The City of Boulder acknowledges it has a responsibility to forge a path forward to address the past and to initiate community-wide work to help support Indigenous Nations and Indigenous communities and organizations in Boulder.
Overview
The City of Boulder acknowledges the city is on the ancestral homelands and unceded territory of Indigenous Peoples who have traversed, lived in and stewarded lands in the Boulder Valley since time immemorial. Those Indigenous Nations include the: Di De’i (Apache), Hinono’eiteen (Arapaho), Tsistsistas (Cheyenne), Nʉmʉnʉʉ (Comanche), Kiowa, Čariks i Čariks (Pawnee), Sosonih (Shoshone), Oc'eti S'akowin (Sioux) and Núuchiu (Ute).
The City of Boulder recognizes that those now living and working on these ancestral lands have a responsibility to acknowledge and address the past and initiate community-wide work to help support Indigenous Nations and Indigenous communities and organizations in Boulder. A list of current and completed Indigenous-related projects are below. Learn more about 2022 Indigenous Peoples Day events.
City staff recently provided updates about September 2022 city/Tribal consultations and current work with Arapaho and Cheyenne Peoples to create a plan for the city's Fort Chambers - Poor Farm property. The city recognizes that the history of Fort Chambers and the marker on the property are local legacies of American-European colonization that violently exiled Indigenous Peoples from their homelands and are a direct, local connection to the Sand Creek Massacre.
Guiding Resolutions, Plans and Policies
City of Boulder efforts to collaborate with and support Indigenous Nations and Indigenous communities and organizations are guided by the plans, policies and documents:
- Four agreements the City of Boulder shares with federally recognized American Indian Tribal Nations
- Ongoing government-to-government consultations with American Indian Tribal Nations
- The city’s 2016 Indigenous People’s Day Resolution. In 2016, in collaboration with community members and the Human Relations Commission, Boulder City Council adopted Resolution No. 1190, a resolution declaring the second Monday of October of each year to be Indigenous Peoples Day.
- A staff land acknowledgement developed with guidance from American Indian Tribal Nations and the Boulder community
- The city's Racial Equity Plan
- Final statements from 2019 and 2021 consultations with Tribal Nations
- Open Space and Mountain Parks (OSMP) Master Plan