The City of Boulder appreciates the opportunity to engage and consult with Tribal Representatives from federally recognized American Indian Tribal Nations.
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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), Tsétsėhéstȧhese (Cheyenne), Nʉmʉnʉʉ (Comanche), Caiugu (Kiowa), Čariks i Čariks (Pawnee), Sosonih (Shoshone), Oc'eti S'akowin (Sioux) and Núuchiu (Ute).
The city recognizes that Indigenous knowledge, oral histories, and languages – handed down through generations over thousands of years – have shaped profound cultural and spiritual connections with Boulder-area lands and ecosystems and that those connections are sustained and celebrated to this day. City staff appreciate the opportunity to listen and learn from Tribal Representatives and look forward to ongoing consultations and engagement with Tribal Nations.
Tribal Representatives, City Council members and city staff visited The Peoples’ Crossing in March 2023. The visit was part of ongoing city-Tribal Nation collaboration to develop new Indigenous education and interpretative materials for the area and to continue fulfilling the Indigenous Peoples Day Resolution.
City Wins Award for Tribal Consultation Efforts
The City of Boulder extends its gratitude to Tribal Representatives for nominating the city for an American Cultural Resources Association (ACRA) for its consultation and engagement efforts with American Indian Tribal Nations, which the city received at the association's annual conference in September 2024. The award honors organizations that have “demonstrated accomplishments and commitments above and beyond those required to meet laws and regulations pertaining to cultural resource management.” The city thanked Tribal Representatives who signed a nomination letter co-developed by the Keystone Policy Center and Living Heritage and Tribal Representatives who wrote their own letters of support that helped the city win the award. Read a city press release to learn more about the ACRA award.
Tribal Sovereignty and Consultation
Sovereignty for Native peoples has existed since time immemorial, pre-dating the U.S. Constitution. Federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native Tribal Nations are sovereign governments, and their special relationship with the United States is recognized under the Constitution of the United States, treaties, statutes, Executive Orders and court decisions. The special legal status of Tribal Governments requires official relations with federal agencies to be conducted on a government-to-government basis.
City staff recognize the importance of honoring Tribal sovereignty and self-determination and conduct government-to-government consultations with Tribal Representatives appointed by federally recognized Tribal Nations. The city’s consultation framework with Tribal Nations is based on:
Guidance provided by designated Tribal Representatives from federally recognized Tribal Nations during past consultations.
Existing Memorandums of Understandings the city shares with Tribal Nations.
Colorado’s list of Historic Tribes that have a legacy of occupation in the state.
Federal and State of Colorado consultation best practices and guidelines.
While the City of Boulder has a framework for consultation with federally recognized American Indian Tribal Nations, city staff also recognize the importance of collaborating with local Indigenous communities and organizations in the Boulder area. Current Tribal consultation does not preclude the city from conducting similar collaboration processes with local Indigenous communities and organizations, and staff recognizes the need to work with regional partners to establish broader, community-wide Indigenous collaboration practices.
Tribal Representatives, Boulder City Council members, community leaders and city pose for a group picture of a 2019 consultation in Boulder, Colo. A key focus of the consultation was to help fulfill the city's Indigenous Peoples Day Resolution to rename Settler's Park – which Tribal Representatives and city staff would later name as The Peoples' Crossing.
Tribal Nations Invited to Consultations
The city invites designated Tribal Representatives from the following Tribal Nations to ongoing consultations:
City consultation practices and collaborative work with American Indian Tribal Nations are also guided by:
Four Memorandums of Understanding with Tribal Nations. These agreements, which focus on city open space, were initially developed in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
The city’s 2016 Indigenous Peoples Day Resolution. In 2016, the Human Relations Commission and community members developed the Indigenous Peoples Day Resolution (Resolution No. 1190), which was presented at the Aug. 2, 2016, City Council meeting and adopted by the Council. The resolution led to the recent renaming of Settler’s Park to The Peoples’ Crossing. It also directs the city to “correct omissions of the Native American presence in public places, resources and cultural programming.” In addition, the resolution directs city staff to implement “accurate curricula relevant to the traditions, history and current issues of Indigenous People inclusive of and as part of our shared history.”
A city staff land acknowledgment based on the city’s Indigenous Peoples Day Resolution and further developed with guidance and input from American Indian Tribal Nations and the Boulder community.
