Study shows how universities profit from the land grab of indigenous peoples

Stephanie Sy:

The truth came to light four years ago when High Country News published a sensational investigation into so-called “land-grabbing universities.”

The report stated that expropriated Indian lands form the basis of the land-grant university system and that nearly 250 tribes have been dispossessed of 10.7 million acres. The land-grant university system was established under the Morrill Act and signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln.

The act allowed states to establish public colleges by developing or selling land granted to them by the federal government. Fourteen universities still generate revenue from land obtained through the Morrill Act. Most of them offer financial aid to Native American students, including free tuition, but that may not be enough.

The majority of local students reported that they ran out of money during their studies.

Amanda Tachine, University of Arizona: Where are the indigenous students and are they supported? Because the university receives millions and billions of dollars in revenue every year. And how much of that support goes to the indigenous peoples, the first peoples of this place and the peoples that the institutions benefit from?