Which 1887 law allotted land to Indian families?

The Dawes Act of 1887 was designed to assimilate Native Americans into American society by allotting them individual plots of land. Under this act, tribal lands were surveyed, and each eligible Native American family was granted a specific amount of land, typically 160 acres. The overarching goal was to encourage farming as a means of adopting Euro-American ways of life. Once individuals received their allotments, the remainder of the tribal lands was often sold to non-Native Americans, resulting in significant loss of tribal land and communal heritage.

This act marked a significant turning point in U.S. government policy toward Native Americans, moving away from recognizing collective tribal land to emphasizing individual ownership, which was seen as a pathway to integration into mainstream American culture. The other options listed pertain to different legislative measures or policies that do not specifically address the allotment of land to Indian families in the same way the Dawes Act does. The Homestead Act, for instance, was focused on encouraging Western expansion for non-Natives, while the Indian Reorganization Act (1934) sought to reverse some aspects of the Dawes Act by restoring some rights to tribal governance and land.