First page of the 1862 Morrill Act.
Image Courtesy of the National Archives.

"In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Land Grant College Act proposed by Justin S. Morrill of Vermont. Each state would be given an amount of land that they could sell to provide funds for establishment of an Agricultural and Mechanical College.

In 1868, Ohio accepted the provisions of the Morrill Act. The state of Ohio received 630,000 acres of land script, which sold at an average of 54 cents per acre for a total of $340,894.70.

In 1870, The Ohio Agricultural and Mechanical College was established on the "Neil Farm" north of Columbus, Ohio."

-Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center.

The views, opinions, and beliefs expressed within all articles, videos, and links from this blog do not necessarily represent The Ohio State University or the Newark Earthworks Center.

The sources below reflect the political and social viewpoints at the time of their publication. We have linked many of them below for their use as secondary sources to be critically examined.

We welcome your input; so please contact us at earthworks@osu.edu with any questions or concerns.

......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

U.S Department of the Interior | Bureau of Land Management

Reference Center for BLM Records
General Land Records Document Records Search

High Country News | Land-Grab Universities

Land-Grab Universities Report
GitHub Repository for the HCN investigation, "Land-Grab Universities" including the "Morrill Act of 1862 Indigenous Land Parcels Database."
Note: Control+F or Command+F on a Mac will bring up a search box which you can use to search for specific text within the data.

Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties

Charles J. Kappler.1902-1971. Digitized by Oklahoma State University Library.

Indian land cessions in the United States (Maps Only)

Charles C. Royce and Cyrus. Digitized by the Library of Congress.

Annual report of the Bureau of American Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution | Indian Land Cessions in the United States

Charles C. Royce and introduction by Cyrus Thomas. 1899.

Schedule of [American] Indian Land Cessions begins 648 of 997 with Royce ID 1.

Indian Land Cessions in the United States, 1784-1894 United States Serial Set, Number 4015 | American Memory Special Presentation

Library of Congress

Browse by Date, Signing Tribal Nation, State/Territory

Land-Grant Colleges and Universities Map | USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Morrill Act | Ohio History Central

Ohio History Connection

Morrill Land Grant College Act | United States Senate
National Archives

NativeLand.ca

"a registered Canadian not-for-profit organization. We have a majority-Indigenous Board of Directors, representing people who have close ties to land bases, communities, and deep knowledge about Indigenous ways of being and knowing. The Board of Directors is further informed by an Advisory Council, consisting of a variety of specialists in mapmaking, GIS, relations with Indigenous communities, and more. Together, these two forces help to face and deal with many of complex issues that mapping Indigenous territories involves..."

Primary Documents in American History | Morrill Act

The Library of Congress

Indigenous Digital Archive Treaties Explorer | Museum of Indian Arts + Culture, National Archives, National Archives Foundation

374 Ratified Indian Treaties digitized original documents
Land Cessions
Connecting historical and present day nations involved in the treaties
Look at places: Enter a zip code, name of state, use your location, or zoom in on a map

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."

"Intervention: Indigenous Studies Reflections on The Land-Grab Universities Project"Native American and Indigenous Studies Journal. Vol 8, No 1, Spring 2021. | Project Muse [Note: Available Free to the Public through October 2021]

"Editors' Introduction: Reflections on the Land-Grab Universities Project." (pg 89-91) K. Tsianina Lomawaima, Kelly Mcdonough, Jean M. O'Brien and Robert Warrior.
"Morrill Issues and Academic Liberalism" (pg 92-96) David R. Roediger.
"The Wealth of Knowledge: Land-Grab Universities in a British Imperial and Global Context." (pg 97-105) Caitlin P.A. Harvey.
" "Drawing a Line from their Institution": One Origin Story of Indigenous GIS Design." (pg 106-111) Mark Palmer.
" "Unrefutable Responsibility": Mapping the Seeds of Settler Futurity and Seeding the Maps of Indigenous Futurity." (pg 112-122) Marcel Brousseau.
"Stolen Lands and Stolen Opportunities." (pg 123-128) Randall Akee.
"Repaying a Debt? The Performance of Morrill Act University Beneficiaries as Measured by Native Enrollment and Graduation Rates." (pg 129-138) Donna Feir and Maggie E.C. Jones.
"Myths, Erasure, and Violence: The Immoral Triad of the Morrill Act." (pg 139-144) Bryan McKinley Jones Brayboy and Amanda R. Tachine.
" "We Grow the Ivy": Cornell's Claim to Indigenous Dispossession." (pg 145-150) Judy Kertész and Angela A. Gonzales.
"Campuses, Colonialism, and Land Grabs before Morrill" (pg151-156) Alyssa Mt. Pleasant and Stephen Kantrowitz.
"Reckoning with the Original Sin of Land-Grant Universities: Remaining Land-Grant Fierce While Instisting on Contrition and Prepentance." (pg 157-161) Stephen M. Gavazzi.
"The Future Is in the Past: How Land-Grab Universities Can Shape the Future of Higher Education." (pg 162-168) Theresa Stewart-Ambo.
"The Future of Land-Grab Universities." (pg 169-175) Meredith McCoy, Roopika Risam and Jennifer Guiliano.
"Looking Forward from Land-Grab Universities." (Pg 176-182) Tristan Ahtone and Robert Lee.

