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Luther's Father Stand Alone Summary

Decent Essays

To provide an overview of what the Allotment Policy was, it was also known as the Dawes Act. As mentioned within class discussions, it was named after Senator Henry Dawes. This policy allowed Indian people to receive a portion of land. Indian tribal land would be divided into small sections or allotments. These would be for Indian families or individuals. When it comes to how many acres will be provided, it all depends on who it is. The amount of land granted to each family is 160 acres. On the other hand, 80 acres will be given per individual. Orphans who are under 18 years of age, can only receive half of the land an individual would get. In that case, they receive 40 acres. Once the allotment was processed and completed, meaning people …show more content…

As an Oglala or Rosebud Sioux Indian writer of this autobiography, Luther Standing Bear focuses on telling the story of his father’s experience in interacting with others about alloting lands. Taking place in South Dakota, year 1928, his father reached out to Yellow Horn, a traditional chief, about the Allotment Policy. Despite Indian chiefs being against the allotment proposition due to having the idea they were already at a disadvantage, Luther’s father was for the policy. He explained how they would be able to receive a piece of land of 320 acres, which would be used for farming. When viewing this option, his father addressed the idea of asking for a full section of land that claims a total of 640 acres to make up for the land that is not suitable for farming. Not only that, but the tribe will receive $3 million for land. This would be used for education children, and the other half is to be paid within 25 years. In addition, horses, farm wagons, a milk cow, farming implements, along with $50 in cash to put towards building a house. Although this sounds very benefitial, others were against it. It was seen as a “sweet talk” to trick the Indians into the agreement. Overall, they were not in favor of the allotment, but another council was held to provide more information or clarity. Reading …show more content…

Some tribes may include the Cherokee and Hopi. According to our class lectures, there was an outrage due to the allotments. The Cherokee who are from Oklahoma, expressed their thoughts in front of Congress. Due to the strategy used when it came to the Allotment Policy, the land was difficult to farm on. In class we had discussed how the profits of all the corn produced would only make a slight dent within debt. As a result of bad crops growing, the debt started to accumulate. It was thought that the entire system was rigged. The allotments became a checkerboard. The meaning behind the term checkerboard, is that Indian families or individuals were becoming surrounded by White settlers who claimed open land. The goal of the checkerboard was to break up the Native American communities. Not to forget, the Hopi had petitioned that they needed more land due to infertility of the soil. Although they tried to voice their opinions, feedback or answers were never given back. Eventually, they had given

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