The Dispossession Of The American Indian, 18871934

The Dispossession of the American Indian, 18871934

From Library JournalThe Indian land base shrank from 138 million acres in 1887 to 52 million in 1934 because of the Dawes Act, which allotted reservation lands to individual Indians in order to create independent farmers. Instead, more than 90 percent of the allotted land was immediately sold to land speculators. The disastrous effect of the act was to dispossess two-thirds of all Indians by 1934, when it was repealed. Historian McDonnell irrefutably demonstrates how the federal government, often under pressure from white politicians, persisted in allotting Indian land even after the negative effect of this policy on native populations was obvious. This book is a welcome addition to the growing body of literature on 20th-century federal Indian policy.-Mary B. Davis, Huntington Free Lib., Bronx, New YorkCopyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.From Publishers WeeklyFor 47 years the Dawes Act was the lawok? aa , and during this time Native Americans saw their estate shrink from 138 million acres to 54 million acres. Most of the land, McDonnell reports, ended up in the hands of whites. Dawes was ok?unecessary.aa intended to "civilize" the various tribes and make them self-reliant by allotting individual ownership of reservation land for farming and livestock grazing; the law instead created a dependent society, argues the author. The tragic failure of Dawes is the subject of her terse, well-documented first book. McDonnell, a historian for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, homes in on the administrators who were responsible, and describes their pathetic, sometimes corrupt practices in distributing, leasing and irrigating the land. Sadly, the message proves much stronger than this dry presentation, which probably will find less wordy. aa only a small audience. Photos not seen by PW.Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.From the Back CoverJanet A. McDonnell's book is the first full-length treatment of that ill-conceived effort at Indian land management.