Historic Allotment Legislation: 1887-1950s

Listed below are pieces of legislation applicable broadly to Indian tribes who have not been allotted under specific, special legislation. On this website, there are brief summaries of the acts’ key points relevant to allotment. Please refer to the actual text through the link provided to Kappler’s Indian Affairs Laws and Treaties at the bottom of each entry for the complete provisions of the acts. In addition to legislation that allotted land, also listed is legislation touching a multitude of issues arising from allotment, such as leasing, the determination of heirs and disposal of allotment lands, the powers of the Secretary of Interior over allotment lands, the determination of Indian “competency”, and so on.

Name of Statute	Subject of Provisions Relevant to Allotment
General Allotment Act, Act of Feb. 8, 1887 (24 Stat. 388, ch. 119, 25 USCA 331)	Size of allotments; public domain allotments; trust-land; descent and partition; trust funds; rights-of-way; citizenship; trust periods
Act of October 19, 1888 (25 Stat. 611)	Surrender of patents
Act of Feb. 28, 1891 (26 Stat. 794)	Size of allotments; leasing; disability/inability/ competency; powers of the Secretary of the Interior
Act of August 15, 1894 (28 Stat. 286)	Leasing; pursuit of claims
Act of Jan. 26, 1895 (28 Stat. 641)	Double allotment; powers of the Secretary of the Interior
Act of May 31, 1900 (31 Stat. 170)	Leasing; disability/inability/competency
Act of Feb. 6, 1901 (31 Stat. 760)	Pursuit of claims
Act of March 3, 1901 (31 Stat. 1058)	Rights-of-way; condemnations; powers of the Secretary of the Interior
Act of May 27, 1902 (32 Stat. 245)	Sale of allotment/alienation
Act of May 31, 1902 (32 Stat. 284)	Pursuit of claims
Burke Act, Act of May 8, 1906 (34 Stat. 182)	Competency; forced fee patent; determination of legal heirs; citizenship; powers of the Secretary of the Interior
Act of June 21, 1906 (34 Stat. 325)	Trust periods; sale of allotments/alienation
Act of March 1, 1907 (34 Stat. 1015)	Competency; sale of allotments/alienation
Act of March 2, 1907 (34 Stat. 1221)	Trust funds
Act of May 29, 1908 (35 Stat. 444)	Sale of allotments; determination of legal heirs; competency; powers of the Secretary of the Interior
Act of March 3, 1909 (35 Stat. 783)	Leasing; surplus lands
Act of June 25, 1910 (36 Stat. 269)	Determination of legal heirs; surrender of allotments; competency; will-making; leasing; timber; powers of the Secretary of the Interior
Act of Feb. 14, 1913 (37 Stat. 678)	Will-making; powers of the Secretary of the Interior
Act of May 18, 1916 (39 Stat. 127)	Leasing; partition; powers of the Secretary of the Interior
Act of March 3, 1921 (41 Stat. 1232)	Leasing
Act of Sept. 21, 1922 (42 Stat. 994)	Alienation; powers of the Secretary of the Interior
Act of Feb. 14, 1923 (42 Stat. 1246)	Extends General Allotment Act to lands purchased or will be purchased by Congress
Act of May 29, 1924 (43 Stat. 244)	Leasing
Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 (41 Stat. 408)	Citizenship
Act of Feb. 26, 1927 (44 Stat. 1247)	Forced fee patents
Act of March 3, 1928 (45 Stat. 161)	Powers of the Secretary of the Interior; sale of allotments/alienation; determination of heirs
Act of Feb. 21, 1931 (46 Stat. 1205)	Forced fee patents
Act of March 2, 1931 (46 Stat. 1471)	Proceeds from sale of allotment for public needs or compensation for condemnation reinvested in land
Act of Apr. 30, 1934 (48 Stat. 647)	Powers of the Secretary of the Interior; determination of heirs; sale of allotments
Indian Reorganization Act or Howard-Wheeler Act, June 18, 1934 (48 Stat. 984) (original, unamended) Also on this website is the current amended version of the IRA as codified in Title 25 (in PDF format) as well as a version of the IRA showing all amendatory changes to the act (also in PDF format).	Trust periods; surplus land; sale of allotments/alienation; public domain allotments; devise and descent; tax exemption; tribal governments
Act of June 11, 1940 (54 Stat. 298)	Reimbursement for taxes paid on allotted lands
Act of Nov. 24, 1942 (56 Stat. 1021)	Devise and descent; escheat
Act of Aug. 9, 1955 (69 Stat. 540)	Leasing

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Although the General Allotment Act of 1887 was the first major piece of legislation designed to allot Indian reservations across the United States, many tribes were allotted according to particular treaty stipulations or under specific acts ratifying agreements between tribes and the federal government decades before the General Allotment Act. See Tribe/Reservation Specific Information for this information.