LAD #25

The Dawes Severalty Act of 1887 established a plan to relocate thousands of Native Americans to reservations. The President, Glover Cleveland at the time, was given the power to appoint "special agents" to oversee the process. These "special agents" would be responsible for surveying land and delegating varying amounts of land to individual Native Americans. This would destroy the Native American practice of communal land ownership. Native Americans who were not already placed on reservations would also be entitled to land and this land would be given for free. However, the Federal Government still wished to have some jurisdiction over the land that was set aside for Native Americans, or at least the potential for future jurisdiction. As a result, the Dawes Act also allowed the Federal Government to buy back reservation land if the need arose. This land that was bought back could then be given to American settlers. The laws of the state or territory in which a reservation was established would also apply to the individuals settled on the reservation. Religious and educational institutions already established on land that was set aside to become a reservation would be able to continue their practice. The Dawes Act also declared that if there was a need for irrigation of the land that had been given to a group of Native Americans, and there often was such a need, the Federal Government could help. The assimilation of Native Americans into American society was encouraged and preferred; still, all Native Americans living on reservations were guarenteed equal protection under the law. Certain tribes were excluded from the treaty. The Dawes Act effectively served to undermine Native American interests in the United States and increased the Federal Government's control over their way of life.