List of 251 Indigenous nations and communities impacted by Cornell University’s past and present land manipulations
by Professor Troy Richardson, October 7th 2023
One of the many responsibilities inherent to working in American Indian and Indigenous Studies (AIIS) is to present on and discuss the self-governance of Indigenous peoples with various audiences. There are many forms that self-governance can — and does – take, from the Sami Parliament to band councils to hereditary and non-hereditary title holders. In every case, particular histories, languages, and experiences provide the context out of which a people enact their self-governance. However, there is not simply a pedagogical or research responsibility in AIIS to elaborate on Indigenous governance, but also an obligation to defend it in regularly hostile local, national, and international contexts. Moreover, this responsibility involves the enactment of practices and protocols for engaging with Indigenous leadership when needed within the institutional contexts of AIIS departments and programs. Diplomacy is often the word used to describe practices of engaging with the governing bodies of a people, and is useful to understand what guided this particular diplomatic effort of Cornell’s AIIS Program to reach out to the specific Indigenous peoples who were directly impacted by the Morrill Act and the moments out of which those lands became “available” for the funding of land grant educational institutions, and Cornell University specifically.
For our diplomatic outreach, AIISP followed a protocol of contacting the current leadership of every Nation whose lands funded the establishment of Cornell University and contribute to its current operations. This included both Nations affected by the Morrill Act, as well as Nations impacted by Cornell’s current landholdings in New York State and elsewhere. AIISP’s taking responsibility to open a channel of communication to the leadership was made to:
- introduce Cornell’s AIIS Program and its Director;
- highlight the obligation of AIISP to personally acknowledge Cornell’s history of Indigenous dispossession and the kinds of benefits it bestowed to the institution;
- offer greater detail and specificity to the original 2020 High Country News (HCN) report;
- invite a dialogue on possible forms of redress desired by the impacted communities;
- convey the historical and ongoing efforts of the AIISP in calling for Cornell University to provide restitution to Indigenous peoples; and
- affirm a commitment to building effective relationships and possible partnerships between the AIISP and the Nations.
Our intention in proceeding this way has been to let the impacted peoples speak for themselves about these issues and their interests related to Cornell. AIISP can play a mediating role, but the best way to proceed will be to have the governments of these peoples make clear their interests and desires directly to the current President and Provost of Cornell University.
Cornell’s AIISP has followed this protocol with 251 Indigenous governments thus far to make formal introductions, outline our intentions with clarity, provide information, and invite partnerships for effective and lasting change. This action should be understood as crucial for processes of establishing transparent diplomatic relations to each self-governing Indigenous people. It is admittedly the beginning of a long process, yet by establishing diplomatic relations to the 251 individual Indigenous peoples, we enacted the principles of recognizing Indigenous self-governance, broadly understood. That is, each people required an acknowledgement from the AIISP at Cornell that respected their particular contexts and further sought to learn of the specific interests of their people. In doing so, what we do convey as part of the larger transformative agenda at Cornell University regarding Indigenous peoples is informed directly by these meetings. Ultimately, the AIISP serves as a perhaps temporary intermediary in this diplomatic work seeking to not overstep its role by ‘speaking for’ those peoples most impacted, even while the AIISP itself continues to press a transformational agenda centered on actions within the university.
Thus, pursuing formal diplomatic relations with each of the 251 affected Indigenous peoples is one of several inter-related, complimentary, and co-coordinated actions of the AIISP at Cornell University. Ongoing efforts to create sustained and transformational institutional change at Cornell for Indigenous youth, families, and self-determining peoples is ongoing. These issues are not new: past Directors, faculty, staff, and students have raised and fought for a full range of policies time and again to Cornell University administrators. The timeline that is provided attests to the ongoing work of the AIISP at Cornell in only its most recent moment since the publication of the HCN essay. In this way, AIISP’s Cornell University and Indigenous Dispossession Committee presses onward with a transformational institutional agenda with the Office of the Provost, College Deans, the Faculty Senate and so on.
