This was aided by almost 1 million acres of dispossessed American Indian land granted by the federal government, sold to form the basis of Cornell’s endowment — a sum of almost $6 million by 1914, equivalent to $150 million today. The Morrill Act of 1862 distributed over 10 million acres of land in the western United States as a grant for the development of agricultural colleges. This land was often taken away from their original American Indian population through violence-backed treaties. Treaties beginning in 1837 ceded more and more land in Wisconsin and Minnesota to make room for American loggers and miners. “We have Indigenous students from Wisconsin, from Minnesota, from California,” said Prof. Kurt Jordan, Director of the American Indian and Indgenous Studies program.

Source: Daily Sun April 24, 2020 04:30 UTC