Dawes Act and Commission: Topics in Chronicling America
The Dawes Act established land allotment to Native Americans, but it was overcome with conflict. This guide provides access to materials related to the “Dawes Act and Commission” in the Chronicling America digital collection of historical newspapers.
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About Chronicling America
Chronicling America is a searchable digital collection of historic newspaper pages through 1963 sponsored jointly by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Library of Congress.
Also, see the Directory of U.S. Newspapers in American Libraries, a searchable index to newspapers published in the United States since 1690, which helps researchers identify what titles exist for a specific place and time, and how to access them.
Introduction
As United States government policy concerning Native Americans shifted away from warfare and towards peaceful assimilation, privatization and land allotment were seen as solutions to the so-called “Indian problem.” Privatization of communal reservation land was considered a way to make Native Americans more “American” by giving them a path to American citizenship through land ownership. The Dawes Act established a system for land allotment and the Dawes Commission negotiated with the "Five Civilized Tribes" - Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek (Muscogee), and Seminole - to cede tribal titles of Indian lands so they could be divided into individually owned lots. The initially-praised policy became riddled with internal government conflict and accusations of corruption. Despite lawsuits filed by Chippewa Nation, the ultimate result of the Dawes Act was that the Five Tribes lost most of their national land bases. Read more about it!
The information in this guide focuses on primary source materials found in the digitized historic newspapers from the digital collection Chronicling America.
The timeline below highlights important dates related to this topic and a section of this guide provides some suggested search strategies for further research in the collection.
Timeline
February 8, 1887
The General Allotment Act (or the Dawes Act) is passed, dividing communal tribal land into lots to be owned by individual Native Americans.
1893
The Dawes Commission is appointed and begins negotiations with the Five Civilized Tribes.
1901
Internal US government conflict arises over who has the ultimate authority in dealing with the Five Tribes.
1903
Dawes Commission is accused of fraud.
1920
Chippewa Nation sues for losses incurred due to the Dawes Act and Commission.