Read More about this list at Our Goals and Methods: How the CU&ID Committee Determined Which Present-Day Nations and Communities Have Been Affected By Cornell’s Past and Present Land Manipulation- Kurt A. Jordan, Dusti C. Bridges, and Troy A. Richardson
| Community | Affected by |
|---|---|
| Abenaki Nation of Missisquoi, St. Francis-Sokoki Band | Shoals Marine Lab |
| Accohannock Indian Tribe | Cornell in Washington |
| Amah Mutsun Tribal Band of San Juan Bautista | Morrill Act |
| Amah-Mutsun Tribal Band | Morrill Act |
| Arapaho Tribe of the Wind River Reservation | Morrill Act |
| Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation | Morrill Act |
| Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians | Morrill Act |
| Bay Mills Indian Community | Morrill Act |
| Bear River Band of the Rohnerville Rancheria | Morrill Act |
| Big Sandy Rancheria of Mono Indians of California | Morrill Act |
| Big Valley Band of Pomo Indians of the Big Valley Rancheria | Morrill Act |
| Birdtail Sioux First Nation | Morrill Act |
| Blackfeet Tribe of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation of Montana | Morrill Act |
| Blue Lake Rancheria | Morrill Act |
| Bois Forte Band (Nett Lake) of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe | Morrill Act |
| Bridgeport Indian Colony | Morrill Act |
| Brothertown Indian Nation | Cornell Holdings in New York State |
| Buena Vista Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians of California | Morrill Act |
| Burt Lake Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians | Morrill Act |
| Cachil DeHe Band of Wintun Native of the Colusa Indian Community | Morrill Act |
| Calaveras Band of Mi-Wuk Indians | Morrill Act |
| California Choinumni Tribal Project | Morrill Act |
| California Valley Miwok Tribe | Morrill Act |
| Cayuga communities located in New York | Cornell Holdings in New York State |
| Cher-Ae Heights Indian Community of the Trinidad Rancheria | Morrill Act |
| Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes | Morrill Act |
| Chi-cau-gon Band of Lake Superior Chippewa of Iron County | Morrill Act |
| Chicken Ranch Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians of California | Morrill Act |
| Chinook Indian Nation | Morrill Act |
| Chippewa-Cree Indians of the Rocky Boy’s Reservation | Morrill Act |
| Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma | Morrill Act |
| Choinumni Farm Tribe | Morrill Act |
| Choinumni Tribe | Morrill Act |
| Chowchilla Tribe | Morrill Act |
| Clatsop-Nehalem Confederated Tribes of Oregon | Morrill Act |
| Coastal Band of the Chumash Nation | Morrill Act |
| Coastal Gabrieleño Diegueño Band of Mission Indians | Morrill Act |
| Cold Springs Rancheria of Mono Indians of California | Morrill Act |
| Colfax-Todds Valley Consolidated Tribe of the Colfax Rancheria | Morrill Act |
| Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation | Morrill Act |
| Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation | Morrill Act |
| Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation | Morrill Act |
| Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians of Oregon | Morrill Act |
| Confederated Tribes of the Goshute Reservation | Morrill Act |
| Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon | Morrill Act |
| Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Reservation | Morrill Act |
| Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Indians of Oregon | Morrill Act |
| Cowasuck Band of the Pennacook Abenaki | Shoals Marine Lab |
| Cowlitz Indian Tribe | Morrill Act |
| Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians of California | Morrill Act |
| Crow Creek Sioux Tribe of the Crow Creek Reservation | Morrill Act |
| Dakota Plains First Nation | Morrill Act |
| Dakota Tipi First Nation | Morrill Act |
| Delaware Nation | Cornell Holdings in New York State |
| Delaware Nation at Moraviantown | Cornell Holdings in New York State |
| Delaware Tribe of Indians | Cornell Holdings in New York State |
