Arthur C . Parker, a founding member of the Society of American Indians, characterized the anti-Indian tenor among politicians noting, " one senator wrote me that there was a great deal of prejudice in considering Indian matters and reluctance to take them on . " In 1906, Congress passed the Burke Act, an amendment to the Dawes Act, which gave the U . S . Secretary of the Interior the ability to grant fee-simple titles to any land allottee " competent and capable of managing his or her affairs . " The intent of the Act was to accelerate Indian assimilation and citizenship, and stipulated that every Indian who received a fee-simple title immediately became a citizen of the United States.
