The Land Grant from the United States of America to the Trustees of the University of Michigan, signed by President of the United States, James Monroe, Fifteenth of May, 1824. This document registered three sections of land to the University of Michigan, formerly the College of Detroit, based on Section 16 of the Treaty at the Foot of the Rapids (1817) and Section 6 of the Treaty at Detroit (1807). By treaty, the chiefs, sachems, and warriors of four Indeginous nations, the Ottawa (Odawa), Ojibwe (Ojibwa, Chippewa), Wyandotte (Wyandot), and Potawatomi (Bodéwadmi, Potawatomie, Patawatima) ceeded the land northwest of the Ohio river to the United States of America. In the Treaty at the Foot of the Rapids (Treaty of Fort Meigs), signed in 1817, the chiefs, sachems, and warriors of the Wyandotte (Wyandot), Seneca (Onödowáʼga), Delaware (Lenape), Shawnee (sawanooki), Potawatomi (Bodéwadmi, Potawatomie, Patawatima), Ottawa (Odawa) and Ojibwe (Ojibwa, Chippewa) ceeded the rest of their lands within the Ohio territory to the United States. In return, among other promises, catholics among the Ottawa (Odawa), Ojibwe (Ojibwa, Chippewa), and Potawatomi (Bodéwadmi, Potawatomie, Patawatima) tribes asked that six sections of land be reserved for the rector of St. Ann Catholic church, for religious practice; and the college of Detroit, for the future education of their children. This land grant document divides and grants three of the six sections of land to the Trustees of University of Michigan, previously known as the Corporation of the College of Detroit, and officially registers the land with the United States Land Office.
The grant makes mention of the power vested in Lewis Cass (Territorial Govenor of Michigan at the time, and central figure in implementing the Indian removal policies of the United States government) by Article 6 of the Treaty at the Foot of the Rapids to make decisions regarding the six sections of land deditcated to the church and university. Article 6 of that treaty documents the land given to specific individuals and nations, and does not vest power in any agents of the United States or the territory of Michigan. This appears to be an error on the part of the Land Office - Article 16 of the treaty, the same article that dedicated land to the Church and College of Detroit, appears to be the article that gave Cass the power to decide which sections of land would be granted to the University.
Until Congress abolished the practice of making treaties with Indigenous Nations in 1871, the United States signed and ratified at least 367 such treaties, many of which, however, it later broke or failed to observe. Many of these treaties were signed by tribes under duress - cede the land or be removed from their home.
During the 19th century, the University of Michigan sold the lands granted to them by the United States and, by extension, the Odawa, Ojibwe and Potawatomi tribes based on an interpretation of the Treaty at the Foot of the Rapids (Fort Meigs) and this land grant. In 1971, the University was taken to court by Paul Johnson on behalf of the children of the Odawa, Ojibwe, and Potawatomi. The lawsuit demanded an accounting of the monies recieved by the University of Michigan in the sale of "Indian educational trust lands" and argued that the funds should be used to educate Indigenous children, per the 1817 treaty, amounting to free tuition for Indigenous students. The court ruled in favor of the Board of Regents.
In 1971, the University enrolled 20 Indigenous students in a student body of approximately 40,000. In 2022, the university enrolled 105 Indigenous students (undergraduate and graduate) in a student body of approximately 51,225, representing 0.20% of the student body.
Citations
- Children of the Chippewa, Ottawa & Potawatomy Tribes v. Regents of the University of Michigan, 305 N.W.2d 522 (Mich. Ct. App. 1981).
- Ratified Indian Treaty 90: Wyandot, Seneca, Delaware, Shawnee, Potawatomi, Ottawa & Chippewa - Rapids of the Miami of Lake Erie, September 29, 1817; General Records of the United States Government, Record Group 11; National Archives at Washington, DC [retrieved from the Access to Archival Databases at www.archives.gov, April 24, 2024].
- United States Creator. Treaty Between the Ottawa, Chippewa, Wyandot, and Potawatomi Indians. [1807] Pdf. https://www.loc.gov/item/2021667584/.
- University of Michigan. "ANN ARBOR CAMPUS SNAPSHOT." Infographic, 2022. https://obp.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/pubdata/factsfigures/cy_UMAA_Infographic.pdf
- White, Elmer E. "A Status Report on the Fort Meigs Treaty Lawsuit in Washtenaw Circuit Court." Book. [n.p.], 1975.
