Dawes Act

A Schitsu’umsh (Coeur d’Alene) agricultural community once thrived here. Some farms were a thousand acres or larger. The 1887 Dawes Act changed that. Schitsu’umsh in the DeSmet area grew wheat, potatoes, oats, and hay—among the most successful Northwest Indian farmers. The Dawes Act, which sought to encourage farming by allotting land to individual tribal members, actually failed the Schitsu’umsh. Implementation began here in 1909. Federal agents assigned 160 acres to tribal members, shrinking many Schitsu’umsh farms to economically inviable sizes. Non-Indians purchased the “surplus” property. Schitsu’umsh lost thousands of acres. The Tribe now works now to buy back lost lands.