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Land, Land acknowledgements exist because land was expropriated from…
Land
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Expropriation
Morrill Act
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I was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii. I am fourth-generation Japanese on the islands. My great-great grandparents moved to Hawaii to work the plantation, and my family has been there ever since.
History: Hawaiian lands were taken from Hawaiian people by the US government, leaving many Hawaiians without places to live.
The Hawaiian Homestead Act of 1921 intended to return stolen land to Hawaiian people. However, many Hawaiians die while waiting for their land because the waitlist is extensive.
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Burke Museum developed its land acknowledgement in collaboration with tribal elders and leaders to ensure it authentically reflects relationships with Indigenous communities.
Acknowledgements are a way to recognize the Indigenous peoples who have resided on the lands that we currently reside on.
“We stand on the lands of the Coast Salish peoples, whose ancestors have resided here since Time Immemorial. Many Indigenous peoples thrive in this place—alive and strong.”
In my opinion, the land acknowledgement is quite short, but it gets the point across by describing who we are acknowledging and why we are acknowledging them.
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AI boom --> data center development on Indigenous land
Battery minerals (used as backup energy sources) are extracted from Indigenous territories
"Centers also consume vast amounts of water and energy, which can strain local aquifers and cause pollution" (Elk, 2025).
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In the past, Indigenous lands have been used to extract coal, oil, and gas
Recently, lands have been used to extract for minerals
Indigenous people kicked off of their land for profit
Signed by Abraham Lincoln in 1862.
Named after Vermont rep. Justin Morrill, who advocated for the bill. Morrill is often praised for his advocacy that started the creation of many land-grant universities. However, this wouldn't be possible without Indigenous people and their land.
Distributed land taken from Indigenous people to raise funds for universities across the US
Indigenous land was "dubiously acquired"
10.7 million acres taken from 250 tribes
Treaties, agreements and seizures gathered land for the public domain to be redistributed to states
Tribal nations were often forced to give up territory under threats of starvation, violence, or manipulated agreements
In most cases, Indigenous people were not compensated or were only given pennies for their land.
States were given land scrips that handed ownership of the land to states. States sold these ownership rights for money, which was used as endowment funds to support universities.
"There would be no higher education as we know it in the United States without the original and ongoing colonization of Indigenous peoples and lands" (Robert Lee, 2025)
Universities continue to profit from land received. Some universities invested the money and continue to earn interest, while other universities maintain the land and generate revenue.
Indigenous people see none of these continued benefits from the land that was taken from them..
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I went to Punahou School for 13 years. It is one of the oldest private schools in Hawaii.
History of the land: The lands of Kapunahou were given to Kame'iamoku from King Kamehameha. The land was passed down through his family, until the arrival of the third company of missionaries to Hawaii. The land was given to missionary Hiram Bingham, and was used to start a missionary school.
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This example cleared up the perspective of an Indigenous person hearing a land acknowledgement by creating a scenario that I could relate to.
Example: Your friends boyfriend takes your laptop (property) and places an acknowledgement plaque on it to "acknowledge" that the laptop once belonged to you, but doesn't do anything to make up for it or give it back.
This made me feel like the land acknowledgements are worthless if there is no action to make things right with Indigenous people after taking their land.
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Intellectual House was built at UW to provide a space for American Indian and Alaskan students and faculty to come together and share knowledge of their culture and traditions.
I believe that UW building this longhouse relates to 'Boyfriend Computer Example'. In order to amend what has been done in the past, we have to go beyond the land acknowledgements and take action. This project does just that by going beyond the UW land acknowledgement, and actually taking action to ensure that we are providing resources for Indigenous students and working to strengthen ties to their culture and spread knowledge.
Resources and expropriation go hand in hand because Indigenous land is expropriated so that resources can be extracted from the land and profit can be made.