The University of Chicago Library | Finding Guide to the Land Grants Collection circa 1870

Videos

Land-Grab Universities: Owning the Truth and Sharing the Path to Make Amends Webinar YouTube Video | Stephen M. Gavazzi.
- Keynote address by Trstan Ahtone and Robert Lee, Co-authors of the Land-Grab Universities Report with High Country News. Sponsored in conjunction with the Humanities Collaboratory. October 6, 2021.
Land Grab Universities YouTube Video | DUSP MIT

September 30, 2021

Taking a Hard Look: Is Cornell a Land-Grab University? YouTube Video | Cynthia Robinson

April 29, 2021.

Impact Investigations Series: Localizing the "Land Grab Universities" Story YouTube Video | Fund for Investigative Journalism

February 4, 2021.

Land Grab U: Land-Grant Universities and Indigenous Peoples YouTube Video| UCSB Interdisciplinary Humanities Center

January 28, 2021.

UC Land Grab: A Legacy of Profit from Indigenous Land September 25, 2020 | issi

Talks @ Pulitzer: Indigenous Lands and the Land-Grant University System YouTube Video | Pultizer Center

April 21, 2020.

What is a land-grant university? | The Lantern Who Knew? Episode 2.

Ohio and The Ohio State University

Stepping Out & Stepping Up: The Land-Grant Truth and Reconciliation Project

Principle Investigator:

College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences

Community Partner:

First Nations Development Institute

Co-Investigators:

Marti Chaatsmith, Newark Earthworks Center, [enrolled citizen of the Comanche Nation, and direct descendant of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma];
Casey Hoy, College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences, Entomology, InFACT;
John Low, Comparative Studies, Newark Earthworks Center, [enrolled citizen of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians];
Brian Snyder, Office of Academic Affairs

Stepping Out of Our Comfort Zone & Stepping Up to Our Responsibilities

"Dotting the "I" at The Ohio State University: In a Movement Toward Truth and Reconciliation, First Nations Partmers with Ohio State in Acknowledging Native Lands and People"

First Nations Institute

Grappling with the Land Grant Truth | Inspire Podcast

Podcast Episode Transcript.

