Allotment and Assimilation (1871-1928) II::

A Change in the Law

In the space of three years Congress enacted two major Indian bills, both of which received the support of most of the Indian reformers: the Major Crimes Act (1885), and the General Allotment Act (1887).

The Major Crimes Act (1885)

This bill succeeded in extending the criminal jurisdiction of the United States over Indian tribes. It removed seven serious crimes from tribal jurisdiction: murder, manslaughter, rape, assault with intent to kill, arson, burglary, and larceny. By justifying the unilateral usurpation of Indian judicial authority in Indian territories, this legislation succeeded in violating treaty provisions which recognised criminal jurisdiction of Indian groups over their own people and over foreign nationals within Indian territories.

The General Allotment Act (1887)

In the early nineteenth century, the US believed that there was enough land for both expansionism and reservations. The argument went that in order to open up land and allow western expansion, tribes had to be separated and confined to reservations. By the late nineteenth century, however, people began to realise that reservations were getting in the way of progress. This was a time when the West was booming. The future looked bright. The Civil War was over and the transcontinental railroad was complete. And the territory beyond the Mississippi had been settled and organised into states at a staggering rate. Reservations and their protected land base soon began to be seen as obstacles.

After a visit to the Cherokee Nation, and despite having commented on the tribe's economic and political stability, Senator Henry Dawes concluded,

"They have got as far as they can go, because they own their land in common. It is Henry George's system, and under that there is no enterprise to make your home any better than that of your neighbor's. There is no selfishness, which is at the bottom of civilization. Till this people will consent to give up their lands, and divide them among their citizens so that each can own the land he cultivates, they will not make much progress."

Such a statement expressed an incomprehensibility of tribal concepts of communal land ownership.

The anthropologist and reformer, Alice Fletcher was also instrumental in pushing for the bill to be passed, believing that allotment was the best way to prepare Indians for total assimilation into white society. She realised that "it is hugging a delusion to suppose that any distinct Indian nation or nations can exist within the limits of the United States; that [that] question has been settled for men of all colors and races" (Fletcher 1884:663).¹

The legislation, also known as the Dawes Act after its sponsor, sought to open up Indian land and encourage rapid Indian assimilation by creating individual Indian homesteaders, and to convey protective law and citizenship. In short it was a joint citizenship and land allotment bill.

The act required the breaking up of communally-owned tribal lands into individually- and privately-owned plots. In general 160 acres were to be allotted to adult heads of families, and lesser acreage to minors and unmarried people. 118 tribal territories were taken and divided into allotments. 38 million acres of land was taken and divided. 22 million acres of tribal land was declared surplus and opened up for non-Indian settlement. In total over 90 million acres of Indian land was lost after the implementation of the Dawes Act.

Another characteristic of the act was that upon being assigned his or her own individual plot of land, all adult Indian allottees were automatically bestowed with US citizenship. However, the act also allowed for citizenship to be bestowed upon any non-allotment Indian who separated from the tribe and went on to adopt 'civilised life'. Between 1887 and 1924 around two-thirds of all Indians in the United States were made citizens in this fashion. It was not until 1924, however, that a general grant of citizenship was extended to all Native Americans, with the passing of the Indian Citizenship Act.

It is important to remember that some Indians were in favour of individual allotments and of US citizenship. Protesting the forced removal of the Poncas from their homelands, the Ponca chief, Standing Bear, called for an extension of citizenship to his people. Many Indians welcomed allotment because they thought it would at least guarantee some land to themselves, during a time when their original land base was diminishing. The Omahas, fearing removal, expressed their wish for individual legal title to the farms some of them had built. Alice Fletcher lobbied Congress on their behalf and in 1882 an Omaha allotment act was passed. It was soon after that Fletcher was sent to make a nationwide survey of all the reservations with a view to set in motion a total assimilation of Indians into American society.

Notes::

• 1 - Alice Fletcher. 1884.