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1/ On this day in 1862, President Lincoln signed into law the first #MorrillAct, establishing land-grant colleges & universities. Now thriving, the institutions seldom ask who paid for their good fortune. Here's why they should:
2/ The #MorrillAct worked by turning land expropriated from tribal nations into seed money for higher education. In all, the act redistributed nearly 11 million acres taken from nearly 250 tribes, bands and communities through over 160 violence-backed land cessions.
3/ Our @highcountrynews investigation, "Land-Grab Universities," reveals how Indigenous land was turned into seed money for colleges. We located 99% of all Morrill acres, identified their original caretakers & researched the money raised from their sale. https://www.hcn.org/issues/52.4/indigenous-affairs-education-land-grab-universities
4/ This investigation has created an unprecedented database essential for understanding the source of many institutions’ wealth. We made that information accessible through interactive maps & tables here. It's a remarkable and powerful tool. https://landgrabu.org
5/ Recognizing the importance of the information, we have made all of our research — from spatial files to tabular data — available for download. https://github.com/HCN-Digital-Projects/landgrabu-data
6/ Here's how that data is being used so far:
18/ https://www.kmuw.org/post/seizing-and-selling-tribal-land-kansas-funded-scores-american-universities
19/ These are but a few stories looking at this history.
20/ “Unquestionably, the history of land-grant universities intersects with that of Native Americans and the taking of their lands,” said @APLU_News. “While we cannot change the past, [universities] have and will continue to be focused on building a better future for everyone.”
21/ Recent investigations into universities’ ties to slavery provide blueprints for institutions to reconsider their histories. Land acknowledgements furnish mechanisms to recognize connections to Indigenous dispossession.
22/ Our data challenges universities to re-evaluate the foundations of their success by identifying nearly every acre obtained and sold, every land seizure or treaty made with the land’s Indigenous caretakers, and every dollar endowed with profits from dispossession.
23/ You can read the entire @highcountrynews investigation by @Bobby_L33, @kalengoodluck, @mcgeoff, @kathlanpher, @taryncos, @LynnDombek, @FundFIJ, @pulitzercenter, @Mapbox, Margaret Pearce, Cody Leff and Marty Two Bulls Jr. here: https://www.hcn.org/issues/52.4/indigenous-affairs-education-land-grab-universities
