Thread by @shayshinecastle

Happy Tuesday night, #Boulder. It's a city council study session, so I hope you're all snuggled at home. I'm here, working for you.

On the agenda tonight are two discussions: One on the upcoming (March 17-18) consultation between city council/leaders and the dozen-plus tribes Boulder has legal agreements with.

That will be followed by a revisit of efforts to form a library district, which this council has not touched on yet. That was last discussed in May when the results of preliminary polling came out: boulderbeat.news/2019/05/04/pol…

RE: Tribal consultation. Some v interesting things in the packet, and I see the staff presentation has even more new and exciting info. I'll share some now, while we wait for council to get started.

For instance, did you know that that 4.52 acres of the NIST site was set aside from development for tribes to hold ceremonies on? Per a 1998 Memorandum of Understanding

Boulder has 4 legal agreements with 13 tribes, covering things like:
Preserving open space and cultural resources
Allowing ceremonies on open space
Establish yearly consultations
Protecting Jewell open space

There's also an agreement that established a procedure to notify tribes if cultural resources are discovered on open space

Of course, we can't mention tribal consultations without talking about Settlers Park, which for years the city has been talking about renaming. dailycamera.com/2018/10/05/set…

And by "years," I mean at least 2016, when Boulder declared and celebrated Indigenous Peoples Day for the first time. dailycamera.com/2016/08/01/bou…

Nothing in the packet about what it may be renamed to.

Zooming out a bit. Today, the U.S. recognizes 566 tribes.

And the State of Colorado has an official Tribal Consultation Guide. Like a how-to for local governments.

There was also a very interesting history of tribal relations in the U.S., categorized by (basically) how Indigenous Peoples were treated. Colonial Era, Removal Era, Assimilation Era, Termination Era, etc.

We're currently in the Self-Determination Era. Since 1968.

OK, back to Boulder. There was a bit of history in the packet about white people taking over the land and murdering indigenous peoples in Colorado.

Some, I would say highlights but these are all pretty crappy, so ... lowlights?

Chief Left Hand of Southern Arapaho told Nebraska settlers in Settlers Park they could not stay on Indian land
Gold discovered at Gold Run in January 1859
Boulder City Town Co. founded Feb. 10, 1859

So we're one day after the 161st anniversary of Boulder.
Seems like a good time to revisit the history of our residents and their participation in some truly heinous events.

Per the packet:
August 1864: 100 Boulder County residents became “Indian Fighters” in the Third Colorado Calvary

Nov. 29, 1864: 46 Boulder residents participated in the Sand Creek Massacre. Half of the 230 people murdered were women and children, according to the National Park service. nps.gov/sand/learn/his…

"I'm approaching this opportunity as if we're starting from step 1, or maybe no step at all," says Ernest House, of the Keystone Policy Center. "Every consultation is different."

"The land that we meet on today have always been historical homes for tribes like mine, the Ute tribe, and many other tribes that will be coming to this consultation," House says.

American Indian and Alaska Native are roughly 2% of Colorado's population, in line with nat'l averages.

Over 80,000 AI/AN statewide with over 80% living within the Denver metro area. Within that Denver population, over 150 tribes are represented

Sioux nations are most represented and Navajo Nation
members are fastest-growing here. House says populations of AI/AN are growing quickly in metro areas bc of the job opportunities.

48 tribes historically in Colorado; 46 of them signed treaties (often forced) that removed them from the territory.

Per House, again.

Apache Tribe of Oklahoma
Cheyenne & Arapaho Tribes of
Oklahoma
Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe
Comanche Indian Tribe
Crow Creek Sioux Tribe
Crow Nation
Eastern Shoshone Tribe of Wind River
Indian Reservation
Fort Sill Apache Tribe of Oklahoma
Hopi Tribe
Jicarilla Apache Tribe

Kiowa Indian Tribe of Oklahoma
Mescalero Apache Tribe
Navajo Nation
Northern Arapaho Tribe
Northern Cheyenne Tribe
Oglala Sioux Tribe
Ohkay Owingeh(Pueblo of San Juan)
Osage Nation of Oklahoma
Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah
Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma
Pueblo of Acoma
Pueblo of Cochiti

