The Dawes Act, or Dawes General Allotment Act, was a law passed by congress in 1887, regarding Indian policy, more specifically, how reservations would be divided into sections of land allotted to individuals. Each head of a family was allotted one-quarter of a section. Each single person over eighteen was allotted one-eighth of a section. Each orphan child under eighteen was allotted one-eighth of a section. Each other single person under eighteen was allotted one-sixteenth of a section. Surplus lands were open to settlement by non-Indians and development of railroads. The act puts an emphasis on individual land ownership, going against the unity and culture previously held by many Indians living in communal villages, and can be viewed as a type of attempt at assimilation, and to further deprive the Indians of their lands.
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