Findings indicate that institutional harm has taken many forms since 1851, including:

Genocide

The Founding Board of Regents committed genocide and ethnic cleansing of Indigenous peoples for financial gain, using the institution as a shell corporation through which to launder lands and resources.

Forced removal

Members of the Founding Board of Regents used their positions in government to pass anti-Indigenous legislation that benefited them and the institution financially.

Land expropriation

The University of Minnesota has benefited from multiple land grabs. To date, TRUTH has mapped 186,791 acres of land that Congress granted Minnesota between 1851 and 1868.

Wealth transfer and accumulation

In addition, many resources have been extracted from land grab lands retained by the UMN, notably the timber and mining industries.

• The 2020 Permanent University Fund (PUF), which includes mineral leasing, timber, land sales, royalties on iron, etc. totaled: $591,119,846.

• • The PUF was investing in colonial municipalities from very early on in Minnesota’s history as a state. Those municipalities were able to use PUF money for capital projects, and they paid interest back into the PUF. This circulation of wealth did not benefit any of the Tribal Nations whose land those municipalities occupy today.

• • Without adjusting for inflation, the revenue created by iron and taconite mineral leases between 1890 and 2022 totaled $191,875,315.

• Exploitation and commodification. Indigenous knowledge, culture and practices have been usurped without adequate acknowledgement. In addition, harmful research practices have been perpetrated by UMN faculty and researchers for nearly two centuries.

Revisionist history

The term “land grant” is a revisionist narrative that attempts to cover up the harm perpetrated against Indigenous peoples.

Indigenous erasure

The University of Minnesota has failed to adequately teach the correct history of this land, resulting in the perpetuation of a lack of knowledge of Tribal sovereignty, Indigenous rights, and benefits of diverse environments among UMN graduates and Regents alike.

Challenging Historical Narratives

We have concluded the term and narrative around “Land Grant University'' is revisionist history.  In its use, prior claims to place and to land are erased. It has also offered special privileges and space for the University to act in ways that are unchecked and boundaryless. As a result, the institution holds a concentration of power and frequently transgresses and enacts harm on tribes. Considerations need to be made to break up concentrations of power, to repair the harm, to bring justice, and to impose limits and boundaries to this institution.  

Some key findings of transgressions and harm and erasure are: 

• The same exploitative behaviors that have been enacted upon the land and its resources have been enacted upon our ancestral remains, spirituality, culture and knowledge.  

• Harmful research practices have been perpetrated by UMN faculty and researchers for nearly two centuries. 

• The University of Minnesota has failed to adequately teach the correct history of this land, resulting in the perpetuation of a lack of knowledge of Tribal sovereignty, Indigenous rights, and benefits of diverse environments among UMN graduates and Regents alike. 

Story of land acquisition-How the university acquired land (wealth transfer from Indigenous Peoples to settlers) 

• Story of wealth accumulation 

  • Kyle Malone's economic analysis of UMN's Morrill Act Land Grab (story map) partnership with CURA.  

  • Capstone team's findings

  • Kyle Malone’s economic analysis (symposium presentation)

  • Current figures reported to state of Minnesota

  • Red Nation Podcast: Land Grab Universities 

• Through State mechanisms

  • Treaties pertinent to land acquisition

    • Cantemaza's Examination of MN Treaties

  • First board of regents 

    • An Garagiola's research on first board of regents 

• Through National mechanisms 

  • • Federal legislation 

      • High Country News Land Grab Expose

      • High Country News Database 

In light of these findings, the University of Minnesota must formally recognize the harm and genocide committed against Native American peoples, including the theft of language, culture, community, and land that has led to the depression of social determinants of well-being among Indigenous peoples including education, healthcare, and housing.