Federal Indian Assimilation Policy, 1883–1934

The Code of Indian Offenses and related policies empowered agents to restrict ceremonies, religious leaders, dancing and other community practices. Boarding schools and mission education frequently punished Indigenous languages and identities.

The Dawes Act and reservation administration further attempted to replace communal landholding and political autonomy with individual allotment and supervised citizenship. Indigenous communities resisted, adapted and preserved practices despite coercion.

Several Jane Kirkpatrick novels engage this period through education, music collection and agency work, allowing faith-based reform to be examined alongside the damage of cultural suppression.