Kalen Goodluck

These cornfields in Adams, Nebraska, are on the homelands of the Kaw Nation. They were ceded by treaty in 1825 and granted to the state of Ohio for the benefit of Ohio State University.⁠

This residence on the outskirts of the small town of Adams, Nebraska, is on the homelands of the Kaw Nation. It was ceded by treaty in 1825 and later became US real estate as part of a land-grant used to fund the University of Maryland.⁠

This scrap yard in Elrosa, Minnesota, belonged to the Dakota before they were coerced into ceding it in 1851. The United States paid less than $4 for this 160-acre tract, then gave it to Minnesota through the Morrill Act, which used it to raise nearly $1,000 for the University of Minnesota’s endowment.⁠

Amid palm tree-lined streets, this private residence near Jefferson Park in Los Angeles, California, is built on the homelands of 10 tribes: Buena Vista, Car-I-se, Cas-take, Hol-mi-uk, Ho-lo-cla-me, Se-na-hu-ow, So-ho-nut, Te-jon, To-ci-a and Uva.

This neighborhood near Jefferson Park in Los Angeles, California, is built on the homelands of 10 tribes: Buena Vista, Car-I-se, Cas-take, Hol-mi-uk, Ho-lo-cla-me, Se-na-hu-ow, So-ho-nut, Te-jon, To-ci-a and Uva.⁠

The land was seized by unratified treaty in 1851 and later sold to raise an endowment for the University of Arkansas. Bounties for Indigenous heads and scalps, paid by the state and reimbursed by the federal government, encouraged the carving up of traditional territories without any compensation. Meanwhile, 18 treaties made to secure land cessions were rejected by the Senate and kept secret for a half-century. “It’s called genocide,” admitted California Gov. Gavin Newsom, D, last year when he issued a formal apology for the “dispossession and the attempted destruction of tribal communities.”⁠

The Directors Guild of America in West Hollywood, Los Angeles, represents over 18,000 film directors. It was built on the homelands of the Buena Vista, Car-I-se, Cas-take, Hol-mi-uk, Ho-lo-cla-me, Se-na-hu-ow, So-ho-nut, Te-jon, To-ci-a and Uva tribes. This parcel of land was seized by unratified treaty in 1851 and granted to the state of California for the benefit of the University of California.⁠

Founded in 1936, the membership of the @directorsguildofamerica now comprises well-known directors like @thumbelulu, @msmelina, @martinscorsese_, @taikawaititi, @alfonsocuaron, and @officialspikelee, to name just a few.⁠

Bounties for Indigenous heads and scalps, paid by the state and reimbursed by the federal government, encouraged the carving up of traditional territories without any compensation. Meanwhile, 18 treaties made to secure land cessions were rejected by the Senate and kept secret for a half-century. Thirty-two land-grant universities, including the University of California, got a share of California Indian land, raising approximately $3.6 million from over 1.7 million acres. ⁠

These private residences in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Cienega are on the homelands of the Buena Vista, Car-I-se, Cas-take, Hol-mi-uk, Ho-lo-cla-me, Se-na-hu-ow, So-ho-nut, Te-jon, To-ci-a and Uva tribes. This parcel was seized by unratified treaty on June 10, 1851, and granted to the state of California for the benefit of the University of California. The tribal nations recieved no compensation for this land, while the university raised $786

To capitalize on its 150,000-acre land grant, the University of California ran a real estate operation that sold plots on the installment plan, generating a lucrative combination of principal and interest payments. In the late 19th century, income from the fund covered as much as a third of the university’s annual operating expenses.⁠

This alley in Merced, California, located amid hundreds if not thousands of land-grant parcels, is on the homelands of the Ko-ya-te, New-chow-we, Pal-wis-ha, Po-ken-well, Wack-sa-che, Wo-la-si and Ya-wil-chine. The parcel was seized by unratified treaty in 1851 and sold to raise funds for the University of Massachusetts and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Like much of the San Joaquin Valley, Merced and the surrounding area are known for their commercial agriculture and food production, from milk and cheese to honey and almonds, corn, hay, tomatoes and figs. California’s agricultural industry is a multi-billion dollar enterprise.⁠

This land seizure was made possible by a widespread extermination campaign led by the state of California and the federal government. ⁠

This private residence is in the town of Merced in California’s San Joaquin Valley, land once belonging to the Ko-ya-te, New-chow-we, Pal-wis-ha, Po-ken-well, Wack-sa-che, Wo-la-si and Ya-wil-chine. This land was seized by unratified treaty in 1851 and later became part of Massachusetts’ Morrill Act land grant. Its sale benefited the University of Massachusetts and MIT.⁠

The Fort Lawton Post Cemetery in Seattle, Washington, sits on the homelands of the Duwamish and Suquamish. This land was ceded by treaty in 1855 and granted to South Carolina for the benefit of Clemson University and South Carolina State University, more than 2,700 miles away.

