The Legal Aspects of Indian Affairs from 1887 to 1957

Abstract

As the westward movement of the population proceeded, the de mand for the Indians' land increased. Cultural assimilation became the slogan. "Americanized" Indians would be transformed from hunters and fishermen to farmers and cattlemen, communal ownership would yield to individual ownership, plenty of the tribal lands would be freed for white settlement. The culmination of this policy was the General Allotment Act of 1887. Another step toward integration was the Citizenship Act of 1924. The character and the effects of these policies are detailed by the author.—Ed.