How did allotment reduce Indigenous landholdings in the Plateau region?

In the Plateau region, the process of allotment significantly reduced Indigenous landholdings by replacing the common title held by tribes with individual titles to farm-sized acreages.1

Under this system, the government divided reservation lands into specific parcels for individual Native Americans. Once these allotments were distributed, any remaining land was classified as "surplus" and made available for sale to non-Indigenous individuals. This mechanism effectively transferred vast amounts of territory out of tribal control.12

Although legal safeguards were intended to protect Indigenous landowners from exploitation, these laws were poorly enforced, leading to widespread corruption and the loss of property. The policy, which aimed to force a transition to an agricultural existence, ultimately failed to foster economic self-sufficiency and instead initiated a period of increasing poverty for many Plateau tribes.12