A sister city relationship and student cultural exchanges were two ideas floated during a virtual conversation between Arapaho tribal leaders and Boulder-area leaders during a virtual dialogue Sunday.
“When you are more educated about each other’s cultures, there’s more of an acceptance,” said Billie Sutton, a Southern Arapaho legislator. “We just need that. We need that in our schools. We need that in our government. We just need it everywhere.”
She added the government tends to ignore Native Americans because their numbers are small, while others don’t want to revisit a shameful part of the country’s history to learn more.
“Governments need to understand us, and they need to pay attention to us,” she said. “No, we don’t have high numbers. We’re not a big voting block. But we’re still important.”
Right Relationship Boulder organized the webinar as part of the city’s annual Indigenous Peoples Day celebration. The past two years, Boulder has welcomed members of the Southern Arapaho from Oklahoma and the Northern Arapaho from Wyoming to return to their ancestral lands and share their culture.
Boulder Valley was the winter homeland of Chief Left Hand’s band of Arapaho until 1859, when miners discovered gold in the foothills. The Arapaho, whose name for themselves is Hinó’no’éí, were pushed out of the area.
Sunday, Southern Arapaho Chief Elvin Kenrick talked about the importance of continuing participate in person, once the coronavirus pandemic is under control, to help Boulder County’s non-native residents “recognize there were people there before you.”
“So many people have asked us to come home (to the Boulder area),” he said. “We want to be a part of your lives.”
Along with scuttling plans for a third year of in-person celebrations, the pandemic forced the city to put ongoing consultations between Boulder leaders and 13 recognized tribes on hold, officials said.
Boulder is looking for feedback from the tribes in renaming Boulder’s Settlers Park at the mouth of Boulder Canyon, a change first promised in 2016.
Sunday’s participants questioned if other tribes should help rename the park, given it was part of the homeland of the Arapaho, who have suggested the name Winter Camp to reflect its historic use by the tribe.
Boulder leaders also are looking for feedback as they develop a master plan for a recent open space purchase.
Boulder bought the 110-acre Fort Chambers, or Poor Farm, property on 63rd Street as open space for $5.2 million in 2018. The property is the presumed location of Fort Chambers, which was used as a militia training site for white settlers who participated in Colorado’s Sand Creek Massacre in 1864.
Sunday, participants said they would like to see the property used to educate about the Sand Creek Massacre, as well as to potentially showcase the knowledge of indigenous people of local plants, both as food and medicine.
Teresa HisChase, of the Northern Arapaho, said her people have a spiritual connection to the land here. She also echoed the call for more interactions to build relationships, especially among young people.
“I just want everyone to know and understand that we’re still here,” she said. “We have our own language, our own culture, our own way of worship. It’s just that we live in two worlds now.”
Boulder and Denver are among a growing number of cities that observe Indigenous Peoples Day instead of Columbus Day. The Boulder City Council unanimously approved Indigenous Peoples Day in August 2016.
This year’s virtual Indigenous Peoples Day celebration, which started Friday and ends Monday, featured dialogue about issues facing the Indigenous community, as well as art, culture, film and food demonstrations. Both the city and local community organizations supported events.
Along with the panel of Arapaho and government leaders, Sunday’s offerings included an American Indian Youth Leadership Institute forum and a video of Native artists creating regalia for Native children who can’t afford their own.
For a schedule of Monday’s events, go to bouldercolorado.gov/community-relations/indigenous-peoples-day.
