Stories
Photo: Kalen Goodluck/High Country News
Land-Grab Universities
Robert Lee and Tristan Ahtone
Expropriated Indigenous land is the foundation of the land-grant university system.
Editor's Note
Lost and found
Tristan Ahtone
This feature is the result of a comprehensive investigation, one that reveals how land taken from tribal nations was turned into seed money for higher education in the United States.
The land-grant universities still profiting off Indigenous homelands
Kalen Goodluck, Tristan Ahtone and Robert Lee
There are at least 16 land-grant universities making money from the expropriated Indigenous lands they retained from the Morrill Act.
Other Coverage of Land-Grant Universities
Articles
Why new research calls some flagships ‘Land-Grab Universities’,
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Ask who paid for America’s universities,
The New York Times
Higher education’s racial reckoning reaches far beyond slavery,
Washington Post
The great land heist that helped form many US universities,
New Scientist (Subscription)
Jealousy List 2020,
Bloomberg Businessweek
The Anti-Indigenous Handbook,
The Texas Observer
CSU’s Morrill Act origin is a generational wealth built off of Indigenous lands,
Colorado Public Radio
2 Steps Land Grants Should Take to Fight Racial Injustice,
Inside Higher Ed
Exposing How US Universities Profited from Indigenous Land, Robert Lee and Tristan Ahtone,
Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN)
The great university land-grab,
Cambridge University
Cornell’s land grant heritage: a sinister tradition?,
The Cornell Sun
Indigenous Students Demand Recognition of Cornell’s History, Recourse for Injustice, Kathryn Stamm,
The Cornell Daily Sun
Native American and Indigenous Students at Cornell seek justice from University, Tessie Devlin,
IthacaWeek
Without profit from stolen Indigenous lands, UNC would have gone broke 200 years ago,
Scalawag Magazine
Recognizing Indigenous Lands & Peoples: OSU’s Land Grant Legacy, JD Brookbank,
The Corvallis Advocate
‘Begin righting a great wrong’: UC Berkeley discusses impact of Indigenous land-grab, Veronica Roseborough,
The Daily Californian
The Truth Behind Land-Grant Universities, Hannah Z. Morley ,
UC Santa Barbara Humanities and Fine Arts
The University and the Prison: A Dialogue, Alberto Lule, Savannah Ramirez, Rosie Rios, and Nathaniel Whitfield,
e-flux architecture
Recognize It’s Our Land, and Honor the Treaties, Christine A. Nelson, Amanda R. Tachine, and Jameson D. Lopez,
Lumina Foundation
Indigenous Data Sovereignty and the Land Grab Universities Project, Tiara Roxanne,
Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung
Where we stand: the University of Minnesota and Dakhóta treaty lands, Čhaŋtémaza (Neil McKay) and Monica Siems McKay,
Open Rivers Magazine: Rethinking Water, Place & Community
11 stories that rose above the news cycle in 2020,
High Country News
Radio and Podcasts
Investigation sheds light on the foundation of America’s “Land-Grab Universities”,
Wyoming Public Media
The rotten roots of academia in America,
Media Indigena
Ep. 021 - Robert Lee - Land grab Universities,
Writing Westward Podcast, Redd Center, Brigham Young University
Collegeland Podcast: Beyond The Land-Grab University,
WORT-FM, Madison, WI
Blogs
Penn State’s original crime — it stole land from Native Americans,
The Controversial Idea
‘Land Grab Universities’: New database chronicles how the U.S. flipped Indigenous lands for fledgling universities,
Healing Minnesota Stories
Land Grab Universities,
Map of the Week
K’acha Willaykuna survivance stories #2,
Minus Plato
Video
Land Grab U: Land-Grant Universities and Indigenous Peoples,
Talk by Ahtone and Lee at UC Santa Barbara
Land Grab Universities: The data and the news app,
Talk by Ahtone and McGhee at MIT
Scholarship
“We Can Do Better”: University Leaders Speak to Tribal-University Relationships, Theresa Stewart-Ambo,
American Educational Research Journal
Transformation in the U.S. Higher Education System:Implications for Racial Equity, Lindsey Malcom-Piqueux,
Symposium on Imaginingthe Future of Undergraduate STEM Education
What Can Decolonial and Abolitionist Critiques Teach the Field of Higher Education?, Sharon Stein,
The Review of Higher Education
