Question

Which of the following statements is true?
The Indian Appropriations Act of 1851 allowed white settlers to claim tribal lands as homesteaders.
The Indian Appropriations Act of 1871 meant that tribes were no longer classified as independent nations.
The Indian Appropriations Act of 1885 allowed white settlers to claim tribal lands as homesteaders.
The Indian Appropriations Act of 1889 meant that tribes were no longer classified as independent nation

Answer 1

The true statement is:
- The Indian Appropriations Act of 1871 meant that tribes were no longer classified as independent nations.

Brief explanation:
- The 1871 Act ended the practice of treating tribes as sovereign nations for the purpose of making treaties; thereafter Congress dealt with tribes by statute rather than by treaty.
- The 1851 Act did not let white homesteaders claim tribal lands; it began the formal reservation system. (The Homestead Act was 1862.)
- The 1885 Act did not authorize homesteading of tribal lands; the major allotment law that parceled tribal lands to individuals (and opened "surplus" lands to non‑Native settlers) was the Dawes (General Allotment) Act of 1887.
- The 1889 legislation (notably the Oklahoma land openings) does not change the 1871 ruling on tribal nation status.