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Briefing Recap: Indigenous People and Their History in Colorado

Sue Stark | Published on 12/12/2024

Recap of November Briefing
Indigenous People and Their History in Colorado


The LWVD’s November briefing was provided by Rick Waters (Kiowa and Cherokee), the Executive Director of the Denver Indian Center (DIC). Rick’s focus was to educate us about the often-misunderstood history of Indigenous Americans in our area and to address the challenge of “invisibility” of Native people.

Rick told the attendees that according to the 2020 Census, there are about 106,000 self-identified tribal members in the state, with 76,000 American-Indian-only ancestry. They come from about 200 tribes and most of them live in the metro Denver area and the southwestern part of the state. About 50% are southwestern Navajo and a little fewer than half are Lacota and Northern tribes.

His historical timeline began in about the 1850’s when white settlers advanced west to acquire the land and its resources, ignoring that the land was already occupied for thousands of years. The Indian Removal Act and military action were intended to push Native people off their traditional lands. This Reservation Period’s solution to the “Indian Problem” was to negotiate treaties that promised “protection and non-encroachment” on enclosed areas labeled "reservations"; however, almost all the 374 treaties were broken repeatedly, especially where gold, silver, oil and water were desired. Brutal methods were normalized. People were treated like undesired trees and rocks to be moved aside for white expansion.

The next era Rick noted was the Boarding School period.  Since killing indigenous people and isolating them didn’t solve the problem, the government and religious organizations turned to assimilation, forcibly taking thousands of young Indians away from their families and denying them their traditional languages, religious beliefs, customs and even hairstyles and clothing. Forced labor and inhumane treatment took place in many of the 523 government- funded “schools” from the 1870’s well into the 1900’s.

Native Americans still had the treaties and were sovereign groups, but the US government devised a third method of control under the 1956 Federal Indian Relocation Act. The “opportunity” to move to cities, including Denver, from the reservations to improve their lives encouraged mass relocation, but no support services to find jobs, housing and deal with racism were provided. A high percent moved back to the reservations, but those who stayed, Rick noted, were “resilient.” The ongoing needs for access to services and community to sustain their cultural heritage led to the founding of the Denver Indian Center in 1983.

The range of services offered at the non-profit Denver Indian Center include a Native Workforce Program, Honoring Fatherhood, Elders’ Programming, Youth Literacy and Summer Camps and Direct Services. LWVD Voter Service Committee collaborated with DIC to hold two voter registration events this fall. Over 90 different tribal representatives have come to DIC for assistance. DIC also works with non-Native low-income people in their Morrison Road neighborhood.

The LWVD Program Committee has asked Rick to be a consultant as we propose a Land Acknowledgement Statement to present before our events in the future. Rick advises organizations who take this step to build in a commitment to give back, become an ally of and continue to educate their members about the Native Community. League’s advocacy activities will monitor legislation that impacts Native Americans,including three bills that have been proposed by an interim committee of the legislature.

 

Keep an eye out for future opportunities to collaborate with the Denver Indian Center.

Susan Stark, Director of Program