# American Indian & Indigenous Studies Program

**Source**: https://cals.cornell.edu/american-indian-indigenous-studies
**Parent**: https://admissions.cornell.edu/diversity-at-cornell/diversity-and-community-resources

##### The American Indian and Indigenous Studies Program (AIISP) brings together AIIS courses, leadership and engagement opportunities, and a vibrant Indigenous community on campus. Students also have the option of an undergraduate residential experience at Akwe:kon, the first Native student residence hall in North America.

## Land Acknowledgment

Cornell University is located on the traditional homelands of the Gayogo̱hó:nǫɁ (the Cayuga Nation). The Gayogo̱hó:nǫɁ are members of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, an alliance of six sovereign nations with a historic and contemporary presence on this land. The confederacy precedes the establishment of Cornell University, New York state and the United States of America. We acknowledge the painful history of Gayogo̱hó:nǫɁ dispossession, and honor the ongoing connection of Gayogo̱hó:nǫɁ people, past and present, to these lands and waters.

This land acknowledgment has been reviewed and approved by the traditional Gayogo̱hó:nǫɁ leadership.

[Learn more about land acknowledgments](/american-indian-indigenous-studies/about/land-acknowledgment "Land Acknowledgment").

**In addition to the** **Gayogo̱hó:nǫɁ** **land acknowledgment but separate from it, the AIISP faculty would like to emphasize: Cornell's founding was enabled in the course of a national genocide by the sale of almost one million acres of stolen Indian land under the Morrill Act of 1862. To date the university has neither officially acknowledged its complicity in this theft nor has it offered any form of restitution to the hundreds of Native communities impacted.**

## AIISP Events

AIIS Faculty Symposium (Cornell Botanic Gardens)

Faculty Fellows Apple Picking (Grisamore Farms)

Faculty Fellows Canoeing (Beebe Lake)

Student Leadership Retreat (Caldwell Hall)

AIIS Faculty Symposium (Cornell Botanic Gardens)

Faculty Fellows Apple Picking (Grisamore Farms)

Faculty Fellows Canoeing (Beebe Lake)

Student Leadership Retreat (Caldwell Hall)

AIIS Faculty Symposium (Cornell Botanic Gardens)

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###### Check out more events [here](https://cals.cornell.edu/american-indian-indigenous-studies/about/events)!

## Indigenous Student Spotlight

Celeste Groux, Ph.D. ‘30

From Nobel Prize–winning math concepts to optimizing e-bike battery systems, Celeste Groux’s journey shows how operations research can turn rigorous theory into real-world impact.

Zelazzie Zepeda, A&S ‘26

Rooted in a dream and driven by community, Zelazzie Zepeda’s work bridges linguistics and lived experience to help Indigenous languages move from archives back into everyday life.

Jesse Hernandez, CALS ‘27

Jesse Hernandez bridges heritage and science to study nutrient systems, preserve community seed traditions, and advance sustainable agriculture with real-world impact.

###### Learn more [here](https://cals.cornell.edu/american-indian-indigenous-studies/student-spotlights)!

## American Indian and Indigenous Studies Program Minor

Learn more about undergraduate and graduate minor in American Indian and Indigenous Studies!

- [AIIS Undergraduate Minor](/american-indian-indigenous-studies/academics-research/aiis-undergraduate-minor)
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- [Current AIIS Courses](/american-indian-indigenous-studies/academics-research/aiis-courses)

## AIISP News

Has taxonomy terms (with depth)

Article Type (field\_article\_type)
CALS MagazineReportField NoteFutureCastMultimediaNewsSpotlight

Event Type (field\_event\_type)
ClassConferenceExhibitFairFestivalField DayLectureMeetingSeminarWebinarWorkshop

News

November 25, 2025

[Rowan Lopez ’26 supports students seeking undergraduate research](https://www.cornellsun.com/article/2025/11/anemones-and-accessibility-rowan-lopez-26-supports-students-seeking-undergraduate-research)

- American Indian and Indigenous Studies Program

News

November 3, 2025

[Ǫgwahǫwéhneha:ˀ gyǫhéhgǫh: ‘Food of the Original People’ returns to Cornell](https://scl.cornell.edu/news-events/news/ogwahowehneha-gyohehgoh-food-original-people-returns-morrison-dining)

- American Indian and Indigenous Studies Program

[Explore more news & updates](/american-indian-indigenous-studies/about/news)

### Cornell University & Indigenous Dispossession Project

AIISP launched the [Cornell University and Indigenous Dispossession Project](https://cuidproject.com/) in June 2020 to examine Cornell’s ties to Indigenous land dispossession and pursue redress. Prompted by a 2020 [High Country News](https://www.hcn.org/issues/52.4/indigenous-affairs-education-land-grab-universities) investigation into the land-grant system, the project shares research through a public website and plans outreach to the 251 affected Indigenous Nations.

[Learn more about this ongoing project.](https://cuidproject.com/)

Image Caption Button

Photo by the Cornell Chronicle.

## Stay Connected

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