 In 1892, under the Dawes Allotment Act, the US government registered the members of the tribe, and allocated individual plots of land to each household.This was intended to introduce them to fee ownership and subsistence farming, as well as extinguish Indian tribal land claims in Oklahoma prior to its becoming a state.The government declared the remaining reservation land as "surplus" and sold it to European-American settlers, who were able to use it productivly.