Tribes call for reparations from University of Minnesota

A group of 11 Native American tribes is calling on the University of Minnesota to pay reparations for past harms, The Washington Post reported.

Researchers at the TRUTH Project, a Native American–led research group, say Native Americans sold almost 94,440 acres of land to create space for what became the University of Minnesota more than 150 years ago. A report by the project released in April also detailed how university researchers conducted kidney and skin biopsies on Native American children in the 1960s. The project’s collaborators included tribal representatives and University of Minnesota faculty members.

“You have these schools that have tens of millions of dollars at their disposal, but they are not looking at any ways they can improve living situations for Indigenous peoples today,” An Garagiola, a descendant of the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa, told The Washington Post. “Yet their existence as institutions, as schools of learning, are only there today because of everything that was taken.”

University officials are considering ways to address some of the findings.

“We welcome the opportunity to examine the university’s history,” Janie Mayeron, chair of the Board of Regents for the University of Minnesota, said at a May board meeting. “It is important that we work in collaboration with the tribal nations to chart our course from here.”

Similar demands for restitution from colleges and universities have been made by Native American activists across the country, following a 2020 article in High Country News titled “Land Grab Universities.” The article described how approximately 10.7 million acres of land were taken from 250 tribes after the signing of the Morrill Act in 1862, which enabled states to establish land-grant universities.