| Displaced Elem Lineage Emancipated Members | Morrill Act |
| Dry Creek Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California | Morrill Act |
| Dumna Wo-Wah Tribal Government | Morrill Act |
| Duwamish Tribe of Indians | Morrill Act |
| Eastern Shoshone Tribe of the Wind River Reservation | Morrill Act |
| El Dorado County Wopumnes Nisenan-Mewuk Nation Tribe | Morrill Act |
| Elem Band of Pomo/Elem Indian Colony | Morrill Act |
| Elnu Abenaki Tribe | Shoals Marine Lab |
| Enterprise Rancheria of Maidu Indians of California | Morrill Act |
| Federated Indians of the Graton Rancheria | Morrill Act |
| Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe | Morrill Act |
| Fond Du Lac Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe | Morrill Act |
| Fort Belknap Indian Community | Morrill Act |
| Gabrieleno/Tongva San Gabriel Band of Mission Indians | Morrill Act |
| Gabrielino Tongva Indians of California Tribal Council | Morrill Act |
| Gabrielino/Tongva Nation | Morrill Act |
| Gabrielino-Tongva Tribe | Morrill Act |
| Ganienkeh Mohawk Community | Cornell Holdings in New York State |
| Grand Portage Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe | Morrill Act |
| Grand River Bands of Ottawa Indians | Morrill Act |
| Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians | Morrill Act |
| Grindstone Indian Rancheria of Wintun-Wailaki Indians | Morrill Act |
| Guidiville Rancheria of California | Morrill Act |
| Habematolel Pomo of Upper Lake | Morrill Act |
| Haudenosaunee Confederacy | Cornell Holdings in New York State |
| Haudenosaunee Six Nations of the Grand River | Cornell Holdings in New York State |
| Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin | Morrill Act |
| Hopland Band of Pomo Indians of the Hopland Rancheria | Morrill Act |
| Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians | Shoals Marine Lab |
| Ione Band of Miwok Indians of California | Morrill Act |
| Jackson Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians of California | Morrill Act |
| Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe | Morrill Act |
| Jena Band of Choctaw Indians | Morrill Act |
| Kainai Nation | Morrill Act |
| Kanaʼtsioharè꞉ke Mohawk Community | Cornell Holdings in New York State |
| Kaʼnehsatà꞉ke Mohawk Community | Cornell Holdings in New York State |
| Kaw Nation | Morrill Act |
| Keweenaw Bay Indian Community | Morrill Act |
| Kizh Nation (Gabrieleño Band of Mission Indians) | Morrill Act |
| Kletsel Dehe Wintun Nation | Morrill Act |
| Ko’asek Traditional Band of the Sovereign Abenaki Nation | Shoals Marine Lab |
| Koi Nation of the Lower Lake Rancheria | Morrill Act |
| KonKow Valley Band of Maidu Indians | Morrill Act |
| Kootenai Tribe of Idaho | Morrill Act |
| Ktunaxa Nation | Morrill Act |
| Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin | Morrill Act |
| Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians | Morrill Act |
| Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians | Morrill Act |
| Lake Superior Chippewa of Marquette | Morrill Act |
| Leech Lake Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe | Morrill Act |
| Little River Band of Ottawa Indians | Morrill Act |
| Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians | Morrill Act |
| Lower Elwha Tribal Community | Morrill Act |
| Lower Sioux Indian Community | Morrill Act |
| Lummi Nation | Morrill Act |
| Mackinac Bands of Chippewa and Ottawa Indians | Morrill Act |
| Manchester-Point Arena Band of Pomo Indians | Morrill Act |
| Marietta Band of Nooksacks | Morrill Act |
| Matinecock Tribal Nation | Cornell Holdings in New York State |
| Mechoopda Indian Tribe of Chico Rancheria | Morrill Act |
| Mendota Mdewakanton Dakota Community | Morrill Act |
| Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin | Morrill Act |
| Middletown Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California | Morrill Act |
| Mille Lacs Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe | Morrill Act |