The city’s Racial Equity Plan. It seeks to normalize and operationalize the understanding of institutional and structural racism among people who work for or represent the city, including city staff, City Council, Boards and Commissions, and ongoing program volunteers.
The Open Space and Mountain Parks (OSMP) Master Plan, which directs the department to “support citywide efforts to work in partnership with federally recognized American Indian Tribal Nations and other city departments through formal government-to-government Consultations to help support American Indian Tribes and Indigenous Peoples’ connections to their ancestral homelands.”
The Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan, which states that the city follows a government-to-government consultation process with Tribal Nations. The plan also recognizes that meaningful engagement with Tribal Nations needs to also happen at a regional level.
The City of Boulder thanks the Human Relations Commission and community members for developing the Indigenous Peoples Day Resolution, which has been critical in helping the city build and strengthen relationships with Tribal Nations.
Fort Chambers / Poor Farm Management Plan
The City of Boulder, in collaboration with Arapaho and Cheyenne Tribal Representatives, completed a long-term planning process to create a concept plan for land with a direct community connection to the Sand Creek Massacre.
The concept plan provides a broad foundation for how the city – with continuing guidance from Tribal Representatives – will steward land where Fort Chambers likely stood. The fort was built northeast of Boulder in the summer of 1864 amid exaggerated and false claims of coordinated Indigenous violence that helped fan anti-Indigenous hatred in Colorado during the summer and fall of 1864.
In August 1864, more than 100 Boulder-area men mobilized into Company D of the Third Colorado Cavalry Regiment at Fort Chambers. The men of Company D attacked a Cheyenne camp near present-day Sterling (“Buffalo Springs”) on Oct. 10, 1864, killing 10 Cheyenne People. They later participated in the killing of 230 peaceful Arapaho and Cheyenne People at the Sand Creek Massacre on Nov. 29, 1864 – the deadliest day in Colorado history.
In July 2024, the Open Space Board of Trustees recommended the city move forward with the concept plan developed with Arapaho and Cheyenne Tribal Representatives following an extensive community planning process.
Tribal Nation Ethnographic-Education Report
City of Boulder staff recognizes the interpretation and educational information describing its history is dominated by American-European perspectives and fails to include Indigenous perspectives. This planned report will be informed by in-person interviews with Tribal Representative and is intended to:
Support Tribal Nations and help them communicate their enduring cultural, spiritual and historical connections to the Boulder Valley.
Develop education and interpretation materials that provide accurate, truthful Indigenous Peoples’ stories – both past and present.
Help city staff learn more about special areas or types of places of importance to Tribal Nations and help guide future conversations with Tribal Nations.
Help fulfill the Indigenous Peoples Day Resolution, which requires the city to correct omissions of the Native American presence in public places, resources and cultural programming.
City staff have received permission from Tribal Representatives to release a final report, after approval by Tribal Representatives, in early 2026.
Over several months, City of Boulder staff worked with Tribal Representative to develop plans for an ethnographic report, which invites Tribal Nations to share their enduring cultural, traditional and historical connections to the Boulder Valley. City staff express their gratitude for the conversations we have shared with Tribal Representatives during ethnographic report interviews.
The Peoples’ Crossing: Honoring Relationships with Tribal Nations
Unfortunately, the City of Boulder canceled “The Peoples’ Crossing: Honoring Relationships with Tribal Nations” event at the University of Colorado on Thursday, March 14, 2024, because of snowy conditions. It was a difficult decision to cancel the event, and we are so grateful for Tribal Nations to support an event that we know would have been extraordinary.
While the snow canceled the event, Tribal Nation Representatives and singers and dancers who were in Boulder before the snow came still celebrated their traditions, cultures and histories with songs and dancing. We extend our deep appreciation to Tribal Representatives for helping us plan "The Peoples' Crossing: Honoring Relationships with Tribal Nations" and plan to discuss the possibility of rescheduling the event with Tribal Representatives. We also want to thank singers and dancers from the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes for helping the city and Tribal Representatives honor and strengthen relationships with Tribal Nations despite the weather.
“The Peoples’ Crossing: Honoring Relationships with Tribal Nations” event was intended to:
Welcome Tribal Representatives to share their perspectives with the Boulder community and honor their histories, traditions and cultures that have existed since time immemorial.
