The process of allotment started with the General Allotment Act of 1887. By 1934, two thirds of Indian land had converted to traditional private ownership (i.e. it was owned in fee simple). Most of that had been sold by Indian allottees, often because they had no means to pay local taxes on the lands, for which they were newly responsible. The IRA provided a mechanism for the recovery of land that had been sold—including land that had been sold to tribal Indians. They would lose individual property under the law.