1. American West Tuesday Sept 15, 2015 Warm up: Get out a piece of paper and title it “The Dawes Act”. Next answer the following question to the best of your ability: What is the Dawes Act and why was it put into place. Learning Objective: Students will understand the expansion of the United States in the Pacific Northwest from the Nez Perce perspective

2. The Dawes Act  Adopted by congress in 1887  The act split up reservations held communally by Native American tribes into smaller units and distributed these units to individuals within the tribe.  The law changed the legal status of Native Americans from tribal members to individuals subject to federal laws and dissolved many tribal affiliations  Those who accepted allotments and lived separately from the tribe would be granted United States citizenship.  Reduced Native American landholdings from 138 million acres in 1887 to 78 million  Goal was to encourage Native Americans to integrate into American agrarian culture

3. Indian Policy Reform & The Dawes Act  Read each document carefully then copy the two column chart on your paper. Re read each document and complete the chart. ProblemsSolutions

4.  Answer the follow questions in complete sentences under your chart:  What problems does Arthur identify regarding the U.S. government and the Indians? List them.  What solutions does Arthur offer to remedy the situation?  Whom does Arthur blame, if anyone, for the sorry state of Indian and U.S. relations?  What is the "tone" of his speech?  How does Arthur view American Indians?  What do you think are his sources of information?  What is your opinion of the solutions he puts forth? Indian Policy Reform Questions

5. Dawes Act Questions  In what ways does the Dawes Act seems to remedy the problems identified by Arthur?  In what ways does the act seem to be protecting Indians?  In what way(s) does the act weaken and dismantle the power of Indian nations?  What do you predict will be the outcome of the Dawes Act on Indian nations?

6. The Dawes Act Debate  The year is 1900, and congress is holding a meeting to discuss the effectiveness of the Dawes Act of 1887. Congress has asked representatives from Native American tribes, white settlers, and U.S. Army officials to debate the causes and effects of the issue to better understand the outcome of the Dawes Act.  Congress will hold a debate to determine if the Dawes Act was the result of well-intentioned reformers who had reasonable expectations that it would improve life for American Indians or an unfair excuse to take away land from the Native Americans. Congress will decide if the Dawes Act was necessary for American progress.

7. Role Assignments  You have been given a role. Read over your character and decide if you are in favor of the Dawes Act or think it violates the rights of Native Americans  Whether you agree or disagree with your character, you will argue in the point of view of your character.  You will become your character in the debate on Wednesday.  You will spend the rest of class reading over your profile and deciding how you stand on the issue  Tomorrow each side will spend the entire class period prepping for the debate on Wednesday