Final answer:
The Dawes Act of 1887 changed land allocation to Native Americans from communal to individual plots, aiming at assimilation but resulting in loss of land and disruption of their way of life.
Step-by-step explanation:
Impact of the Dawes Act on Native American Land Allocation
The Dawes Act of 1887 significantly altered the distribution of land to Native Americans by transitioning from communal landholdings to individual allotments. Originally aimed at promoting the assimilation of Native Americans into Euro-American society, the Act divided tribal lands into individual parcels, thereby undermining tribal sovereignty and communal living traditions. Each head of household was to receive an allotment of 160 acres of farmland or 320 acres of grazing land, while 'surplus' lands after allotment were sold to white settlers.
This methodology disrupted Native American settlement patterns as it forced them onto individual properties and subsequently intermingled Native lands with those of white settlers. The Act is widely seen as facilitating the government's acquisition of Native lands and manifesting as an 'assault on their way of life'. The government, holding these individual allotments in trust for 25 years, postponed the full land ownership and citizenship rights of Native Americans. Many tribes resisted this Act, seeing it as antithetical to their cultural norms of land use and as a direct attack on their communal and spiritual bonds.
The law resulted in the loss of millions of acres of Native land, a drastic reduction in their sovereign territory, and a threat to their cultural lifestyles. Despite the purported intent of humanitarian aid and assimilation, the Dawes Act had a devastating impact on Native American communities, leading to the disintegration of traditional social structures and a forced adoption of 'American' farming methods which were often unsuitable for the arid land they received.