This land in Discovery Park in Seattle, Washington, is on the original homelands of the Duwamish and Suquamish. It was ceded by treaty in 1855 and granted to South Carolina for the benefit of Clemson University and South Carolina State University, more than 2,700 miles away. The Duwamish remain unrecognized by the federal government, despite signing a treaty with the United States.⁠

The Niles Canyon Heritage Railway in Sunol, California, is part of the homelands of six tribal nations, including the Chap-pah-sim, Co-to-plan-e-nee, I-o-no-hum-ne, Sage-womnee, Su-ca-ah and We-chil-la. The land was seized by unratified treaty in 1851 and granted to the University of California.

This is what we know: Hundreds of violence-backed treaties and seizures extinguished Indigenous title to over 2 billion acres of what is now the United States. Nearly 11 million of those acres were used to launch 52 land-grant institutions. The money has been on the books ever since, earning interest, while a dozen or more of those universities still generate revenue from unsold lands. Meanwhile, Indigenous people remain largely absent from student populations, staff, faculty and even curriculum. The evidence of Indigenous dispossession and the role of land-grant universities in that expropriation has been hiding in plain sight. “Whether they realize it or not, every person who’s ever gone through 4-H in America owes that experience to the benefits of the land-grant system,” said Barry Dunn (Rosebud Sioux), president of South Dakota State University. “And the land-grant system has, at its core, the land that was provided.”⁠

Just west of the California Bay Area, the Niles Canyon Railroad was carved into a hillside. This canyon, where vineyards advertise wine tastings, cows graze and people reside amid the mossy woods, is part of the homelands of the Chap-pah-sim, Co-to-plan-e-nee, I-o-no-hum-ne, Sage-womnee, Su-ca-ah and We-chil-la. The land was seized by unratified treaty in 1851 and granted to Alabama for the benefit of Auburn University.⁠

This playground in California’s Bay Area stands on land stolen from the Chap-pah-sim, Co-to-plan-e-nee, I-o-no-hum-ne, Sage-womnee, Su-ca-ah and We-chil-la tribes. It formed part of an 89,920 acre land grant sold for $83,000 for the University of Delaware. This parcel contributed about $72.41 to the land-grant endowment.⁠

This land overlooking the docks of Morro Bay, California is on the homelands of the Chu-nute, Co-ye-tie, Wo-wol and Yo-lum-ne. It was seized by unratified treaty in 1851. ⁠

Bounties for Indigenous heads and scalps, paid by the state and reimbursed by the federal government, encouraged the carving up of traditional territories without any compensation. Meanwhile, 18 treaties made to secure land cessions were rejected by the Senate and kept secret for a half-century.⁠

Morro Bay, California, is a tourist destination because of its surfing, state park and 500-foot mound of magma. This view of the bay shows the traditional homelands of the Chu-nute, Co-ye-tie, Wo-wol and Yo-lum-ne, which were seized by unratified treaty in 1851. Thirty-two land-grant universities got a share of California Indian land, raising approximately $3.6 million from over 1.7 million acres. Among them one finds far-flung schools like Virginia Tech, Louisiana State University and the University of Maine.⁠

This Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses in Tucson, Arizona, is on Apache homelands, seized in 1886. It was granted to Arizona for the benefit of the University of Arizona. Congress paid $0 — nothing — for this parcel, which raised $2,004 for the university.⁠
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Under the Morrill Act, the 150,000 acres selected for the University of Arizona — once the home of the Pima, Yuman, Tohono O'odham, Navajo and Apache — were nearly all seized without payment at the end of the Apache War and after the arrest of Geronimo.⁠

This Tucson trailer home community now stands on a 640-acre tract of land seized from the Apache in 1886. Arizona later used it to fund the University of Arizona and valued it at more than $2,000.⁠

The Apache Tears Motel was once a roadside stop for motorists in Tuscon off Benson Highway and featured a kitschy statue of a cross-legged Indian donning a headdress.

Today the motel offers weekly and monthly stays and is a stone's throw away from the sprawling Apache Village RV Park.

The Vikingsholm Castle, a historical landmark on the shore of Lake Tahoe in California, sits on the traditional homelands of the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California. The land was seized without any treaty or agreement in 1865 and granted to the University of California.⁠

Recent investigations into universities’ ties to slavery provide blueprints for land-grant universities to reconsider their histories. Land acknowledgements provide a mechanism for such institutions to recognize connections to Indigenous dispossession. Our reporting challenges universities to re-evaluate the foundations of their success.⁠

The Apache Village in Tuscon sits off Benson Highway.

The Apache Tears Motel was once a roadside stop for motorists in Tuscon off Benson Highway and featured a kitschy statue of a cross-legged Indian donning a headdress.

Today the motel offers weekly and monthly stays and is a stone's throw away from the sprawling Apache Village RV Park.