Members of the North American Indigenous Student Organization outside of Wiigwam in People's Park on Oct. 13, 2024. Students and supporters set up camp to honor ancestors of the original "Indian Encampment" and demand the university administration’s acknowledgment of its role in the erasure of Indigenous people.
The North American Indigenous Student Organization (NAISO) set up camp on MSU campus to honor their ancestors and demand that the university acknowledge its role in the erasure of Indigenous people.
Braving the cold and rain, members, organizers and alumni of the student organization set up a wiigwam late Friday night with plans to camp out through Indigenous People’s Day on Monday.
Comparative cultures and politics senior Madison Rose Kennedy-Kequom, co-chair of NAISO, said the purpose of the encampment is to honor and reconcile with the history of MSU, which came into existence through the Morrill Act of 1862.
"It’s an act that allotted land to make public institutions, specifically from treaties that were originally Tribal camps from Tribal nations (for lands) that were ceded under duress through treaties," said Kennedy-Kequom, a member of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan.
Kennedy-Kequom said on the first day of classes at the Michigan Agricultural College (later renamed Michigan State University) in 1857, there was an "Indian encampment" in the area now known as "People’s Park" that was set up by people still living on campus.
That's where NAISO has set up its camp, in the field between Wells Hall and the International Center. This camp shows respect to those who came before them, Kennedy-Kequom said.
"Those people in particular would have been our ancestors," Kennedy-Kequom said. "Those are the people who allowed us to exist today ... Any land grant institution would not exist without the sacrifices that tribal nations made."
Political science and pre-law senior Zadok Milner said the camp is a "reclaiming of a space."
"I feel like this university really sweeps its history under the rug, and at the same time celebrates its founding as the pioneer land grant college — and yet as Native students here, it almost feels often like we’re purposely made to be invisible," said Milner, who is co-chair of NAISO and a member of the Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa Indians.
"Our existence here is a reminder of the real way in which this university was founded, which is through the violent theft of land."
MSU also does not have a physical land acknowledgment plaque, which Milner said is something the student organization has been advocating for over the past few years. This is something Kennedy-Kequom said the administration has been giving them a "really difficult time" about.
NAISO has written multiple versions of the proposed land acknowledgment plaque, which are on display at the camp. The organization is currently advocating for a version of the acknowledgment that includes statistics on the amount of land taken through the Morrill Act, which totals about 10.7 million acres from nearly 250 tribes.
Some of the demands NAISO has for the university’s administration include, but are not limited to:
"A lot of the things that we advocate for and we want the university to do, we truly believe is beneficial to all of us on campus," Kennedy-Kequom said. "We really want to support and engage in building intersectional community with others."
Milner expressed frustration with what he described as the university exploiting the presence of Native and Indigenous students. He also said the university needs to live up to the values it promotes.
"They invite us here and push all of these DEI efforts and talk about 'Hate has no home here,' 'We care about our minoritized students,' and yet constantly when we’re in these meetings with the university, it’s always us being told no," Milner said.
Since the start of fall semester, Milner said NAISO has met with university administrators, including President Kevin Guskiewicz, to reiterate its demands.
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"A lot of the demands that we are publicizing around Indigenous People’s Day are from a town hall from 2022 where the same administrative leaders were in attendance, so they’ve known about them for years," Milner said.
MSU spokesperson Emily Guerrant said Student Life and Engagement and Institutional Diversity and Inclusion have been meeting with NAISO. She also said the university is open to putting the plaque on campus.
"The Administration is open to the posting of the land acknowledgment statement," Guerrant said in a text message to The State News. "Seems like there are a few options at Peoples Park and/or the new Multicultural Center. Conversations are ongoing."
The committee that has worked with MSU on the placement of the land acknowledgment plaque has passed through NAISO leadership since the advocacy began, Kennedy-Kequom said, and they are optimistic that the plaque will have a place on campus before most of the current e-board graduates.
"If the university is so proud of being the first land grant institution, it should be just as proud as the Native people who sacrificed their lives and land to make it possible, and honor that sacrifice as well," Kennedy-Kequom said. "They should honor both sides of the relationship that allowed them to exist."
NAISO will have a full day of events for Indigenous People’s Day Monday. It will start with a 7 a.m. sunrise ceremony at the Rock. They will later meet at Beaumont Tower at 2:30 p.m., where participants will start their march to the Hannah Administration building for an open mic at 3 p.m., and continue to the Rock to hear from invited speakers. There will be a celebration with music and food at Erickson Hall’s Kiva from 6 to 8 p.m.
