Final answer:
The Dawes Act transformed Native American communal lands into individual allotments, resulting in "surplus" lands that the U.S. government sold to White settlers. This act dismantled the Native American way of life and resulted in the loss of tribal lands. Despite resistance, the U.S. government persisted in its assimilative policies.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Dawes Act of 1887 was legislation that significantly threatened the interests of Native Americans who accepted allotment by shifting from communal land ownership to individual allotments. When the allotments were surveyed and divided, the average allocation was 160 acres per family, resulting in substantial "surplus" lands which were then taken over by the federal government and sold to White settlers. This process not only undermined the Native American communal way of life but also facilitated the appropriation of millions of acres of their land, accelerating the assimilation into Euro-American culture and exposing Native lands to external encroachment.
Senator Henry Teller openly criticized the Act, foreseeing the long-term detrimental effects it would have on Native Americans, stripping them of their lands within a few decades. The aftermath of this policy led to a loss of approximately 60 percent of native lands within two generations. Various strategies of resistance were employed by Native Americans, including ignoring the land boundaries, forming intertribal councils, and collective action. Yet, the federal government continually found ways to undermine these efforts, reinforcing the settlement of Whites into these territories and further eroding the political and social structures of the Native tribes.