"How We Address Access, Equity, and Inclusion with a Focus on Native Peoples." [external YouTube link]
- Presentation and moderation of discussion at the Western Region Joint Summer Meeting (virtual). Phillips, J., and Gavazzi, S. M. (2021).
"InFACT and Partners to Pursue Racial Justice with First Nations Tribes" | Initiative for Food and Agricultural Transformation (InFACT). December 2020.
"Intervention: Indigenous Studies Reflections on The Land-Grab Universities Project" Native American and Indigenous Studies Journal. Vol 8, No 1, Spring 2021. | Project Muse [external link]
- "Editors' Introduction: Reflections on the Land-Grab Universities Project." (pg. 89-91) K. Tsianina Lomawaima, Kelly Mcdonough, Jean M. O'Brien and Robert Warrior.
- "Morrill Issues and Academic Liberalism" (pg 92-96) David R. Roediger.
- "The Wealth of Knowledge: Land-Grab Universities in a British Imperial and Global Context." (pg 97-105) Caitlin P.A. Harvey.
- " "Drawing a Line from their Institution": One Origin Story of Indigenous GIS Design." (pg 106-111) Mark Palmer.
- " "Unrefutable Responsibility": Mapping the Seeds of Settler Futurity and Seeding the Maps of Indigenous Futurity." (pg 112-122) Marcel Brousseau.
- "Stolen Lands and Stolen Opportunities." (pg 123-128) Randall Akee.
- "Repaying a Debt? The Performance of Morrill Act University Beneficiaries as Measured by Native Enrollment and Graduation Rates." (pg 129-138) Donna Feir and Maggie E.C. Jones.
- "Myths, Erasure, and Violence: The Immoral Triad of the Morrill Act." (pg 139-144) Bryan McKinley Jones Brayboy and Amanda R. Tachine.
- " "We Grow the Ivy": Cornell's Claim to Indigenous Dispossession." (pg 145-150) Judy Kertész and Angela A. Gonzales.
- "Campuses, Colonialism, and Land Grabs before Morrill" (pg151-156) Alyssa Mt. Pleasant and Stephen Kantrowitz.
- "Reckoning with the Original Sin of Land-Grant Universities: Remaining Land-Grant Fierce While Insisting on Contrition and Prepentance." (pg 157-161) Stephen M. Gavazzi.
- "The Future Is in the Past: How Land-Grab Universities Can Shape the Future of Higher Education." (pg 162-168) Theresa Stewart-Ambo.
- "The Future of Land-Grab Universities." (pg 169-175) Meredith McCoy, Roopika Risam and Jennifer Guiliano.
- "Looking Forward from Land-Grab Universities." (Pg 176-182) Tristan Ahtone and Robert Lee.
Land-Grab Universities: Owning the Truth and Sharing the Path to Making Amends Webinar | Humanities Collaboratory YouTube

October 6, 2021 12 - 2 PM EST.

“Let Us Tell the Story of Our Land and Place: Tribal Leader Interviews Concerning the Seizure and Sale of Territories Benefiting Land-Grant Universities." [external link]
- Williams, R. B., Gavazzi, S. M., Roberts, M. E., Snyder, B. W., Low, J. N., Hoy, C., Chaatsmith, M. L., and Charles, M. Tribal College Journal of American Indian Higher Education. Volume 33, No. 4- Summer 2022.
"Paying Old Debts" [external link] Williams, R.B., Gavazzi, S. M., Roberts, M.E., Chaatsmith, M.L., Hoy, C., Low., J. N., and Snyder, B. W. Tribal College Journal of American Indian Higher Education. Vol. 33, No. 2. 2021.
"Reckoning with the Original Sin of Land-Grant Universities: Remaining Land-Grant Fierce While Insisting on Contrition and Repentance." (pg. 157-161) Stephen M. Gavazzi.
"Stepping Out and Stepping Up Project Aims to Recognize Land-Grant Universities as Indigenous-Owned Land" [external link]
- Shree Luitel, The Lantern, Nov. 18, 2021.
"Stepping Out & Stepping Up: Towards Truth & Reconciliation with Dispossessed Native American Tribes" Stephen M. Gavazzi and Brian Snyder. December 17, 2020.
"Two Steps Land Grants Should Take to Fight Racial Injustice"
- Steven M. Gavazzi, Inside Higher Education, May 7, 2021.
"Update on Racial Justice Project: Toward Truth and Reconciliation with Dispossessed Native American Tribes"
- May 20, 2021.
"US Universities Ponder Massive Debt to Native Americans" [external link]
- Paul Basken, The Higher Education Times, October 19, 2021.
What is a land-grant university? Who Knew? a video series by The Lantern. [YouTube external link] April 1, 2022.

Newark Earthworks Center

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

Ohio Memory | Ohio History Connection

Ohio Agricultural and Mechanical College Brochure, 1873.
Ohio Interrogation Points

Joseph W. Tannehill, 1917. Internet Archive and University of California Libraries.
Specifically Pages 41 and 44.

"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 Universities for the Future: Higher Education for the Public Good

[OSU Login required, Project Muse]

Stephen M. Gavazzi, E. Gordon Gee, C. Peter Magrath. John Hopkins Press. 2018.

Land Cessions to the United States of America Royce ID | as relevant to the land sales leading to the endowment of The Ohio State University

61
66
67
111
118
123
124
151
153
158
186
191
205
207
219
242
243
245
261
262
264
268
269
271
273
274
275
276
278
279
281
287
288
289
296
297
304
314
315
332
357
397
408
410
426
458
473
476
482
515
613
Two land cessions which are unidentified.

