Expanding on the importance of land requires a look into the history of the campus's construction. The University was created to educate the rising number of students in Washington territory and later state. The current campus for the University of Washington was secured via land donations in 1893 and funded using the common school fund, which allocated funds for the construction of educational facilities in newly established territories and states. The university was able to occupy these lands due to the displacement of Duwamish people from their native lands, beginning with the signing of the point-no-point treaty and continuing with the Town of Seattle Ordinance #5, which banned all indigenous people from residing within the city unless employed and housed by a white settler. With the expulsion of the Duwamish people from their land, the new settlers went on to augment the landscape with the intent of creating a grand location to showcase the cultural aspects of the growing territory. 

In the early days of UW, much work was done to clear the landscape and make way for the new campus. The site was cleared of its native trees and underbrush and re-planted with ornamental species, both native and foreign. Further changes were brought with the construction of the Montlake cut, which drained wetlands and lowered Lake Washington by 9 feet. The leftover soil was then used to fill exposed marshes to make them fit for construction. This included the modern-day locations of Husky Stadium and the Intramural Activities Building.

Although the space has undergone physical changes, it remains Duwamish land. Construction of the campus has physically changed the landscape, but Duwamish history and culture remain seeded in the ground itself. As place names reside in collective memory and the Duwamish people live on, this campus cannot become detached from its indigenous roots. Indigeneity is interwoven into the land and perseveres despite and because of changes. Every part of UW’s history is indigenous history because we are on their land, which was inhabited for thousands of years before the arrival of Europeans.

Decolonizing and Re-Indigenizing

Moving forward to the future of the campus, the inclusion of indigenous presence into the fabric of the university’s culture, curriculum, and place must occur to rectify the deeply embedded mistreatment of the Duwamish and re-instate indigenous ownership of land. This requires doing more than land acknowledgments; it also involves weaving indigeneity into campus spaces, including place names, curriculum, and meaningful inclusion of indigenous voices. Furthermore, the inclusion of indigenous voices must highlight respect and reciprocity. Incorporating Indigeneity into the fabric of UW requires the university to be ready to implement the tribes' demands and compensate them for their knowledge. The University must be willing to assert these demands above donors' wishes as well. UW makes decisions that will grant them funding as a corporation, but as an institution of higher learning placed on native land, it has an obligation to the Duwamish people who came first. 

Today, many are unaware of the campus’s history. Old homesteads, villages, and trails are concealed by power plants, engineering buildings, California sequoias, and more. Furthermore, programs at the university that center on indigeneity are habitually underfunded and overlooked.  Honoring the land where we reside as a vessel for culture and knowledge leads to the sense that every story on this land is an indigenous history. Therefore, through indigenizing space, we indigenize our understanding of the world.

This article aims to highlight Indigenous scholars on campus, using voice to color in the story of UW, both past and present.