Native American and land-grant collection praxis since NAGPRA, Alisa M. Pappas and Sarah A. Buchanan,
Education for Information
Community geography: toward a disciplinary framework,
Progress in Human Geography (submitted)
Editors' Introduction: Reflections on the Land-Grab Universities Project, K. Tsianina Lomawaima, Kelly McDonough, Jean M. O'Brien, Robert Warrior,
Native American and Indigenous Studies (NAIS), University of Minnesota Press
Morrill Issues and Academic Liberalism, David R. Roediger,
Native American and Indigenous Studies (NAIS), University of Minnesota Press
The Wealth of Knowledge: Land-Grab Universities in a British Imperial and Global Context, Caitlin P. A. Harvey,
Native American and Indigenous Studies (NAIS), University of Minnesota Press
"Drawing a Line from their Institution": One Origin Story of Indigenous GIS Design, Mark Palmer ,
Native American and Indigenous Studies (NAIS), University of Minnesota Press
"Unrefutable Responsibility": Mapping the Seeds of Settler Futurity and Seeding the Maps of Indigenous Futurity, Marcel Brousseau,
Native American and Indigenous Studies (NAIS), University of Minnesota Press
Stolen Lands and Stolen Opportunities, Randall Akee,
Native American and Indigenous Studies (NAIS), University of Minnesota Press
Repaying a Debt? The Performance of Morrill Act University Beneficiaries as Measured by Native Enrollment and Graduation Rates, Donna Feir, Maggie E. C. Jones,
Native American and Indigenous Studies (NAIS), University of Minnesota Press
Myths, Erasure, and Violence: The Immoral Triad of the Morrill Act, Bryan McKinley Jones Brayboy, Amanda R. Tachine,
Native American and Indigenous Studies (NAIS), University of Minnesota Press
"We Grow the Ivy": Cornell's Claim to Indigenous Dispossession, Judy Kertész, Angela A. Gonzales,
Native American and Indigenous Studies (NAIS), University of Minnesota Press
Campuses, Colonialism, and Land Grabs before Morrill. Alyssa MT. Pleasant, Stephen Kantrowitz,
Native American and Indigenous Studies (NAIS), University of Minnesota Press
Reckoning with the Original Sin of Land-Grant Universities: Remaining Land-Grant Fierce While Insisting on Contrition and Repentance, Stephen M. Gavazzi,
Native American and Indigenous Studies (NAIS), University of Minnesota Press
The Future Is in the Past: How Land-Grab Universities Can Shape the Future of Higher Education, Theresa Stewart-Ambo,
Native American and Indigenous Studies (NAIS), University of Minnesota Press
The Future of Land-Grab Universities, Meredith McCoy, Roopika Risam, Jennifer Guiliano,
Native American and Indigenous Studies (NAIS), University of Minnesota Press
Looking Forward from Land-Grab Universities, Tristan Ahtone, Robert Lee,
Native American and Indigenous Studies (NAIS), University of Minnesota Press
Teaching
Some Resources to Accompany “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Extension Evaluation”,
National Association of Extension Program & Staff Development Professionals
Space, Power and Political Geography,
The Ohio State University
History of Race and Racism in the U.S. Land-Grant System,
University of Wisconsin-Madison, Office of Access, Inclusion, and Compliance
Land Grab Universities, Harriet C.P. Lau,
GeoContext
Indigenous Land Acknowledgment,
University of Missouri
Initiatives
Stepping Out & Stepping Up: Toward Truth & Reconciliation with Dispossessed Native American Tribes,
The Ohio State University
Petition to Support NAISAC Demands,
Native American and Indigenous Students At Cornell
[Renaming] Morrill Hall and Land Grab Universities,
Cornell University College of Arts & Sciences
Cornell University and Indigenous Dispossession Project,
American Indian and Indigenous Studies Program, Cornell University
Event: Discussion of Cornell University as a Land-Grab University (Sept. 2020),
American Indian and Indigenous Studies Program, Cornell University
Beyond the Land Acknowledgement: College “LAND BACK” or Free Tuition for Native Students,
Hack the Gates
Conference: The University of California Land Grab,
Centers for Educational Justice & Community Engagement, UC Berkeley and Others
Do the Work: Demands for Action and Accountability in the MIT Department of Architecture,
