The General Allotment Act, also known as the Dawes Act, named after Senator Henry Dawes, who wrote the act, is the legislation to which Thomas Sowell refers in his passage. The Dawes Act divided Native American reservations into small parcels for individual ownership by Native Americans. To the head of a family, 160 acres were given, 80 acres was given to any single person over the age of 18, and 80 acres were also given to any orphans under the age of 18. To receive a portion of land one would have to register on Dawes Rolls. …