Annual report of the Bureau of American Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution | Indian Land Cessions in the United States. Charles C. Royce and introduction by Cyrus Thomas. 1899. Schedule of [American] Indian Land Cessions begins 648 of 997 with Royce ID 1.

Signing Federally Recognized Tribal Nations to the treaties which resulted in the land cessions within the United States | as relevant to the endowment of The Ohio State University

Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation
Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians of the Bad River Reservation
Bay Mills Indian Community
Big Valley Band of Pomo Indians of the Big Valley Rancheria
Bois Forte Band (Nett Lake) of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe
Buena Vista Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians of California
California Valley Miwok Tribe
Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes
Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe of the Cheyenne River Reservation
Chicken Ranch Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians of California
Chippewa Cree Indians of the Rocky Boy's Reservation
Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma
Citizen Potawatomi Nation
Cloverdale Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California
Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation
Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation
Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians of Oregon
Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon
Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Indians of Oregon
Coquille Indian Tribe
Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians
Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians of California
Crow Creek Sioux Tribe of the Crow Creek Reservation
Dry Creek Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California
Elem Indian Colony of Pomo Indians of the Sulphur Bank Rancheria
Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe of South Dakota
Fond du Lac Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe
Forest County Potawatomi Community
Grand Portage Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe
Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians
Hannahville Indian Community
Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin
Hoopa Valley Tribe
Hopland Band of Pomo Indians of the Hopland Rancheria
Ione Band of Miwok Indians of California
Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska
Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma
Jackson Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians of California
Jena Band of Choctaw Indians
Kashia Band of Pomo Indians of the Stewarts Point Rancheria
Kaw Nation
Keweenaw Bay Indian Community
Klamath Tribes
Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin
Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of the Lac du Flambeau Reservation of Wisconsin
Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians
Leech Lake Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe
Lower Brule Sioux Tribe of the Lower Brule Reservation
Lower Sioux Indian Community in the State of Minnesota
Manchester Band of Pomo Indians of the Manchester-Point Arena Rancheria
Match-e-be-nash-she-wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians of Michigan
Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin
Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida
Middletown Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California
Mille Lacs Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe
Minnesota Chippewa Tribe
Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians
Northern Arapaho Tribe of the Wind River Reservation
Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation
Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi
Oglala Sioux Tribe of the Pine Ridge Reservation
Omaha Tribe of Nebraska
Osage Tribe
Otoe-Missouria Tribe of Indians
Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma
Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma
Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians of California
Pinoleville Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California
Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians
Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation
Prairie Island Indian Community in the State of Minnesota
Quinault Indian Nation
Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin
Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians
Redwood Valley Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California
Robinson Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California
Rosebud Sioux Tribe of the Rosebud Indian Reservation
Sac & Fox Nation of Missouri in Kansas and Nebraska
Sac & Fox Nation
Meskwaki Nation | Sac & Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa
Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan
Santa Rosa Indian Community of the Santa Rosa Rancheria
Santee Sioux Nation
Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Michigan
Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians of California
Seminole Tribe of Florida, Dania, Big Cypress, Brighton, Hollywood & Tampa Reservations
Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community of Minnesota
Sherwood Valley Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California
Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians, Shingle Springs Rancheria (Verona Tract)
Shoalwater Bay Tribe of the Shoalwater Bay Indian Reservation
Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate of the Lake Traverse Reservation
Sokaogon Chippewa Community
Spirit Lake Tribe
St. Croix Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin
Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North & South Dakota
Table Mountain Rancheria of California
The Osage Nation
Tule River Indian Tribe of the Tule River Reservation
Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians of the Tuolumne Rancheria of California
Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians of North Dakota
Upper Sioux Community
Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, Colorado, New Mexico, & Utah
Washoe Tribe of Nevada & California
White Earth Nation | White Earth Band of Minnesota Chippewa Tribe
Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska
Wyandotte Nation, Oklahoma
Yankton Sioux Tribe of South Dakota
No known contemporary descendant nation,

Historic Nations (Be-no-pi; Das-pia; Mon-e-da; Nem-shaw; On-o-po-ma; Wai-de-pa-can; Wan-nuck; Ya-cum-na; Ya-ma-do; Yol-la-mer)

Unknown land cessions (2.5% of our endowment from land sales)

Newark Earthworks Center's Blog

Resources

SENATOR MORRILL ACT OF 1862