National Organization for Minority Architecture Students MIT
LAUC Endorsement of the Black Caucus of the ALA Statement,
Librarians Association of the University of California (LAUC)
Student Body Resolution Requesting that the University of Florida Assemble a Working Group,
University of Florida
Memo regarding Un-naming of Kroeber Hall, Andrew Garrett, Professor of Lingustics,
University of California, Berkeley
IAS Short-Term Fellowship: The Mission of the Land Grant/Land Grab University,
University of Minnesota
Minnesota Indian Affairs Council Seeks Immediate Action from University of Minnesota to Address Exploitation of American Indian Nations and People,
Minnesota Indian Affairs Council
Reception
‘Land-grab universities’ wins Polk Award for Education Reporting,
High Country News
‘Land-grab universities’ wins IRE award,
High Country News
Historian wins major journalism award for Indigenous land project,
University of Cambridge
2021 shortlist nomination, Land-Grab Universities,
Sigma Data Journalism Awards
2021 Ellie Awards finalists announcement,
The American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME)
Ask who paid for America’s universities
Tristan Ahtone and Robert Lee, The New York Times
Cornell, Virginia Tech, Ohio State and many more were created with wealth stolen from Indigenous people. Read Op-Ed Column
About this Project
This unique database was created through extensive reporting and research into primary source materials, including land patent records, congressional documents, historical bulletins, historical maps, archival and print resources at the National Archives, state repositories and special collections at universities and more. Information for the database was extracted programmatically where possible, primarily from the Bureau of Land Management’s General Land Office database, but in some cases it was transcribed manually from print records, microfilm and microfiche reproductions, or poor-quality digital images.
Methodology and Bibliography
How we investigated the land-grant university system
Robert Lee, High Country News, March 30, 2020
Further reading on HCN’s land-grants university investigation
Robert Lee, High Country News, March 30, 2020
Get the Data
This database can be downloaded as CSV and shapefiles. It is licensed under the Open Database License and the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license.
If you re-publish this data or draw on it as a source for publication, cite as: Robert Lee, “Morrill Act of 1862 Indigenous Land Parcels Database,” High Country News, March 2020.
Credits and Acknowledgements
Land Acknowledgement
The Land-Grab Universities team gratefully acknowledges the Wabanaki, Massachusett, Lenape, Piscataway, Nanticoke, Powhatan, Kickapoo, Wichita, Nʉmʉnʉʉ, Cáuigú, Núu-agha-tʉvʉ-pʉ̱, Niimiipuu, Palus, Ktunaxa, Schitsu'umsh, and dxʷdəwʔabš peoples, on whose traditional territories this story was created.
Credits
Reporting, Research and Graphics
- Robert Lee
- Tristan Ahtone
- Margaret Pearce
Photography
- Kalen Goodluck
Web App Design and Editorial Direction
Web App Development
Logo Design
Additional Research Support and Consulting
- Lynn Dombek
- Gwen Westerman
- Jennifer LaFleur
- Elena Saavedra Buckley
- Jessica Kutz
- Carl Segerstrom
- Keriann Conroy
- Nick Estes
- Anna V. Smith
- Annabella Farmer
- Tovah Strong
High Country News
Editor in Chief
Brian Calvert
Digital Editor
Gretchen King
Associate Editor
Tristan Ahtone
Acknowledgements
Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting
- Marina Walker Guevara
- Steve Sapienza
- Leilani Rania Ganser
- Dan McCarey/Maptian
Mapbox
- Mikel Maron
Fund for Investigative Journalism
- Ana Arana
Milton Fund, Harvard University
Center for Spatial and Textual Analysis, Stanford University
- Erik Steiner
Feedback
Help us further our reporting on land grant universities by filling out this secure form.
We invite feedback if you see omissions, errors or miscalculations. Since no other database of its kind exists—location and financial analysis linked to approximately 80,000 individual land parcels distributed through a Civil War-era law—we are committed to making it publicly available and as robust as possible.
The database administrator can be contacted at: landgrabu@hcn.org