On This Day: In 1893 Senator Henry Dawes was appointed chairman of a Commission to negotiate agreements with the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, and Seminole Tribes providing for the dissolution of the tribal governments and the allotment of land. This Commission became known as the Dawes Commission. The result of the Dawes Commission was that the Native nations were stripped of their communally held national lands, which were divided into single lots and allotted to individual members of the nation. All remaining land was deemed “surplus” by the government and sold or given to non-Natives. The Dawes Commission required that individuals claim membership in only one tribe, although many people had more than one line of ancestry. In addition, over the next decades, settlers bought land from individual Native households, thus reducing overall land held by tribal members. The stated objective of the Dawes Act of 1887 was to stimulate assimilation of Natives into mainstream American society. As a result of the Act, Native land ownership decreased from 138 million acres in 1887 to 48 million acres in 1934. However, ultimately the Act failed, as Native people and nations remained strong and refused to assimilate. While the concerted effort to assimilate Native people into American culture was abandoned officially, integration of Native tribes and individuals continues to the present day. As of 2013, Montana is the only state in the U.S. with a constitutional mandate to teach Native history, culture, and heritage to preschool through higher education students via the Indian Education for All Act. Because of this ongoing process, we continue to post “On This Day” events so that the history is not forgotten, our ancestors are honored, and to make people aware that Native nations still stand strong! — with Sharon McClintock.
Posted on: Fri, 01 Nov 2013 20:24:14 +0000
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