In 1887, Congress passed the General Allotment Act (or the Dawes Severalty Act). Under this law, certain Indian reservations held by tribes were to be divided and allotted to heads of Native American families. Some politicians believed that the law would help motivate individuals to develop the land. They also believed it would bring about the assimilation of Indians into the mainstream American culture. But others acted in their own interest, since it was much easier to take advantage of individuals than of whole tribes. Many of the same people advocated stamping out Indian culture and religion and sending Indian children to white-run boarding schools. This period in United States Indian policy sometimes is referred to as the Assimilation and Allotment period.
By 1889, 2 million acres had been bought from the Indians, usually at ridiculously low prices, and thrown open to non-Indian settlement. The Oklahoma Land Run took place that year, with settlers lining up at a starting point to race for choice pieces. Those who cheated and entered the lands open for settlement were called “sooners.” In 1890, Oklahoma Territory was formed from these lands.
Cherokee and Choctaw leaders refused allotment and took their case to federal courts, as John Ross had done years before. In reaction, Congress passed the Curtis Act of 1898, designed to dissolve their tribal governments and tribal courts and extend land Allotment policy to them against their wishes. Piece by piece, the Indian lands continued to be taken. In 1905, the Five Civilized Tribes proposed the creation of a separate Indian state known as Sequoyah to the federal government. Legislation was submitted to Congress but was not enacted. Oklahoma, all of which had once been Indian land, became a state in 1907.
During this period, in 1924, the federal government passed the Citizenship Act, conferring citizenship on all Native Americans. Two states—Arizona and New Mexico—delayed giving Indians voting rights until much later.
World History
