The Dawes Act, adopted by Congress in 1887, authorized the President of the United States to survey Indian tribal land and divide the land into allotments for individual Indians. The Act was named for its sponsor, Senator Henry L. Dawes

Henry L. Dawes

Henry Laurens Dawes was a Republican United States Senator and United States Representative, notable for the Dawes Act.-Biography:...

 of Massachusetts. The Dawes Act was amended in 1891 and again in 1906 by the Burke Act

Burke Act

Burke Act , was designed to correct certain defects in the General Allotment Act also known as the Dawes Act of 1887, under which the land in the Indian reservations was to be broken up and distributed in severalty to the individual Indians...

. The stated objective of the Dawes Act was to stimulate assimilation of Indians into American society.