The more land white America accumulated, the more the government attempted to control Native Americans. In 1887, Congress passed the General Allotment Act, also known as the Dawes Act after the law’s author. Senator Henry Dawes. The Dawes Act broke up lands held communally by various native nations and divided them into 160-acre allotments. Each head of a family received one-fourth of a section. Other single adults over 18 and orphaned children under 18 received one-eighth of a section. Other children under 18 received one-sixteenth of a section.
The original act exempted Indian Territory in addition to the Seneca (New York) and Lakota Sioux (Nebraska) reservations. Five years later the government changed the law to include all land belonging to Native Americans. Land in Indian Territory not claimed under the Dawes Act was considered surplus and renamed Oklahoma Territory. It was then opened up to homesteaders by “runs.” Over 50,000 people moved into Oklahoma Territory on the first land run on April 22, 1889. When the gun fired at noon, people ran to the land they wanted and staked a claim. Three more land runs were held during the next six years until the government then decided it was easier to award land through lotteries or auctions.
Native Americans lost two-thirds of the land owned by treaty, and Indian Territory shrank dramatically. By 1907, Indian Territory was completely swallowed up and replaced with the 46th state—Oklahoma.
In 1903, a Kiowa man named Lone Wolf took his case against allotment to the Supreme Court. The Court ruled against him, stating that Congress had the power to break treaties. The Supreme Court also referred to the need for “Christian people” to govern “an ignorant and dependent race.” This racist attitude was prevalent throughout the government in the early 20th century, and it was a contributing factor to why Native Americans were not given U. S. citizenship until 1924.
World History
