The Dawes Act (1887) was passed to hasten the Americanization of Indians. Under the provision of the act:
- Native American tribes were officially abolished.
- Each male American Indian was allotted 160 acres of reservation land as his own private property. Private property was expected to replace tribal land ownership, as each Native American became a farmer.
- Those who adopted this way of life were given United States citizenship and the right to vote. In the 1924, all Native American were made citizens.
Source: http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=old&doc=50#
http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/fed-indian-policy/
The Dawes Act is an important law relating to Indian affairs. Its central purposes included ending tribal title to land in favor of individual holdings, transforming Native Americans into farmers, and assimilating Indians into white society.
The Dawes Act granted landholdings to individual Native Americans. This act aimed to eliminate all Native American tribes and merge them into society as citizens. However the Dawes Act failed because Native Americans could not change their nomadic way of life and become a farmer.
The Dawes Act, with regard to the distribution of reservation lands to Native Americans, I think the amendment in 1891 and 1906 by the Burke Act can be combined with this primary document.