Qualla: Haskell Indian Nations University

Haskell Indian Nations University: Introduction

Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Gen. Quon, CC BY-SA 4.0. At least 103 children died here. That fact hangs over every brick of every landmark building on the Haskell campus, an inescapable foundation for understanding what this place is and what it has become. When the United States Indian Industrial Training School opened in Lawrence, Kansas, in 1884, it had 22 elementary-age students and a mission modeled on the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania -- the institution whose founder coined the phrase "Kill the Indian, save the man." Boys learned blacksmithing and wagon making. Girls studied cooking and sewing. Most of the food came from the school farm, and older students were expected to work. Today, Haskell Indian Nations University is a tuition-free, federally funded tribal university offering bachelor's and associate degrees to students from federally recognized tribes across the country. It is the oldest continually operating federal school for American Indians, and its 140-year transformation from instrument of assimilation to engine of Indigenous self-determination is one of the most remarkable stories in American higher education.

Image: Gen. Quon | CC BY-SA 4.0

Haskell Indian Nations University: From Training School to University

Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Gen. Quon, CC0. Congress authorized the school in 1882 as one of three new boarding schools modeled on Carlisle, at a cost of $150,000. It was renamed Haskell Institute in 1887 after Dudley Haskell, the Kansas congressman who secured its construction in Lawrence. The early decades brought harsh ...

Image: Gen. Quon | CC0

Haskell Indian Nations University: Twelve Landmarks and a Medicine Wheel

Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Unknown authorUnknown author or not provided, Public domain. Twelve campus buildings carry National Historic Landmark designation -- an extraordinary concentration for any educational institution. The oldest standing structure is Hiawatha Hall, constructed in 1898 by the United Methodist Church as a chapel, named for the Onondaga leader. T...

Image: Unknown authorUnknown author or not provided | Public domain

Haskell Indian Nations University: Wetlands, Athletes, and a Student Newspaper

Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Gen. Quon, CC BY-SA 4.0. The Haskell-Baker Wetlands spread across the south side of campus, home to 243 species of birds, 21 species of fish, and the endangered Northern Crawfish Frog. The wetlands serve as a critical feeding and breeding ground for migratory birds traveling between Canada and South Amer...

Image: Gen. Quon | CC BY-SA 4.0

Haskell Indian Nations University: The Weight of Survival

Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit USEPA Environmental-Protection-Agency, Public domain. The university hosts events that draw visitors from across the country: the annual Haskell Indian Art Market, the Stories-n-Motion Film Festival, and the Haskell Commencement and Pow-Wow. In 1994, Congress designated Haskell and 31 other tribal colleges as land-grant institutions...

Image: USEPA Environmental-Protection-Agency | Public domain