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Before it became home to the Wolfpack, the land beneath NC State University held a much older story, one belonging to the Tuscarora, Lumbee and Saponi peoples. Established in 1887 under the Morrill Land-Grant Act of 1862, NC State’s creation was made possible through the land once seized from Native nations across the United States.
The Morrill Act authorized the U.S. government to appropriate nearly 11 million acres of Indigenous land from more than 250 tribes, subsequently selling these lands to finance higher education institutions across the country.
NC State University, along with numerous other land-grant universities, was established using funds generated through this process.
The Land-Grab Universities Project, as reported by High Country News, indicates that North Carolina acquired approximately 270,000 acres of land through the Morrill Act. The sale of these lands cost approximately $1,753 for the U.S. at that time, equivalent to about $52,560 when adjusted for inflation.
Initially, these funds were allocated to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and later contributed to the establishment of a new agricultural and mechanical college in Raleigh, which became NC State University. In the same year, Richard Stanhope Pullen, a local developer, donated a farm that served as the university’s original campus. The land was historically inhabited by Indigenous peoples of North Carolina.
Today, NC State formally acknowledges that its campus is situated on the ancestral homelands of the Tuscarora and Lumbee nations.
The university’s official Land Acknowledgment Statement reads that NC State “respectfully acknowledges that the lands within and surrounding present-day Raleigh are the traditional homelands and gathering places of many Indigenous peoples.” The university encourages this statement to be read at the opening of events and gatherings as a public act of recognition.
This practice has become an important symbol of awareness on campus. It encourages students, faculty and visitors to consider the university’s origins and the communities that preceded it. Over the past several years, student organizations such as the Native American Student Association (NASA) have increased awareness through Indigenous Peoples’ Day Events, heritage celebrations and educational programs that connect NC State’s past to its present.
Beyond campus, researchers from NC State University and their partners are involved in Indigenous heritage projects across North Carolina. In 2024, the North Carolina Department of Transportation and the Institute for Transportation Research and Education at NC State University began working together on these efforts. They started a joint project to map unmarked Indigenous burial sites and historic cemeteries. The goal is to protect and honor these places during state construction.
Long before red-brick walkways crossed Raleigh, this land carried stories of community. As NC State continues to grow, its commitment to understanding its history and supporting the people who first shaped it will help determine how the university honors its roots in the years ahead.
