What is the Dawes Roll, and who was registered on it?
Congressman Henry Dawes was a big advocate of property ownership and he asserted that it was a necessary component of civilized life. The rest of Congress agreed, and in 1887 they enacted into law the Dawes Act. The Act stated that the United States government would provide for the allotment of lands in Indian Reservations. The Cherokee Nation was divided into thousands of small pieces of land, which would be distributed among the Cherokee people. On the surface the act was an attempt to assimilate the Native people into white society, in itself a less than admirable cause, but in reality the Dawes Act did far more than Anglicize the Native Americans. The Act allowed for widespread fraud by government officials and legally stripped Native Americans of much of their land by allowing land not allotted to be opened to settlers. The Dawes Roll was the official roll of the Dawes Act and was open from 1899-1906. In order to receive a parcel of land Cherokees had to sign the rolls. In order t
