Competency Commission

Competency Commissions were established by the

General Allotment Act of 1887. Individuals who were determined to be competent were issued fee patents on their land. The lands of Indian allottees determined to be non-competent were leased by the Federal Government, often to non-tribal members.^[1]

While a fee patent gives power to the allottee to decide whether to keep or sell the land, provided the harsh economic reality of the time, lack of access to credit and markets, liquidation of Indian lands was almost inevitable. It was known by the department of interior that virtually 95% of fee patented land would eventually be sold to whites.[2]

Indians who were determined to be non-competent often did not receive the income generated from the leasing of their lands. In 1996, the largest class-action lawsuit ever launched against the U.S. Government,

trust fund

beneficiaries who offered to settle for 27 billion dollars.

References

^ McDonnell, Janet (1981). "Competency Commissions and Indian Land Policy, 1913-1920" (PDF). South Dakota History. 11 (1). South Dakota State Historical Society.
ISBN 9780815335917
. By 1922, Superintendent Henry Tidwell reported that 95% of all Oglalas who had been fee-patented had lost their land, mostly to whites.

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[1] McDonnell, Janet (1981). "Competency Commissions and Indian Land Policy, 1913-1920" (PDF). South Dakota History. 11 (1). South Dakota State Historical Society.

[2] ISBN 9780815335917
. By 1922, Superintendent Henry Tidwell reported that 95% of all Oglalas who had been fee-patented had lost their land, mostly to whites.

[1]

See also

References