property essay

History and Law Website Home Supreme Court and Public Policy - LS 138

U. S. Supreme Court Cases - Edited Property and Liberty - LS 140

PROFESSOR R. BEN BROWN'S LAW AND HISTORY SITE

Syllabus for LS 140 Pride and Prejudice John Locke

Property in Eve Online Rousseau on Property and Inequality

Karl Marx - The Communist Manifesto J.S. Mill - Principles of Political Economy

George - Progress and Poverty George - Ode to Liberty Finkelman -Batter Up

Popov v. Hayashi Treaty of Waitangi Johnson v. McIntosh Dawes Act

Somerset v. Stewart Bryan v. Walton State v. Mann State v. Boyce

Rose - Property Law and the Rise, Life, and Demise of Racially Restrictive Covenants

Shelley v. Kraemer Bell v. Maryland

Sumner - W hat Social Classes Owe to Each Other Veblen - Theory of the Leisure Class

Roe - Backlash Cassidy review of Thomas Piketty, Capital in the Twenty-first Century

Ostrom - Sustainable Development Boomer v. Atlantic Cement

Dan Ariely Ted Talk Dan Pink Ted Talk Pennsylvania Coal v. Mahon

Just v. Marinette County Kelo v. New London

Reich - The New Property - Read pp 771-777 Goldberg v. Kelly

Lessig - Free Culture - Read Chap. 5 Lessig - Remix (Optional Source)

SF Homeless Project

Tr a n s c r i p t o f D awe s Ac t ( 1 8 8 7 )Tr a n s c r i p t o f D awe s Ac t ( 1 8 8 7 )

Fo r t y-N i n t h Co n g r e s s o f t h e Un i t e d St a t e s o f A m e r i c a ; Fo r t y-N i n t h Co n g r e s s o f t h e Un i t e d St a t e s o f A m e r i c a ;

At t h e S e c o n d S e s s i o n ,At t h e S e c o n d S e s s i o n ,

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Monday, the sixth day of December, one thousand eight hundred and eight-six.

A n Ac t t o p r ov i d e fo r t h e a l l o t m e n t o f l a n d s i n s eve r a l t y t o I n d i a n s o n t h e va r i o u s r e s e r va t i o n s , a n d t o ex t e n d t h eA n Ac t t o p r ov i d e fo r t h e a l l o t m e n t o f l a n d s i n s eve r a l t y t o I n d i a n s o n t h e va r i o u s r e s e r va t i o n s , a n d t o ex t e n d t h e

p r o t e c t i o n o f t h e l aws o f t h e Un i t e d St a t e s a n d t h e Te r r i t o r i e s ove r t h e I n d i a n s , a n d fo r o t h e r p u r p o s e s .p r o t e c t i o n o f t h e l aws o f t h e Un i t e d St a t e s a n d t h e Te r r i t o r i e s ove r t h e I n d i a n s , a n d fo r o t h e r p u r p o s e s .

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That in all cases where any

tribe or band of Indians has been, or shall hereafter be, located upon any reservation created for their use, either by treaty stipulation or by

virtue of an act of Congress or executive order setting apart the same for their use, the President of the United States be, and he hereby is,

authorized, whenever in his opinion any reservation or any part thereof of such Indians is advantageous for agricultural and grazing

purposes, to cause said reservation, or any part thereof, to be surveyed, or resurveyed if necessary, and to allot the lands in said reservation

in severalty to any Indian located thereon in quantities as follows:

To each head of a family, one-quarter of a section;

To each single person over eighteen years of age, one-eighth of a section;

To each orphan child under eighteen years of age, one-eighth of a section; and

To each other single person under eighteen years now living, or who may be born prior to the date of the order of the President directing an

allotment of the lands embraced in any reservation, one-sixteenth of a section:

P r ov i d e dP r ov i d e d, That in case there is not sufficient land in any of said reservations to allot lands to each individual of the classes above named in

quantities as above provided, the lands embraced in such reservation or reservations shall be allotted to each individual of each of said

classes pro rata in accordance with the provisions of this act: And provided further, That where the treaty or act of Congress setting apart

such reservation provides the allotment of lands in severalty in quantities in excess of those herein provided, the President, in making

allotments upon such reservation, shall allot the lands to each individual Indian belonging thereon in quantity as specified in such treaty or

act: And provided further, That when the lands allotted are only valuable for grazing purposes, an additional allotment of such grazing lands,

in quantities as above provided, shall be made to each individual.

