Dawes Act
Great Seal of the United States
Other short titles Dawes Severalty Act of 1887
Long title An Act to provide for the allotment of lands in severalty to Indians on the various reservations, and to extend the protection of the laws of the United States and the Territories over the Indians, and for other purposes.
Nicknames General Allotment Act of 1887
Enacted by the 49th United States Congress
Effective February 8, 1887
Citations
Public law 49-119
Statutes at Large 24 Stat. 388
Codification
Titles amended 25 U.S.C.: Indians
U.S.C. sections created 25 U.S.C. ch. 9 § 331 et seq.
Legislative history
Introduced in the Senate by Henry L. Dawes (R–MA)
Signed into law by President Grover Cleveland on February 8, 1887
Poster
The Dawes Act of 1887 (also known as the General Allotment Act or the Dawes Severalty Act of 1887),[1][2] authorized the President of the United States to survey Native American tribal land and divide it into allotments for individual Native Americans. Those who accepted allotments and lived separately from the tribe would be granted United States citizenship. The Dawes Act was amended in 1891, in 1898 by the Curtis Act, and again in 1906 by the Burke Act.