| Minnesota Chippewa Tribe | Morrill Act |
| Mishewal Wappo Tribe of the Alexander Valley | Morrill Act |
| Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians | Morrill Act |
| Mohawk Council of Akwesasne | Cornell Holdings in New York State |
| Mohawks Council of Kahnawà꞉ke | Cornell Holdings in New York State |
| Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte | Cornell Holdings in New York State |
| Monacan Nation | Cornell in Washington |
| Monachi Indian Tribe | Morrill Act |
| Mono Lake Kootzaduka’a Tribe of California and Nevada | Morrill Act |
| Montauk Tribe of Indians | Cornell Holdings in New York State |
| Montaukett Indian Nation | Cornell Holdings in New York State |
| Mooretown Rancheria of Maidu Indians of California | Morrill Act |
| Morongo Band of Mission Indians | Morrill Act |
| Munsee-Delaware Nation | Cornell Holdings in New York State |
| Munsee Tribe in Kansas | Cornell Holdings in New York State |
| Muskegon River Band of Ottawa Indians | Morrill Act |
| Muwekma Ohlone Tribe | Morrill Act |
| Nashville Enterprise Miwok-Maidu-Nishinam Tribe | Morrill Act |
| Nevada City Nisenan Rancheria | Morrill Act |
| Nisqually Indian Tribe of the Nisqually Reservation | Morrill Act |
| Nooksack Indian Tribe | Morrill Act |
| North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians | Morrill Act |
| North Valley Yokut Tribe | Morrill Act |
| Northern Band of Mono Yokuts | Morrill Act |
| Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation | Morrill Act |
| Northern Chumash Tribal Council | Morrill Act |
| Nulhegan Band of the Coosuck-Abenaki | Shoals Marine Lab |
| Odanak Abenaki Council | Shoals Marine Lab |
| Omaha Tribe of Nebraska | Morrill Act |
| Oneida communities located in New York | Cornell Holdings in New York State |
| Oneida Nation of the Thames | Cornell Holdings in New York State |
| Oneida Nation of Wisconsin | Cornell Holdings in New York State |
| Onondaga Nation of New York | Cornell Holdings in New York State |
| Osage Nation | Morrill Act |
| Otoe-Missouria Tribe of Indians | Morrill Act |
| Pamunkey Tribe | Cornell in Washington |
| Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians | Morrill Act |
| Passamaquoddy Nation | Shoals Marine Lab |
| Patowomeck Indian Tribe of Virginia | Cornell in Washington |
| Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma | Morrill Act |
| Penobscot Nation | Shoals Marine Lab |
| Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians of California | Morrill Act |
| Piikani Nation | Morrill Act |
| Pinoleville Pomo Nation | Morrill Act |
| Piscataway Conoy Tribe of Maryland | Cornell in Washington |
| Piscataway Indian Nation | Cornell in Washington |
| Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe | Morrill Act |
| Potter Valley Tribe | Morrill Act |
| Prairie Island Indian Community | Morrill Act |
| Puyallup Tribe of the Puyallup Reservation | Morrill Act |
| Quartz Valley Indian Community | Morrill Act |
| Quinault Indian Nation | Morrill Act |
| Ramapo Munsee Lenape Nation | Cornell Holdings in New York State |
| Rappanhannock Indian Tribe | Cornell in Washington |
| Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin | Morrill Act |
| Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians | Morrill Act |
| Redwood Valley Rancheria | Morrill Act |
| Reno-Sparks Indian Colony | Morrill Act |
| River Valley Miwok Indians, formerly known as Historical Families of Wilton Rancheria | Morrill Act |
| Robinson Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California | Morrill Act |
| Round Valley Indian Reservation | Morrill Act |
| Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan | Morrill Act |
| Saginaw, Swan Creek and Black River Chippewa | Morrill Act |
| Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe | Cornell Holdings in New York State |
| Salinan Tribe of Monterey & San Luis Obispo Counties | Morrill Act |
| Salinan-Chumash Nation | Morrill Act |
