First, Our team was one of 10 awardees from the initial round of The Ohio State University’s Seed Fund for Racial Justice.
"We assert it is long past time for truth and reconciliation. In partnership with First Nations Development Institute, our expanded team seeks to open a path toward both a reckoning of this inglorious history within our university community, as well as the conversations necessary with the affected tribes to determine an appropriate path forward. To undertake this sort of work, we are also joined by John Low (Associate Professor of Comparative Studies, Director of the Newark Earthworks Center, and citizen of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians), Marti Chaatsmith, (Associate Director of the Newark Earthworks Center, enrolled citizen of the Comanche Nation, and direct descendant of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma), and Casey Hoy (Kellogg Endowed Chair in Agricultural Ecosystem Management, professor of Entomology, and faculty Director of InFACT).
Working directly with Michael Roberts, the president and CEO of First Nations Development Institute, we will connect with Tribal Nations across the U.S.—who were removed from Ohio or whose land was granted to Ohio State—to facilitate new dialogue between Native peoples and representatives of our university. In so doing, we will develop an initial understanding of what specific reparative actions would most benefit the Native American communities impacted by this land dispossession, particularly with respect to food security and sovereignty, and the process by which it could be jointly designed.
We also will be advancing an enhanced land acknowledgment statement that moves our university away from its current “past tense” and more sentimental recognition of transgressions. Our aim would be to routinely remind the Ohio State community regarding the pervasiveness of colonialism and the opportunity to foster a mindfulness of our present-day obligations, thus promoting a more genuine relationship upon which future interactions with indigenous communities can be based.
Finally, because we see this work as only the very beginning of a longer and more comprehensive university response, we will undertake a series of planning efforts as well. This includes the formulation of a demonstration/research project at the Newark Earthworks Center regarding indigenous farming practices, with attention to how traditional practices may improve food sovereignty in Native American communities today, and the incorporation of indigenous agricultural wisdom and practices into a new Sustainable Agriculture major and modern agricultural practices more broadly. We also will be recommending to Ohio State and the State of Ohio a reconciliation plan, outlining both the people and processes required for progress to occur.
We can't change the history regarding how the State of Ohio and Ohio State University came to be, but we can certainly take steps to honestly acknowledge that history, including those who were wronged in the process, and begin to make amends in meaningful ways. This is ultimately the greatest challenge any person, organization or society faces, to step out of our comfort zones and step up purposefully to take responsibility and reconcile injustices to the extent possible. Future Buckeyes would expect nothing less as they look back on our efforts to address this situation today."
Outcome 3: Creation of an exhibit – curated by Newark Earthworks Center Director John N. Low [Pokagon Band of Potawatomi] – detailing the ancestral Native peoples of the region and the work of the NEC that will be shown at the LeFevre Gallery on the Newark campus (to be shown virtually if future shutdowns due to Covid-19 are mandated).
Outcome 4: One keynote presentation and one panel discussion that will focus attention on the scholarly work that addresses past and present colonialism within and among land-grant universities. The presentation and panel discussions will be held live (virtually), will involve some of the most prominent voices in this area and will be recorded and placed on the NEC website.
Working directly with Michael Roberts, the president and CEO of First Nations Development Institute, we will connect with Tribal Nations across the U.S.—who were removed from Ohio or whose land was granted to Ohio State—to facilitate new dialogue between Native peoples and representatives of our university. In so doing, we will develop an initial understanding of what specific reparative actions would most benefit the Native American communities impacted by this land dispossession, particularly with respect to food security and sovereignty, and the process by which it could be jointly designed.
We also will be advancing an enhanced land acknowledgment statement that moves our university away from its current “past tense” and more sentimental recognition of transgressions. Our aim would be to routinely remind the Ohio State community regarding the pervasiveness of colonialism and the opportunity to foster a mindfulness of our present-day obligations, thus promoting a more genuine relationship upon which future interactions with indigenous communities can be based.
Finally, because we see this work as only the very beginning of a longer and more comprehensive university response, we will undertake a series of planning efforts as well. This includes the formulation of a demonstration/research project at the Newark Earthworks Center regarding indigenous farming practices, with attention to how traditional practices may improve food sovereignty in Native American communities today, and the incorporation of indigenous agricultural wisdom and practices into a new Sustainable Agriculture major and modern agricultural practices more broadly. We also will be recommending to Ohio State and the State of Ohio a reconciliation plan, outlining both the people and processes required for progress to occur.
We can't change the history regarding how the State of Ohio and Ohio State University came to be, but we can certainly take steps to honestly acknowledge that history, including those who were wronged in the process, and begin to make amends in meaningful ways. This is ultimately the greatest challenge any person, organization or society faces, to step out of our comfort zones and step up purposefully to take responsibility and reconcile injustices to the extent possible. Future Buckeyes would expect nothing less as they look back on our efforts to address this situation today."
Our Partners:
First Nations Development Institute improves economic conditions for Native Americans through direct financial grants, technical assistance, training, advocacy, and policy.
Initiative for Food and Agricultural Transformation (InFACT) is a transdisciplinary program at The Ohio State University aimed at designing and implementing food systems that are sustainable, defined as achieving a balance of ecology, economy, technology and culture to promote the overall well-being of people, animals and the natural environment.
College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences Today, our world-class teaching, research, and outreach -- the everyday work of our college -- impacts local, state, national, and global communities. Our goal is to be the standard of excellence for colleges of food, agricultural and environmental sciences.
Deliverables from this project will include:
Outcome 1: Leveraging First Nations Development Institute’s connections with Tribal Nations across the U.S. – who were removed from Ohio or whose land was granted to Ohio State – to facilitate new dialogue between Native peoples and representatives of our university.
