalty Act, 1887
The act's chief purpose was to:
- A
Establish federal protection of bison herds on the Plains
- B
Recognize tribal sovereignty and treaty-making authority
- C
Compensate tribes for losses during the Indian Wars
- Dcheck_circle
Break up tribal landholding and assimilate Native peoples into private property ownership
Explanation
Dawes aimed to dissolve communal tribal land into individual allotments, accelerating cultural assimilation and opening "surplus" reservation land to white settlers.