K. Sylvest, Boulder. Hundreds gathered in the gymnasium at Boulder High School to welcome the Northern and Southern Arapaho people back to their homeland at the Indigenous Peoples Day celebration on October 13. The heritage of the Hinono-eino (Arapaho) People was celebrated with prayer, dancing, artwork, food, seminars, and storytelling. The celebration recognized the cultural belief of the interdependence of all living things.

The Arapaho traveled from Oklahoma and Wyoming to the ceremony, which was also attended by other Indigenous Peoples including the Navajo, Cheyenne, and individuals with Indigenous heritage who call Boulder and the surrounding areas home. The event, one of many held in the Boulder Valley and across the country, recognized the violations of human rights, discrimination, and genocide committed against Indigenous Peoples upon their forcible and violent removal from the valley after the discovery of gold in the mountains. Columbus Day, held the second Monday of every October, has been renamed Indigenous Peoples Day in Boulder.

Mayor Suzanne Jones of Boulder stated that the acts committed against Native populations living in Boulder were “tragic” and “dishonorable”. A resolution made in 2016 was publicly re-read by members of City Council. The resolution not only recognized the immeasurable harm done, but also named steps to eliminate prejudice, appreciate Native culture, restore public lands to Native Peoples, and partner in education. 

Mayor Jones informed the crowd that she invited the leaders of 13 tribes to participate in government decisions made last spring. Her office has worked to restore the culturally significant sweat lodges on Indian Mountain. They’ve also received two grants to make the open spaces of Boulder County accurately reflect the history of our Native past. Her office is working to rename Boulder’s Settler’s Park, thought to be the first location of white settlers in Boulder, to reflect an Indigenous name. Members from the school district also spoke of the importance of teaching accurate, fair, and complete histories that reframe and go beyond Columbus. 

(Originally published in the October 24, 2019, print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)