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THE DAWES COMMISSION, REGARDED BY SOME AS A HUMAN TRAGEDY, IS ONE of the most highly controversial subjects involving U.S. government treatment of Native Americans between 1893 and 1914. During this time, Native Americans were subjected to enrollment in order to determine who was qualified for individual land allotments in the Indian Territory. The methods employed by the government were overwhelming for the understaffed organization, and while the commission ultimately broke down tribal governments and took control of preexisting Native American land, the Native peoples did not benefit from its work.

Kent Carter's thorough research of the Dawes Commission delves into its organization and procedures to clarify enrollment and allotment decisions for the thousands of people who applied. It points out the difficulties Congress had in implementing its plan and the disastrous effects the program had on the people it was designed to help. Rich in historical photographs, thoroughly footnoted, and containing actual documents of the commission's records, the book will provide anyone with interest in the Dawes Commission, or of Native American ancestry, a heightened understanding of the Dawes Commission and the Five Civilized Tribes Cherokee, Chickasaw, Creek, Choctaw, and Seminole.