Question

Why did the federal government choose to give each tribal member a 25-year deed to the reservation land?

Answer 1

The Indian reservation system was created to keep Native Americans off of lands that European Americans wished to settle.

Answer 2

The correct answer is D) The government believed this would be enough time for the tribal members to become self-reliant and adapt to the farming lifestyle.

The federal government chose to give each tribal member a 25-year deed to the reservation land because the government believed this would be enough time for the tribal members to become self-reliant and adapt to the farming lifestyle.

We are referring to the Allotment Act of 1887. The Congress passed this act also called the Dawes Act, in an attempt to give the Native American Tribes the opportunity to learn how to farm the land and adapt to new customs to live as an Americans. Each family would receive 160 acres of tribal land. The government would hold in trust the title of the land for 25 years. After that time, the land would be the property of the Indians. Some tribes accepted others opposed, as was the case of the Seminole, the Cherokee, and the Choctaw.