By Tristan Ahtone, Robert Lee, Amanda Tachine, An Garagiola, Audrianna Goodwin, Maria Parazo Rose and Clayton Aldern. Video by Eliseu Cavalcante Cover art by Marty Two Bulls Jr.
The 14 land-grant universities that generate revenue from 8.2 million surface and subsurface acres of Indigenous land are:
University of Arizona Colorado State University University of Idaho University of Minnesota Montana State University New Mexico State University North Dakota State University Oklahoma State University South Dakota State University Texas A&M Utah State University Washington State University University of Wisconsin University of Wyoming
A Pyote, Texas, flare glows on a land-grant parcel associated with Texas A&M. Video by Eliseu Cavalcante
Those 8.2 million acres were taken from at least 123 Indigenous nations through more than 150 land cessions, a legal term for the surrendering of territory. By joining two different datasets — state trust land data with federal data known as the Schedule of Indian Land Cessions — Grist was able to get a glimpse of just how many Indigenous nations were impacted by the creation of these institutions.
Indigenous nations were paid approximately $4.3 million in 2023 dollars for these lands. We identified the price paid per acre for each land cession and calculated the total amount paid to tribes for trust lands that benefit universities today. It’s important to note that in many cases, Indigenous nations were never compensated for the taking of their territory, and as our reporting reveals, those lands have continued to provide steady revenue streams to land-grant institutions.
A parcel of land in Willcox, Arizona, granted to the University of Arizona. Video by Eliseu Cavalcante
Nearly 25 percent of land-grant university trust lands are designated for either fossil fuel production or the mining of minerals like coal and iron-rich taconite. In determining what activities generate revenue for land-grant universities, much of our focus was on the energy industry due to its massive climate impact. We found that grazing is permitted on about a third of the land, or approximately 2.8 million surface acres. Timber, agriculture, and infrastructure leases make up much of the remaining acreage.
In 2022, state trust lands generated more than $2.2 billion in revenue. Between 2018 and 2022: approximately $6.6 billion. Trust land activities provide significant streams of income to land-grant schools, but most importantly, they subsidize higher education so citizens don’t have to.
READ THE FULL STORY ON GRIST.ORG
Photo by Eliseu Cavalcante
This story was reported and written by Tristan Ahtone, Robert Lee, Amanda Tachine, An Garagiola, and Audrianna Goodwin. Data reporting was done by Maria Parazo Rose and Clayton Aldern, with additional data analysis and visualization by Marcelle Bonterre and Parker Ziegler. Margaret Pearce provided guidance and oversight.