| San Manuel Band of Mission Indians | Morrill Act |
| Santa Rosa Indian Community of the Santa Rosa Rancheria (aka Tachi Yokut Tribe) | Morrill Act |
| Santee Sioux Nation | Morrill Act |
| Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Michigan | Morrill Act |
| Scia’new First Nation | Morrill Act |
| Semiahmoo First Nation | Morrill Act |
| Seneca Nation of Indians | Cornell Holdings in New York State |
| Seneca-Cayuga Nation of Oklahoma | Cornell Holdings in New York State |
| Shakopee-Mdewakanton Sioux Community | Morrill Act |
| Shasta Indian Nation | Morrill Act |
| Shebelna Band of Mendocino Coast Pomo Indians | Morrill Act |
| Sherwood Valley Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California | Morrill Act |
| Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians of Shingle Springs Rancheria | Morrill Act |
| Shinnecock Indian Nation | Cornell Holdings in New York State |
| Shoalwater Bay Tribe of the Shoalwater Bay Indian Reservation | Morrill Act |
| Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of the Fort Hall Reservation of Idaho | Morrill Act |
| Sierra Foothill Wuksachi Yokuts Tribe | Morrill Act |
| Siksika Nation | Morrill Act |
| Sioux Valley First Nation | Morrill Act |
| Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate of the Lake Traverse Reservation | Morrill Act |
| Skull Valley Band of Goshute Indians of Utah | Morrill Act |
| Snohomish Tribe of Indians | Morrill Act |
| Sokaogon Chippewa Community | Morrill Act |
| Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation | Morrill Act |
| Spirit Lake Tribe | Morrill Act |
| Spokane Tribe of Indians | Morrill Act |
| Squaxin Island Tribe of the Squaxin Island Reservation | Morrill Act |
| St. Croix Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin | Morrill Act |
| Standing Buffalo Dakota First Nation | Morrill Act |
| Stockbridge-Munsee Community | Cornell Holdings in New York State |
| Strawberry Valley Band of Pakan’yani Maidu | Morrill Act |
| Sts’ailes First Nation | Morrill Act |
| Susanville Indian Rancheria | Morrill Act |
| Table Mountain Rancheria of California | Morrill Act |
| Tejon Indian Tribe of California | Morrill Act |
| Tonawanda Seneca Nation | Cornell Holdings in New York State |
| Traditional Choinumni East of Kings River | Morrill Act |
| Tsi-Akim Maidu of Taylorsville Rancheria | Morrill Act |
| Tulalip Tribes of Washington | Morrill Act |
| Tule River Indian Tribe | Morrill Act |
| Tuolumne Band of Me-wuk Indians of the Tuolumne Rancheria | Morrill Act |
| Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians of North Dakota | Morrill Act |
| Tuscarora Nation of New York | Cornell Holdings in New York State |
| Tyme Maidu Tribe of the Berry Creek Rancheria | Morrill Act |
| United Auburn Indian Community of Auburn Rancheria | Morrill Act |
| Unkechaug Nation | Cornell Holdings in New York State |
| Upper Sioux Indian Community | Morrill Act |
| Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah & Ouray Reservation | Morrill Act |
| Wahpaton Dakota Nation | Morrill Act |
| Wahta Mohawks | Cornell Holdings in New York State |
| Washoe Tribe of Nevada & California | Morrill Act |
| Washoe/Paiute of Antelope Valley | Morrill Act |
| White Earth Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe | Morrill Act |
| Whitecap Dakota First Nation | Morrill Act |
| Wilton Rancheria Indian Tribe | Morrill Act |
| Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska | Morrill Act |
| Wiyot Tribe of the Table Bluff Rancheria | Morrill Act |
| Woodfords Community Council or Hung A Lel Ti | Morrill Act |
| Wukchumni Tribal Council | Morrill Act |
| Wuksache Indian Tribe/Eshom Valley Band | Morrill Act |
| Xolon Salinan Tribe | Morrill Act |
| Yak Tityu Tityu Yak Tilhini Northern Chumash Tribe | Morrill Act |
| Yankton Sioux Tribe of South Dakota | Morrill Act |
| Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation | Morrill Act |
| Yosemite Mono Lake Paiute Indian Community | Morrill Act |