The Dawes Act, also known as the General Allotment Act or Dawes Severalty Act of 1887, was a U.S. federal law enacted on February 8, 1887, aimed at assimilating Native Americans into mainstream American society by transforming their communal tribal landholdings into individual private property

. Key points about the Dawes Act include:

• It authorized the President to divide tribal reservation lands into allotments for individual Native American heads of families and individuals, typically 160 acres for a family head, 80 acres for single adults, and smaller amounts for children

• Native Americans who accepted allotments and adopted "habits of civilized life" were granted U.S. citizenship

• The act sought to break up tribal social structures and communal land ownership, encouraging Native Americans to farm and live like white Americans, with the goal of assimilation and ending federal paternalism

• Land not allotted to Native Americans was declared "surplus" and opened for sale to non-Native settlers, resulting in a massive loss of Native land-about two-thirds of their land base, roughly 90 to 100 million acres, was lost between 1887 and 1934

• The act had devastating cultural and social effects on Native communities, weakening tribal cohesion and traditional leadership, and is considered one of the most destructive U.S. policies toward Native Americans

• Some tribes, such as the Five Civilized Tribes, were initially exempt, and implementation varied tribe by tribe

In summary, the Dawes Act was intended to promote Native American assimilation by allotting tribal lands to individuals and encouraging farming, but it led to large-scale loss of Native lands and disruption of tribal life