Pueblo of Isleta
Pueblo of Jemez

Pueblo of Laguna
Pueblo of Nambe
Pueblo of Picuris
Pueblo of Pojoaque
Pueblo of San Felipe
Pueblo of San Ildefonso
Pueblo of Sandia
Pueblo of Santa Ana
Pueblo of Santa Clara
Pueblo of Santo Domingo
Pueblo of Taos
Pueblo of Tesuque
Pueblo of Zia

Pueblo of Zuni
Rosebud Sioux Tribe
San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe
Shoshone-Bannock Tribes
Southern Ute Indian Tribe
Standing Rock Sioux Tribe
Three Affiliated Tribes of Mandan,
Hidatsa, & Arikara Nation
Ute Indian Tribe (Uintah & Ouray
Reservation)
Ute Mountain Ute Tribe

Wichita and Affiliated Tribes
Ysleta del Sur Pueblo

Sorry, I know that was a lot. It felt important to list them all.

Horse showing some maps to show the loss of land of the Ute tribes, as an example. Every tribe went through something similar, he says.

I'll share the first and last maps, though there are more. But these are the best demonstrators.

Actually, second and last, bc the Utes were all over Colorado until the first reservation was established in 1868.

"We lost Colorado in 40 years," House says.

"I give you this background bc when we invite tribal consultations, it's so important to talk about this from an historic context," House says. "When we talk about open space, it's not just open space to tribal leaders."

Also, not Colorado-focused, but I highly recommend This Land, by a resident of the Cherokee nation. It's from mid-2019. But holy crap is it fascinating, and will be relevant next year when the Supreme Court takes up the case at the heart of the podcast. crooked.com/podcast-series…

OK, back to Colorado and Boulder. House, under previous Colorado governors, started to develop the policies and recommendations for tribal consultation.

"Why is there a need for local tribal consultation?" House asks. "Boulder has a unique opportunity ... (bc of the) rich, significant cultural areas when the mountains are so close."

In CO Springs, after the fires and then flood, cultural artifacts were being surfaced, House says. It's important to have relationships in place when that happens.

Some of the consultation will be closed-door, apparently. At least House says so. Bc there is sensitive information the tribal leaders will be sharing, such as cultural or sacred sites.

I regretfully missed last year's tribal consultation. I should be well enough for whatever is public this year.

Some examples at the state level of gov't processes that use tribal consultation: Colorado's Water Plan and its Outdoor Recreation Plan

I wouldn't measure the success of the consultation on how many IGAs or memorandums come out of it, House says. Meaningful is that you're giving respect, that you're listening and providing space for tribal leaders to share what they want to share.

There may be times staff is asked to leave the room, or council members, House says. Leaders may need time to discuss, to think, to smudge.

"In general, time is very different. The concept of time is different in tribal communities."

Staff has been really great in past consultations at providing time and space and flexibility, House says.

House addressing which terms are the best: Indian, Native American, Indigenous

It's best to use the tribal name of the persons you are speaking with, he says.

Also, Native American is being 'phased out,' House says.

Indian is used in gov't and court documents, but it's not really appropriate for consultations. Many references to American Indian and Alaskan Native, which is acceptable, but it's still best to use the tribal nation names.

What about indigenous? councilwoman Young asks.
Great question, House says. But that doesn't always mean tribes. There are indigenous Hispanic/Latinx ppl to Colorado. So it can mean indigenous to the land but not a federally recognized tribe.

Which is what we're talking about today, House says.

Togoy-aqk! It's Thank You in Ute.

House: "If other communities could watch how you're holding this conversation ... we'd have the opportunity as American Indians to extend that conversation further to be reconnected to the areas we've always called home."

Mayor Weaver encouraging new council members to participate this year. It was one of the more moving experiences I've had on council or elsewhere, he says.

In addition to doing formal consultations with federally recognized tribes, Boulder has for the past year been trying to build relationships with American Indians that don't identify with a specific tribe, according to staff.

I believe that's all for this one. @threadreaderapp please unroll. Thank you!