The Merriam Report
of 1928

By Pat Davis and Lisa Maynes

Apache Students in Classroom

Apache Boys in "Civilized" Dress

Allotment Era
    Iniated by the Dawes Act of 1887, the Allotment Era continued until 1934.  During these 47 years, the government took away over 90 million acres of tribal lands that were previously guaranteed to tribes by the treaties and federal law.  Over two thirds of the tribes best land was taken, leaving land that was virtually useless.  This caused economic and socially devastating effects to all tribes across the country.
     Senator Henry Dawes of Massachusetts, who authored the Dawes Act, or General Allotment Act as it also known, was quoted as saying that to be civilized, one must "wear civilized clothes...cultivate the ground, live in houses, ride in Studebaker wagons, send children to school, drink whiskey and own property."(1)  His legislation became the demise of Native American life.  It stripped them of their culture and became a way to get Indians to assimilate into "American" ways of life.  As we will see in the next section, the Merriam Report showed policy makers the effects of their legislation on Native American people.
 

Senator Henry L. Dawes 1816-1903

    In 1926, the Secretary of the Interior Hubert Work requested that the Institute for Government Research (now known as the Brookings Institute) undertake an economic and social study of Indian conditions.  Lewis Merriam and his staff of advisors reviewed much of the history of Indian Affairs and studied field conditions in the areas of economics, health, education, and agriculture.  The result was over 160 pages of analysis as to what had happened to the Indian people under the federal government's trusteeship.  The general findings of the survey were:
            1.  Most of the Indians were poor, very poor.
            2.  The general health of the Indians was bad, and their living conditions unsanitary.
            3.  Tuberculosis and Trachoma were extremely prevalent; infant mortality was high.
            4.  In an economic sense, the Indians were "backward".  Their incomes were insufficient, their standard of living
                 poor, and their attitude apathetic.
            5.  The Indians were not adjusted to the new economic and social conditions that were confronting them.
            6.  They had little knowledge of the value of money and land.
            7.  The intermittent and small incomes from land sales, leases, and per capita payments from tribal funds retarded
                 economic progress and encouraged idleness.
            8.  The extent of the Indians suffering and discontent indicated that they were not satisfied with their conditions.

The report found many contributing factors, one of the major ones being the Allotment Policy.  In the Merriam Report, it was also said that
            Not accompanied by adequate instruction in the use of property, it has largely failed in the accomplishment of what was
            expected of it.  It has resulted in much loss of land and an enormous increase in the details of administration without a
            compensating advance in the economic ability of the Indians...it almost seeded as if the government assumed that some
            magic in individual ownership of property would in itself prove an educational civilizing factor, but unfortunately this
            policy had for the most part operated in the opposite direction.  Individual ownership in many instances permitted
            Indians to sell their allotment and to live for a time on the unearned income resulting from the sale.(2)
 

Navajo Reservation in Arizona

Acoma Pueblo, New Mexico.  1920's

 
 
 
 
 

    The general recommendations included improved statistics and record keeping, better living and working conditions, bicultural/bilingual education, and improved working conditions.  There was a general consensus that the imposition of white cultural values upon the Indian societies was at the root of the problem.
    In 1933 President Roosevelt appointed John Collier as Commissioner of Indian Affairs.  Collier had been a veteran social worker, and in 1923 had founded the American Indian Defense Association.  He was instrumental in formulating the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 (also known as the Indian Bill of Rights and/or the Wheeler Howard Act).  It focused on encouraging the Indian use of Indian lands and on strengthening Indian community life and culture.  Under the Bill:

        1.  The allotment process was halted and further losses of Indian land were halted.
        2.  Tribes were encouraged to create strong tribal governments.
        3.  Tribes were given the right to form constitutions, have self-government, and to form tribal corporations.
        4.  A program to provide federal loan money for college and/or vocational school expenses was begun.

    In general, response to the act was positive.  It provided farming and personal loans to Indian families, and enabled them to buy livestock and machinery.  Farm programs and cattle raising operations were iniated.  Money was available for higher education.  The main criticisms of the act were its limitations on the number of cattle that an individual was allowed to won, and on restrictions placed on the use of profits to buy back land that had originally belonged to the tribe.

    Collier also pushed for the adoption of the Johnson-O'Malley Act of 1934, which provided financial assistance to states by providing public school programs for Natives, and authorized contractual agreements for the delivery of health, education, and social services.
 
 

 
 
 

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(1) New Persectives on The West: Archives of The West 1887-1914, from PBS website:                     http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/resources/archives/eight/dawes.htm

(2) History and Foundation of American Indian Education Policy, State of Montana website: http://www.opi.state.mt.us/PDF/IndianEd/IndPolicyHistory.pdf