The Dawes Severalty Act
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The document shown is a picture of the Dawes Act issued in 1887. During the period from 1870 to 1900, the policy regarding the Native Americans began to change from what it previously had been. Before the Dawes Severalty Act, the policy regarding the Native American people revolved around forced removal, war, and moving them to allotted reservations. The purpose of the new policy served to break up the Indian reservations and essentially assimilate them into white culture. The belief at the time held that the government would be free from the need to constantly monitor the interests of the Native Americans as they would become apart of the American white culture.
On February 8th, 1887, the Dawes Act was issued, named in honor of the Massachusettes Senator Henry Dawes who wrote it. This act authorized the President to break up Indian Reservation land into small factions of land. The land, 160 acres, was given to individual families and they were supposed to farm the land and live on it. Ultimately, the purpose was to surface the Native Americans as individual members of society, not simply members of a tribe and force them into white culture. This tramples the rights of the Native American people and forces them to break away from their background and traditions even if they did not desire to change.
Although the government declared that it held the best intentions for the Native American people, this document proves that the act was also issued to benefit the white people. The land that the Indians held was highly desired; however, since they had ownership of the coveted land, white people could not easily acquire it. From the document, which exploits the land intended for the Native Americans, one can see that the government did not primarily intend to help their situation.
The Dawes Severalty Act serves as another example where whites tried to eliminate the Native American culture and drive them off their land. Once whites found Indian land to be desirable, they would unjustly intrude on their rights. The Act stated in Section Five that the Secretary of Interior will hold the land for 25 years. During this time, white speculators could not buy the land. Since the Act even contained a provision for the lands to be sold off eventually, it shows that the intentions did not singularly serve to benefit the Native Americans. The image of the sale of Indian lands ultimately demonstrates that throughout history, white people have taken precedence over the Native Americans and their rights.
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The picture of Dawes Committee proves a valid point about the intentions of the Dawes Severalty Act of 1887. The Dawes Committee consisted of white males only, omitting the representation of any members of the Native American tribes. Because the members of the Dawes Committee did not choose to represent the interests of the Native Americans, they could not fully understand whether or not the act would truly benefit them. As a result, the plan failed because the Committee did not take into account the fact that the Native Americans needed certain skills in order to maintain the land that they did not already possess.
Alice Fletcher, a woman who helped with the legislation of the new policy, stated that Native Americans were now free “from the domination of the reservation system”. One Nez Perce Indian countered this statement, saying that they “do not want [their] land cut up in little pieces”. This shows that the people involved in the implementation of the new policy came from the assumption that it would positively affect the Native Americans. If the Committee had members from the Indian tribes, they would have been able to effectively gage whether or not the policy would work. Because the Committee consisted of all white males, the rights of the Native American people did not receive proper representation. As a result, the Dawes Severalty Act impeded the Native Americans’ civil liberties.
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