Many reservations were affected by the allotment of 'excess land', and by tribal members selling their allotments (by wile or by intimidation), which led to the

Many reservations were affected by the allotment of 'excess land', and by tribal members selling their allotments (by wile or by intimidation), which led to the 'checkerboarding' of ownership. In recent decades, multiple tribes have had programs to recover their lands by purchase. "The Dawes Act of 1887 created the most Native American checkerboarding. The act was intended to bolster self-sufficiency and systematically fracture native cultures, giving each individual between 40 acres (16 ha) and 160 acres (65 ha)." [0] [emphasis mine] [0]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Checkerboarding_(land) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Checkerboarding_(land) [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dawes_Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dawes_Act