Feb 1887

The Dawes Act was enacted on February 8, 1887 regarding the distribution of land to Native Americans in Oklahoma. Named after its sponsor, U.S. Senator Henry L. Dawes of Massachusetts, the act was amended in 1891 and again in 1906 by the Burke Act. The act remained in effect until 1934. The act provided for the division of tribally held lands into individually owned parcels and opening “surplus” lands to settlement by non-Indians and development by railroads.

The Dawes Act, with its emphasis on individual land ownership, also had a negative impact on the unity, self-government, and culture of Indian tribes.  Native Americans lost, over the 47 years of the Act’s life, about 90 million acres (360,000 km²) of treaty land, or about two-thirds of the 1887 land base, and about 90,000 Indians were made landless.

Source: Wikipedia.com

Dec 2009

BBC News: The US government has agreed to pay $3.4bn (£2.1bn) to settle a long-running case over Native American land.  The Cobell case, filed in 1996, alleged the government had mismanaged billions of dollars in income from natural resources on Native American land. Under the deal the interior department will share $1.4bn (£859m) among 300,000 tribe members as compensation and set up a $2bn fund to buy land from them.

Attorney General Eric Holder said the parties had tried to reach an agreement “many, many times”. “But today we turn the page. This settlement is fair to the plaintiffs, responsible for the US, and provides a path forward for the future,” he said.

It’s not quite the $47 bn that the plaintiffs had claimed they were owed.  But, it’s more than any other modern-day administration has done to acknowledge their claim, and it’s surely a step in the right direction…

See Also:
Dawes Act and Indian Territory