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Allotment Act-1887 (1887)

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Act -1887”, n.d.). The title to their land would be held in trust by the government 25 years at which time the individual would be awarded citizenship and fee simple title to their land (“Allotment Act -1887”, n.d.). All “unclaimed” lands were sold to the United States who in turn opened them for homesteading, all proceeds were held on account by the government to cover the cost of supplies provided to the Indian people (“Allotment Act -1887”, n.d.). In 1891 and 1893, two famous land runs occurred when the Cherokees western land extension was sold off in this manner (“Allotment Act -1887”, n.d.).
Before the Allotment Act was passed the total amount of land held by tribal reservation was 138,000,000 acres and by the end of the allotment period all that was left of these reservations, once considered worthless, was a mere 48,000,000 acres (“Allotment Act -1887”, n.d.). Under other acts since this time a small amount of land has been returned to the tribes, making the current total that they hold 56,000,000 acres. (“Allotment Act -1887”, n.d.). Consider this, Tribal land now makes up only 2.3 % of the United States (Frantz, p39; see Fig 3.)
At the time of the Euro conquest, Native Americans controlled two billion acres and by the end of 1871, they held only 140 million acres …show more content…
Most claimants are forced to accept money rather than lands, “even when those lands lay in the public domain and could easily be returned (Shoemaker, p449 – 50)” It should be an easy problem to address on some levels, yet the government chooses to maintain their status-quo attitude. In recent years the U.N. has taken notice of the United States treatment of Native American’s, perhaps with this international attention something will happen that is for once positive when it comes to the treatment of Native

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