 Curtis re-enrolled in the Kaw Nation, which had been removed from Kansas to Indian Territory when he was in his teens.In 1902, the Kaw Allotment Act disbanded the Kaw Nation as a legal entity and provided for the allotment of its communal land to members, in a process similar to that endured by other tribes.The act transferred 160 acres (0.6 km²) of former tribal land to the federal government.