Three N. Dakota Colleges May Acknowledge They Are Housed on Native American Land

Seinquis Leinen

Three North Dakota colleges may soon acknowledge that they are housed on land that once belonged to Native Americans, reported Grand Forks Herald.

The institutions considering the move — seen as a way to respect tribes who occupied the land before the U.S. — are the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks, the North Dakota State College of Science and North Dakota State University (NDSU).

Many NDSU employees have addressed Fargo’s Native American Commission, sharing two drafts of a land acknowledgment agreement. NDSU leadership, however, declined to comment.

“We feel at NDSU that it’s really important to honor and acknowledge and remember the land we’re on and its people who were here before NDSU was established,” Seinquis Leinen, associate director of the university’s admission office, said during a Feb. 6 meeting of the commission.

Spokespersons of the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks and North Dakota State College of Science confirmed they are pursuing efforts to acknowledge that their land was once the home of Native Americans.