Term: allotment

Definition: Indian policy of the U.S. government, 1887-1934; also called the Dawes Act, the General Allotment Act of 1887 divided communal tribal lands and placed them in individual ownership, resulting (in Wisconsin) in the loss of 174,785 acres of land formerly held by the tribes. View more information, including what Wisconsin Indian witnesses told investigators about its effects during hearings held on reservations in 1909-1910, elsewhere at wisconsinhistory.org.