Outcome 2: Developing an initial understanding of what specific reparative actions would most benefit the Native American communities impacted by this land dispossession and the process by which it could be jointly designed. Findings from this immediate deliverable will be reported in both scholarly publications and presentations at professional conferences, as well as a workbook for use by other land-grant universities in planning for their own reparation activities.
Outcome 3: Advancing a Land Acknowledgment statement that moves our university away from its current “past tense” and more sentimental recognition of transgressions and toward an indigenous relationship that reminds the Ohio State community about the pervasiveness of colonialism and the opportunity to foster a mindfulness of our present-day obligations, thus establishing a more genuine relationship upon which future interactions can be based.
Outcome 4: Formulating a demonstration/research project at Newark Earthworks regarding indigenous farming practices, with attention to how traditional practices may improve food sovereignty in Native American communities, and the incorporation of indigenous agricultural practices into a new College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences Sustainable Agriculture major and modern agricultural practices.
Outcome 5: Recommending to Ohio State and the State of Ohio a reconciliation plan with both the people and process required for progress and plan elements that may include, for example: a) providing economic development and technical assistance to tribal families and communities; b) assisting with innovative strategies for land tenure and financing of Native American food system infrastructure; and c) designing a scholarship program for indigenous people whose families and tribal communities have been affected by university-related dispossession.
"Toward Truth and Reconciliation: Present-Day Indigenous Peoples in Ohio"
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Second, our team received a Collaborative Centers Grant from Ohio State’s Global Arts + Humanities Discovery Theme. This second award was the result of an emerging partnership with the Ohio State University’s Humanities Institute.
The release of the Land-Grab Universities Report by High Country News in March 2020 has been accompanied by mounting calls to bring justice in response to the harm visited upon Native Americans during the establishment of states and land-grant universities. In this project, the Newark Earthworks Center seeks to fund a post-doctoral position that would create dialogue both within the Ohio State community and among other land-grant institutions on the truth and reconciliation topics as they relate to Indigenous peoples. Submitted in partnership with the Humanities Institute, this effort is designed in part to help build reciprocity and redistribution methodologies and engage in other humanities-based scholarship surrounding tribal issues and land-grant universities.
Humanities Institute facilitates collaboration and interdisciplinary inquiry into some of the most pressing problems facing contemporary society. The Institute provides an organizational home for a number of interdisciplinary centers, and facilitates the formation of new centers, new constellations of humanities faculty. With roots in the traditional disciplines of the humanities, the Institute provides a structure for long-term research projects that draw on humanistic methodologies to engage communities on and beyond campus. The Humanities Institute serves as an incubator of collaborative research.
Deliverables from this project will include:
Outcome 1: A web-based catalogue of Native American-serving agencies and organizations in Ohio, as well as a more refined understanding of the various constituencies served by these enterprises.
Outcome 2: The web-based presentation of the historical sweep of American Indians in Ohio, including the development of a narrative concerning their adaptation to geographical separation from their tribes and lack of recognition and support from the State of Ohio regarding their existence and needs.Outcome 3: Creation of an exhibit – curated by Newark Earthworks Center Director John N. Low [Pokagon Band of Potawatomi] – detailing the ancestral Native peoples of the region and the work of the NEC that will be shown at the LeFevre Gallery on the Newark campus (to be shown virtually if future shutdowns due to Covid-19 are mandated).
Outcome 4: One keynote presentation and one panel discussion that will focus attention on the scholarly work that addresses past and present colonialism within and among land-grant universities. The presentation and panel discussions will be held live (virtually), will involve some of the most prominent voices in this area and will be recorded and placed on the NEC website.
For More Information,
Visit:
- Stepping Out & Stepping Up: The Land-Grant Truth and Reconciliation Project Blog
- Our Research
- Historic Ohio Nations
- Indigenous Land Acknowledgement
- College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Science
- First Nations Development Institute
- Humanities Institute
- Initiative for Food and Agricultural Transformation | InFACT
- Ohio State’s Global Arts + Humanities Discovery Theme
- Collaborative Centers Grant
- Seed Fund for Racial Justice
- "Stepping Out & Stepping Up: Towards Truth & Reconciliation with Dispossessed Native American Tribes"
- Stephen M. Gavazzi and Brian Snyder.
- Office of Research
- "Call for Action On Racial Justice" | Seed Fund for Racial Justice
- "First round awardees for the Seed Fund for Racial Justice announced"
- High Country News | Land-Grab Universities
- GitHub Repository for the HCN investigation, "Land-Grab Universities" including the "Morrill Act of 1862 Indigenous Land Parcels Database."
- Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center
- "A Brief History of OARDC." R.E. Whitmoyer.
- History of The Ohio State University (PDF)
- "Connecting The Ohio State University to Ohioans: History in Pictures" | OSU Extension
- "Democratizing American Higher Education: The Legacy of the Morrill Land Grant Act"
- David J Staley, Origins, The History Departments of The Ohio State University and Miami University. Vol 6, issue 4- January 2013.
- Land-Grant Colleges and Universities Map | USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture
- Morrill Act (1862) | OurDocuments.gov
- National Archives
- Primary Documents in American History | Morrill Act
- The Library of Congress
- Morrill Act | Ohio History Central
- Ohio History Connection
- Tribal Connections Map | U.S. Forest Service
- "designed to illustrate the relationship between lands administered by the Forest Service, Indian lands, and lands ceded to the United States as documented in the 67 maps from "Indian Land Cessions in the United States", compiled by Charles C. Royce and published as the second part of the two-part Eighteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1896-1897."
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