14. The Dawes Act Gave Native Land to White Settlers
In an attempt to “civilize” the natives and bring them into mainstream culture, the 1887 Dawes Act attempted to end the communal ownership of land by native tribes and instead give allotments to individual indigenous families who settled down and worked the area as farmers. Any reservation land leftover would be considered excess and assigned to the white settlers. Out of the 138 million acres of native land, the natives lost 86 million acres.