S e c . 2 .S e c . 2 . That all allotments set apart under the provisions of this act shall be selected by the Indians, heads of families selecting for their

minor children, and the agents shall select for each orphan child, and in such manner as to embrace the improvements of the Indians making

the selection. where the improvements of two or more Indians have been made on the same legal subdivision of land, unless they shall

otherwise agree, a provisional line may be run dividing said lands between them, and the amount to which each is entitled shall be equalized

in the assignment of the remainder of the land to which they are entitled under his act: Provided, That if any one entitled to an allotment shall

fail to make a selection within four years after the President shall direct that allotments may be made on a particular reservation, the

Secretary of the Interior may direct the agent of such tribe or band, if such there be, and if there be no agent, then a special agent appointed

for that purpose, to make a selection for such Indian, which selection shall be allotted as in cases where selections are made by the Indians,

and patents shall issue in like manner.

S e c . 3 .S e c . 3 . That the allotments provided for in this act shall be made by special agents appointed by the President for such purpose, and the

agents in charge of the respective reservations on which the allotments are directed to be made, under such rules and regulations as the

Secretary of the Interior may from time to time prescribe, and shall be certified by such agents to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, in

duplicate, one copy to be retained in the Indian Office and the other to be transmitted to the Secretary of the Interior for his action, and to be

deposited in the General Land Office.

S e c . 4 .S e c . 4 . That where any Indian not residing upon a reservation, or for whose tribe no reservation has been provided by treaty, act of

Congress, or executive order, shall make settlement upon any surveyed or unsurveyed lands of the United States not otherwise appropriated,

he or she shall be entitled, upon application to the local land-office for the district in which the lands arc located, to have the same allotted to

him or her, and to his or her children, in quantities and manner as provided in this act for Indians residing upon reservations; and when such

settlement is made upon unsurveyed lands, the grant to such Indians shall be adjusted upon the survey of the lands so as to conform thereto;

and patents shall be issued to them for such lands in the manner and with the restrictions as herein provided. And the fees to which the

officers of such local land-office would have been entitled had such lands been entered under the general laws for the disposition of the

public lands shall be paid to them, from any moneys in the Treasury of the United States not otherwise appropriated, upon a statement of an

account in their behalf for such fees by the Commissioner of the General Land Office, and a certification of such account to the Secretary of

the Treasury by the Secretary of the Interior.

S e c . 5 .S e c . 5 . That upon the approval of the allotments provided for in this act by the Secretary of the Interior, he shall cause patents to issue

therefor in the name of the allottees, which patents shall be of the legal effect, and declare that the United States does and will hold the land

thus allotted, for the period of twenty-five years, in trust for the sole use and benefit of the Indian to whom such allotment shall have been

made, or, in case of his decease, of his heirs according to the laws of the State or Territory where such land is located, and that at the

expiration of said period the United States will convey the same by patent to said Indian, or his heirs as aforesaid, in fee, discharged of said

trust and free of all charge or incumbrance whatsoever: Provided, That the President of the United States may in any case in his discretion

extend the period. And if any conveyance shall be made of the lands set apart and allotted as herein provided, or any contract made touching

the same, before the expiration of the time above mentioned, such conveyance or contract shall be absolutely null and void: Provided, That

the law of descent and partition in force in the State or Territory where such lands are situate shall apply thereto after patents therefor have

been executed and delivered, except as herein otherwise provided; and the laws of the State of Kansas regulating the descent and partition of

real estate shall, so far as practicable, apply to all lands in the Indian Territory which may be allotted in severalty under the provisions of this

act: And provided further, That at any time after lands have been allotted to all the Indians of any tribe as herein provided, or sooner if in the

opinion of the President it shall be for the best interests of said tribe, it shall be lawful for the Secretary of the Interior to negotiate with such

Indian tribe for the purchase and release by said tribe, in conformity with the treaty or statute under which such reservation is held, of such

portions of its reservation not allotted as such tribe shall, from time to time, consent to sell, on such terms and conditions as shall be

considered just and equitable between the United States and said tribe of Indians, which purchase shall not be complete until ratified by

