I have been thinking a lot about the Decolonization at Brown video and how we can best approach Native American and Indigenous Studies as a field that is relevant to all of us as people who benefit from settler colonialism. This is a really great article that navigates Settler Colonial Studies and Native American and Indigenous Studies by J. Kēhaulani Kauanui called “‘A Structure, Not an Event’: Settler Colonialism and Enduring Indigeneity.” We often see settler colonialism as a thing of the past, which both dismisses very present and very real genealogical ties to the land that Indigenous peoples have and stops any discussion of reparations.
Also, I learned that Brown University was a land-grant institution. Under the Morrill Act, which turned Indigenous land into college endowments, Brown received land that was owned by Indigenous peoples from the U.S. government in order to develop and use to teach agriculture and the mechanic arts. Brown later sold this land to the University of Rhode Island. More on that here.
“The scrip was initially given to Brown University, which sold it for $50,000 in annual installments from August 30, 1866 to August 31, 1870 (payable as $1,000 in 1866, $4,000 in 1867, $5,000 in 1868, $10,000 in 1869, and $30,000 in $1870). RI transferred the grant to the University of Rhode Island in 1894 and paid Brown a settlement of $40,000, which was added to their endowment.”
LandGrabU is a great resource to learn more about discreet ways university students have benefited from settler colonialist policies.
