Over the past 200 years, the federal government has pursuedseveral different policieseoward Native Americans. Through treaties and acts of congress, the United States took possession of more and more Indian land until all that remained were small reservations. With the General Allotment Act of 1887, These reservations were divided into individual parcels assigned to single families, further eroding tribal life. Althonugh federal policies have often forced Indians to abandon their traditional lifestyles and adapt to American society, at other times they have helped to defend Native American cultures. While many American Indians Still suffer from extreme poverty, in recent decades some tribes have won major victories in the courts, begin-ning a new chapter in the relations between Native Americans and the U.S. government.