Build broader Boulder-area connections to help foster respectful and meaningful engagement with Tribal Nations and Indigenous communities.
Continue work to fulfill the city’s Indigenous Peoples Day Resolution, which helps guide our ongoing, collaborative work with Tribal Nations.
Thank Tribal Nations who helped the city rename Settler’s Park to The People’s Crossing – a name that honors Boulder as a crossroads for Indigenous Peoples since time immemorial. We also share our gratitude to Tribal Representatives who are helping us to include their histories and perspectives into our shared histories and are helping staff develop a collaborative stewardship plan for land that has a community connection to the Sand Creek Massacre.
While snow canceled "The Peoples' Crossing: Honoring Relationships with Tribal Nations," the City of Boulder is grateful Tribal Representatives and singers and dancers who were in Boulder still celebrated their cultures and traditions with us.
City-Tribal Nation Memorandum of Understanding
The updated Memorandum of Understanding consolidates past City-Tribal Nation Memorandums of Understanding developed in 1998, 2002 and 2004 that focus on city open space lands and incorporate additional provisions discussed in multiple government-to-government consultations since 2019. Broadly, the MOU seeks to:
Set a foundation for sustaining future collaboration, engagement, and consultation with Tribal Nations.
Support Tribal Nation input into Open Space and Mountain Parks (OSMP) decision-making on topics important to Tribal Nations.
Continues work to provide accurate educational information about the history and culture of each respective Tribal Nation.
Develop a way to identify areas on open space of special concern to Tribal Nations to help guide future cultural resource consultations.
Outline a process for ceremonial access and explore a permanent ceremonial location.
Develop a process for limited harvesting of plants and other materials important to the tribes.
Continue ongoing cultural resource protection, consultations and notifications.
Tribal Representatives and Comanche and Lakota children remove signs at The Peoples' Crossing during a March 2023 consultation. City staff and Tribal Representatives removed those signs as part of ongoing education and interpretation collaboration to fulfill Indigenous education and interpretation collaboration in an updated City-Tribal Nation Memorandum of Understanding.
The Peoples' Crossing Renaming
In 2021, Representatives from American Indian Tribal Nations collaborated with the city to rename Settler's Park to The Peoples' Crossing to help fulfill the Indigenous Peoples Day Resolution.
The area is located below the iconic Red Rocks formation in west Boulder. American-European histories of the city suggest the area is where Hinono’ei neecee ("Arapaho Chief") Nowoo3 (“Niwot," "Lefthand") and other Hinono’eino’ (“Arapaho”) Peoples told gold seekers who had camped in the area in October 1858 that they could not remain on Indigenous land as defined by the 1851 Treaty of Fort Laramie.
The Peoples’ Crossing name honors the area as a crossroads for Indigenous Peoples who have traversed and lived in the mountains and plains of the Boulder area since time immemorial. “The People” or “Our People” is how many American Indian Tribal Nations refer to themselves in their native languages.
The Peoples' Crossing area – formerly known as Settler's Park – has become an important symbol for the city in its ongoing collaborative work with Tribal Nations.
Land Acknowledgment
City staff sought the guidance of American Indian Tribal Nations and the Boulder community to develop a city staff land acknowledgment.
The acknowledgment encourages the city and its staff to reckon honestly with the legacy of American-European colonization of Indigenous lands and a history of removal policies that violated human rights and broke government treaties.It also seeks to inspire community education and help initiate community-wide work to help support Indigenous Nations and Indigenous communities and organizations in the Boulder area. Read the full land acknowledgment online. City staff recognize the acknowledgment may change over the years as city staff and the Boulder community continue to learn about and address the intergenerational trauma caused by the violent colonization of Indigenous lands.
City staff thank Tribal Representatives for helping the city to develop a staff land acknowledgment, and we appreciate the ongoing opportunity to work with Tribal Nations to go beyond it.
Recent Consultation Information
The City of Boulder requests the permission of Tribal Representatives to prepare and review a public statement that summarizes consultations conversations before it is released to the public.
As common with government-to-government consultations, City-Tribal consultations and meetings are typically closed sessions in order to facilitate conversations among city staff, Tribal Representatives and elected and appointed community leaders. Those conversations may include sensitive topics. The city recognizes the public interest in citywide consultations with American Indian Tribes, and staff seek permission from Tribal Representatives to release information following in-person meetings.