Congress, and the form and manner of executing such release prescribed by Congress: Provided however, That all lands adapted to

agriculture, with or without irrigation so sold or released to the United States by any Indian tribe shall be held by the United States for the

sale purpose of securing homes to actual settlers and shall be disposed of by the United States to actual and bona fide settlers only tracts not

exceeding one hundred and sixty acres to any one person, on such terms as Congress shall prescribe, subject to grants which Congress may

make in aid of education: And provided further, That no patents shall issue therefor except to the person so taking the same as and

homestead, or his heirs, and after the expiration of five years occupancy thereof as such homestead; and any conveyance of said lands taken

as a homestead, or any contract touching the same, or lieu thereon, created prior to the date of such patent, shall be null and void. And the

sums agreed to be paid by the United States as purchase money for any portion of any such reservation shall be held in the Treasury of the

United States for the sole use of the tribe or tribes Indians; to whom such reservations belonged; and the same, with interest thereon at three

per cent per annum, shall be at all times subject to appropriation by Congress for the education and civilization of such tribe or tribes of

Inians or the members thereof. The patents aforesaid shall be recorded in the General Land Office, and afterward delivered, free of charge, to

the allottee entitled thereto. And if any religious society or other organization is now occupying any of the public lands to which this act is

applicable, for religious or educational work among the Indians, the Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized to confirm such

occupation to such society or organization, in quantity not exceeding one hundred and sixty acres in any one tract, so long as the same shall

be so occupied, on such terms as he shall deem just; but nothing herein contained shall change or alter any claim of such society for religious

or educational purposes heretofore granted by law. And hereafter in the employment of Indian police, or any other employees in the public

service among any of the Indian tribes or bands affected by this act, and where Indians can perform the duties required, those Indians who

have availed themselves of the provisions of this act and become citizens of the United States shall be preferred.

S e c . 6 .S e c . 6 . That upon the completion of said allotments and the patenting of the lands to said allottees, each and every number of the respective

bands or tribes of Indians to whom allotments have been made shall have the benefit of and be subject to the laws, both civil and criminal, of

the State or Territory in which they may reside; and no Territory shall pass or enforce any law denying any such Indian within its

jurisdiction the equal protection of the law. And every Indian born within the territorial limits of the United States to whom allotments shall

have been made under the provisions of this act, or under any law or treaty, and every Indian born within the territorial limits of the United

States who has voluntarily taken up, within said limits, his residence separate and apart from any tribe of Indians therein, and has adopted

the habits of civilized life, is hereby declared to be a citizen of the United States, and is entitled to all the rights, privileges, and immunities of

such citizens, whether said Indian has been or not, by birth or otherwise, a member of any tribe of Indians within the territorial limits of the

United States without in any manner affecting the right of any such Indian to tribal or other property.

S e c . 7.S e c . 7. That in cases where the use of water for irrigation is necessary to render the lands within any Indian reservation available for

agricultural purposes, the Secretary of the Interior be, and he is hereby, authorized to prescribe such rules and regulations as he may deem

necessary to secure a just and equal distribution thereof among the Indians residing upon any such reservation; and no other appropriation

or grant of water by any riparian proprietor shall permitted to the damage of any other riparian proprietor.

S e c . 8 .S e c . 8 . That the provisions of this act shall not extend to the territory occupied by the Cherokees, Creeks, Choctaws, Chickasaws, Seminoles,

and Osage, Miamies and Peorias, and Sacs and Foxes, in the Indian Territory, nor to any of the reservations of the Seneca Nation of New York

Indians in the State of New York, nor to that strip of territory in the State of Nebraska adjoining the Sioux Nation on the south added by

executive order.

S e c . 9.S e c . 9. That for the purpose of making the surveys and resurveys mentioned in section two of this act, there be, and hereby is, appropriated,

out of any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of one hundred thousand dollars, to be repaid proportionately out of

the proceeds of the sales of such land as may be acquired from the Indians under the provisions of this act.

S e c . 1 0.S e c . 1 0. That nothing in this act contained shall be so canstrued to affect the right and power of Congress to grant the right of way through

any lands granted to an Indian, or a tribe of Indians, for railroads or other highways, or telegraph lines, for the public use, or condemn such

lands to public uses, upon making just compensation.

S e c . 1 1 .S e c . 1 1 . That nothing in this act shall be so construed as to prevent the removal of the Southern Ute Indians from their present reservation in

Southwestern Colorado to a new reservation by and with consent of a majority of the adult male members of said tribe.

Approved, February, 8, 1887.

James Madison

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