Tag Archives: allotments

Oil Money

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Camp Modoc, Indian Territory, between 1888 and 1890, courtesy Library of Congress

Unscrupulous profiteers were never shy about trying to benefit from something Native Americans possessed. When petroleum was discovered in Oklahoma (see last post), the lands occupied by the Five Civilized Tribes became a magnet for exploitation.

Early in the nineteenth century, the United States gave the Five Civilized Tribes  all the land in Indian Territory. Congress later decided to divide the land into small acreages, called allotments. These allotments were given to Indian families, but were controlled and (nominally) protected by the federal government on their behalf.

In 1908, federal protection was lifted, and unscrupulous whites moved in to take advantage of the riches on the Oklahoma land. Many Indians could not read or write, or really understand the unfamiliar laws and practices involved in land ownership. Congress gave control of Indian lands to the county courts in Oklahoma, and the ravaging began. Hundreds of Indian families lost their land and the wealth they might have enjoyed. Within 30 years, Oklahoma Indians retained only one fifteenth of their original allotments.

Oil Workers Playing Dominoes, St. Louis, Oklahoma (1939), courtesy Library of Congress

Oil Derrick with Waste Oil in Stream, 1939, courtesy Library of Congress

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An Unstable Land

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Procession at White Earth Indian Reservation, circa 1908-1916, courtesy Minnesota Historical Society

Procession at White Earth Indian Reservation, circa 1908-1916, courtesy Minnesota Historical Society

Because most Native Americans were not U.S. citizens, they had few protections and were often cheated or defrauded of their valuables.  In the late 1800s, the Chippewa (also known as Ojibwe) lived on rich woodlands filled with hardwood and pines. These lands were coveted by timber interests,who took advantage of several Congressional acts designed to break up tribal ownership of land.

Ojibwe Indians Getting Land Allotments, White Earth Indian Agency, courtesy Minnesota Historical Society Photograph Collection

Ojibwe Indians Getting Land Allotments, White Earth Indian Agency, courtesy Minnesota Historical Society Photograph Collection

Through these acts, particularly the Dawes Act (see 7/13/10 post) the Chippewa were each allotted only 80 acres of non-forest land, and told that the government would sell the land they didn’t need to white men, keep the money in the treasury with the Great Father, and give it to them when they needed it.

The allotments were made, and then the non-allotted Indian land was opened up and sold to timber companies, railroads and settlers. Delighted loggers began to clear-cut the forests. As the forests were systematically destroyed, concerned citizens moved to preserve some of the beautiful land that had belonged to the Chippewa. In 1908, Theodore Roosevelt created the Minnesota National Forest, composed of 225,000 acres of Chippewa land which had been lost through the allotment system. The land was renamed the Chippewa National Forest in 1928.

Leech Lake Chippewa Delegation to Washington, 1899

Leech Lake Chippewa Delegation to Washington, 1899

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A Dreadful Act

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Senator Henry L. Dawes

Senator Henry L. Dawes

Policy makers in the U.S. government thought that tribal ownership of land was inefficient and kept Indians from assimilating into American culture. In 1887, Congressman Henry Dawes of Massachusetts sponsored  the General Allotment Act (The Dawes Severalty Act).

Each head of a family would get 160 acres of land (or 320 acres of grazing land) and the surplus reservation land would be sold. (The Supreme Court had decided that the US government held title to Indian land and Indians enjoyed only a right of occupancy). The allotted land would be worked by Indian families, creating responsible farmers and ranchers who were self-sufficient and no longer dependent on government assistance.

The allotted land could not be sold for 25 years, and after that period, the Indian participants would become American citizens. Like much legislation of the period, it did not work out well for Indians, who were usually relegated to unprofitable land that couldn’t sustain them. They fell into poverty, sold or were cheated out of their land, and never became the prosperous small farmers that Congress had envisioned.

From 1887 to 1934, 90 million acres of Indian reservation land were transferred to non-Indian ownership and control.

Indian Teams Hauling Wheat to Market, 1900

Indian Teams Hauling Wheat to Market, 1900

One Result of the Dawes Act

One Result of the Dawes Act

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