The Assault on Indian Tribalism: The General Allotment Law (Dawes Act of 1887)

More than a century ago, as Americans enjoyed the centennial of national independence, they paid little attention to efforts then under way to rationalize Indian-white relationships. Americans celebrating the bicentennial in 1976 realized their duty to reflect on aspects of their past that persist into the present. The author's analysis and documents in this volume offer unprecedented opportunity for a review of one of the most significant efforts by white Americans to reshape the lives of American Indians in ways conformable to white perceptions.